Paying Property Taxes

Payment methods include online banking, telephone banking, pre-authorized tax payment plan, mortgage company (on behalf of property owner), cash, debit card, cheque, post-dated cheque, at financial institution and in person at Service Oshawa.

A payment is made once the funds have been received or receipted by the City. Online payments require three to five business days to process and property owners are responsible for allowing their bank processing time to submit their payment to the City. For example, for a payment that is made by a property owner on July 28 by online banking (for a July 28 due date), the payment processing is five days therefore, it will be received by Taxation Services on August 2. This is a late payment and the property tax account will receive a late payment charge on August 1. Property owners are responsible for any fees and charges that may be imposed when making payments.

Post-dated cheques are accepted and held by Taxation Services until the date indicated on the cheque. Where the cheque writer request that the post-dated cheque not be processed, the City is to be contacted in writing at least ten business days prior to the date indicated on the cheque. As per the General Fees and Charges By-law 13-2003, a fee is applied to the property tax account for stopping the post-dated cheque from being processed.

Payment Options

Online Banking
To help set up payment of property taxes through your bank using online banking application, consider the following: Login to your Banking App on your smart phone or computer Go to Bill Payments Select Manage Payees Select Add Payee – search for “Oshawa Taxes” or a similar payee referencing Oshawa and property taxes (bank payee name may vary) Nickname (Optional) – adding the civic address of the property in this field can help with multiple properties or property owners during the year of sale or purchase Account Number (99999999999999) – This is the roll number located on the tax bill. City of Oshawa roll numbers all begin with 1813. Those four digits should NOT be entered. The digits should look like this example: 0#0 0## ##### 0000. (spaces may or may not be allowed depending on your bank) Accuracy is imperative as General Fees and Charges may apply to the correction of payments made to the wrong account. See Misapplied Payments for additional information. For issues with your banking application, contact your bank to assist you with the bill payment set up. Not all banking applications are the same.
Pre-Authorized Tax Payment Plan (P.T.P)
The Pre-authorized Tax Payment (P.T.P.) Plan options are: Installment due dates (Interim, Final non-capped & Final capped); or Monthly – 1st or 15th of each month. Submit a written request prior to November 1st for the January effective date (Interim Tax Bill) April 1st for the May effective date (Final Tax Bill) P.T.P. Application Form Online submission PDF version, to print, complete and mail P.T.P. Change Form Online submission P.T.P. Cancellation Form Online submission All changes to pre-authorized tax payment plan applications must be sent in writing ten business days prior to the effective change. To cancel a pre-authorized tax payment plan you must send the request in writing ten business days prior to the end date.
Mortgage Company Payments
If you pay your property taxes through your mortgage company, the tax bill you receive is the official receipt for your property taxes. You may need to take action if you have: Changed mortgage companies and the new company will be paying your property taxes. Contact the new company concerning payment arrangements; Renegotiated your mortgage and your mortgage company is no longer paying your property taxes. Pay the amounts of the property tax bill received on the respective due dates indicated; Sold your property. Provide a copy of your property tax bill to your lawyer.
Refunds for Overpayments
Property tax account refund requests must be sent in writing and be accompanied with proof of payment, letter of indemnity and statement of adjustment, where applicable. Property tax accounts with a balance owing will not be eligible for refunds. Additional fees may be charged according to the General Fees and Charges By-law. Eligibility requirements apply. Adjustments and rebates processed during the year will be applied to outstanding taxes. A refund may be requested in writing on property tax accounts with credit balances only.
Misapplied / Dishonoured Payments
Misapplied, rejected or returned payments are subject to a fee as shown in Schedule E in the General Fees and Charges By-law 13-2003. Misapplied Payments Payments made to a tax account in error require property owners to send the Misapplied Payments form to correct the payment application. Dishonoured Payments After two returned payments, cheques or pre-authorized tax payments will no longer be an available payment option to the property owner for a minimum of two years. Cash, certified cheques or money orders are accepted. An exception to this restriction would be if the account were paid up to date within six months from the date of the initial dishonoured date.
Receipts / Proof of Payment
Property owners pay a fee to obtain another copy of a document showing payment and levy amounts as per Schedule E in the General Fees and Charges By-law 13-2003. In the year of purchase/sale of a property, the City does not provide documentation since the law office completes the property tax allocation on the owners behalf. The City is not involved in the allocation and is not privy to the details of the transfer. The property owner should use the statement of adjustments as provided by the law office retained for the purchase/sale of the property.
Application of Payments
Property tax payments are applied in accordance with legislation. The payment is first applied against any late payment charges according to the length of time the charges have been outstanding, with the charges that have been outstanding the longest being discharged first. The payment is then applied in the same manner against the property taxes owing, with the property taxes that have been outstanding the longest being discharged first. Once a tax arrears certificate (T.A.C.) has been registered on title against a property, partial payments are not accepted unless the property owner and the City has entered into an extension agreement. If there is no extension agreement in place, a partial payment received on a tax account with a T.A.C. registered will be returned or refunded as appropriate.
Late Payment Charges / Collection Costs
Property tax arrears are subject to late payment charges. The current year is imposed penalties, while the previous years are imposed interest. The penalty is calculated at a rate of 1.25% on overdue taxes. A penalty is charged on the unpaid taxes the first business day of each month they remain unpaid. In addition, as long as the property taxes remain unpaid, interest will be added on the first business day each month thereafter. Penalty and interest charges cannot be waived, except where a City error has occurred. This is in compliance with the Municipal Act (M.A.), 2001 as amended.
Transfer of Taxes
Property owner accounts with overdue balances with other City departments and/or the Regional Municipality of Durham, may have their overdue balance transferred to their property tax account and collected in the same manner as property taxes. An administrative fee will be charged per Schedule E in the General Fees and Charges By-law 13-2003. Once these amounts are transferred to the property tax accounts, they are treated as property taxes for collection purposes.

Online Banking

To help set up payment of property taxes through your bank using online banking application, consider the following:

Login to your Banking App on your smart phone or computer
Go to Bill Payments
Select Manage Payees
Select Add Payee – search for “Oshawa Taxes” or a similar payee referencing Oshawa and property taxes (bank payee name may vary)
Nickname (Optional) – adding the civic address of the property in this field can help with multiple properties or property owners during the year of sale or purchase
Account Number (99999999999999) – This is the roll number located on the tax bill. City of Oshawa roll numbers all begin with 1813. Those four digits should NOT be entered. The digits should look like this example: 0#0 0## ##### 0000. (spaces may or may not be allowed depending on your bank)

Accuracy is imperative as General Fees and Charges may apply to the correction of payments made to the wrong account. See Misapplied Payments for additional information.

For issues with your banking application, contact your bank to assist you with the bill payment set up. Not all banking applications are the same.

Pre-Authorized Tax Payment Plan (P.T.P)

The Pre-authorized Tax Payment (P.T.P.) Plan options are:

Installment due dates (Interim, Final non-capped & Final capped); or
Monthly – 1st or 15th of each month.

Submit a written request prior to

November 1st for the January effective date (Interim Tax Bill)
April 1st for the May effective date (Final Tax Bill)

P.T.P. Application Form

P.T.P. Change Form

Online submission

P.T.P. Cancellation Form

Online submission

All changes to pre-authorized tax payment plan applications must be sent in writing ten business days prior to the effective change. To cancel a pre-authorized tax payment plan you must send the request in writing ten business days prior to the end date.

Mortgage Company Payments

If you pay your property taxes through your mortgage company, the tax bill you receive is the official receipt for your property taxes.

You may need to take action if you have:

Changed mortgage companies and the new company will be paying your property taxes. Contact the new company concerning payment arrangements;
Renegotiated your mortgage and your mortgage company is no longer paying your property taxes. Pay the amounts of the property tax bill received on the respective due dates indicated;
Sold your property. Provide a copy of your property tax bill to your lawyer.

Refunds for Overpayments

Property tax account refund requests must be sent in writing and be accompanied with proof of payment, letter of indemnity and statement of adjustment, where applicable. Property tax accounts with a balance owing will not be eligible for refunds. Additional fees may be charged according to the General Fees and Charges By-law. Eligibility requirements apply.

Adjustments and rebates processed during the year will be applied to outstanding taxes. A refund may be requested in writing on property tax accounts with credit balances only.

Misapplied / Dishonoured Payments

Misapplied, rejected or returned payments are subject to a fee as shown in Schedule E in the General Fees and Charges By-law 13-2003.

Misapplied Payments

Payments made to a tax account in error require property owners to send the Misapplied Payments form to correct the payment application.

Dishonoured Payments

After two returned payments, cheques or pre-authorized tax payments will no longer be an available payment option to the property owner for a minimum of two years. Cash, certified cheques or money orders are accepted. An exception to this restriction would be if the account were paid up to date within six months from the date of the initial dishonoured date.

Receipts / Proof of Payment

Property owners pay a fee to obtain another copy of a document showing payment and levy amounts as per Schedule E in the General Fees and Charges By-law 13-2003.

In the year of purchase/sale of a property, the City does not provide documentation since the law office completes the property tax allocation on the owners behalf. The City is not involved in the allocation and is not privy to the details of the transfer. The property owner should use the statement of adjustments as provided by the law office retained for the purchase/sale of the property.

Application of Payments

Property tax payments are applied in accordance with legislation. The payment is first applied against any late payment charges according to the length of time the charges have been outstanding, with the charges that have been outstanding the longest being discharged first. The payment is then applied in the same manner against the property taxes owing, with the property taxes that have been outstanding the longest being discharged first.

Once a tax arrears certificate (T.A.C.) has been registered on title against a property, partial payments are not accepted unless the property owner and the City has entered into an extension agreement. If there is no extension agreement in place, a partial payment received on a tax account with a T.A.C. registered will be returned or refunded as appropriate.

Late Payment Charges / Collection Costs

Property tax arrears are subject to late payment charges. The current year is imposed penalties, while the previous years are imposed interest. The penalty is calculated at a rate of 1.25% on overdue taxes. A penalty is charged on the unpaid taxes the first business day of each month they remain unpaid. In addition, as long as the property taxes remain unpaid, interest will be added on the first business day each month thereafter.

Penalty and interest charges cannot be waived, except where a City error has occurred. This is in compliance with the Municipal Act (M.A.), 2001 as amended.

Transfer of Taxes

Property owner accounts with overdue balances with other City departments and/or the Regional Municipality of Durham, may have their overdue balance transferred to their property tax account and collected in the same manner as property taxes. An administrative fee will be charged per Schedule E in the General Fees and Charges By-law 13-2003. Once these amounts are transferred to the property tax accounts, they are treated as property taxes for collection purposes.

Property Tax Collections and Billing

The City of Oshawa collects property taxes from property owners on behalf of the City of Oshawa, the Regional Municipality of Durham, the Durham Region School Boards and the local Central Business Development Improvement Area. The City is responsible to ensure effective collection of property taxes in accordance with the Municipal Act (M.A.), 2001.

Taxation Services collects property taxes in accordance with governing legislation and any incongruence between the Tax Collection Policy and the governing legislation, the provisions of the governing legislation will prevail.

Property Tax Collection Policy

Property Tax Billing

Property taxes will be billed by interim and final tax billings as established by the City by-law annually and in accordance with the Municipal Act (M.A), 2001, as amended.

Due Dates

Due dates for the payment of property taxes are set annually and approved by Council according to the interim and final property tax by-law. Installment due dates will also be set by City by-law with two installments for interim billing and two installments for final billing. Due dates will normally be as follows:

Interim Billing

last week of February
last week of April

Final Billing

last week of June (residential)
last week of September (residential & non-residential)
last week of October (non-residential)

The City may have a minimum bill in the event that the amount owing is $25 or less on a tax bill. In this case, the property tax owner shall pay the full amount in one installment on the specified due date, being the first installment due date. The second installment due date will not apply.

Electronic Billing (E-Billing)

Property tax bills can be issued electronically to property owners seeking this service. There is no eligibility requirement for this service. Registration for the E-Billing service will stop the paper copy of the Interim and Final Tax Bills ONLY. All other mailings will resume in their paper format.

Submit the appropriate form as outlined below. Forms registering for Interim Billing must be received prior to December 15. Forms registering for Final Billing must be received prior to April 15.

Interim Billing

Interim property tax bills are issued annually in January. Interim taxes reflect 50% of the previous year's annual taxes. If the property had assessment adjustments, such as a supplementary bill or PRAN, S.357 adjustment processed on the account during the previous property tax year, the adjusted current year assessment is used to calculate the 50% levy for the interim bill.

Interim billing installment dates are clearly marked on the interim tax bill.

Final Billing

Final property tax bills are issued annually in May (June for non-residential) and provide the balance of taxes owed by the property owner including the changes in the property taxes for the year. It contains the current value assessment for the year multiplied by the tax class rate to determine the levies for the full year, less the interim tax bill amount already billed. This remaining balance for the year also contains any arrears, penalties & interest or other amounts in accordance with the Municipal Act (M.A.), 2001, as amended.

Final billing installment dates are clearly marked on the final property tax bill.

The final property tax bill is the official document used to support a claim regarding property taxes made with Canada Revenue Agency when completing the T1 tax return. In the year of purchase or sale, property owners are advised to use the Statement of Adjustments document provided upon closing of the transfer. Re-issuance of a final property tax bill upon request will be imposed the fee in accordance with the General Fees and Charges By-law 13-2003.

Supplementary and Omitted Billing

Supplementary tax bills are issued and mailed in the same manner as interim and final tax bills with the exception that it is a separate levy where a by-law is not required.

Penalty and interest charges will be calculated on supplementary taxes that are owing past their due date, consistent with other City due dates, being on the first day of each month they remain unpaid.

There are two sections of the Assessment Act that allow for taxation of taxable property not included in the annual revised assessment roll. These deal with omissions and additions to the tax roll.

Section 33 of the Assessment Act allows for the taxation of real property that has been omitted from the return roll. The provision allows for taxation in the current year, plus a maximum of the two preceding years.
Section 34 of the Assessment Act allows for the taxation of assessment that has increased in value or has been added after the return of the last revised assessment roll. These taxes apply to the current year only.

Property Tax Bill Format

Property tax bills issued by the City of Oshawa contain the following property details:

Name(s) of the property owners – as registered at the Land Registry Office
Customer Number
Tax Roll Number
Civic address
Legal description of the property
Current Value Assessment as received from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (M.P.A.C.)
Realty Tax Class & Realty Tax Qualifier as received from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (M.P.A.C.)
Levies distribution to City of Oshawa, Region of Durham and school board (s) by realty tax class/realty tax qualifier
Total amount of taxes payable
Total levies billing in year including penalties and any additions to the tax account
Installment due dates

The property tax billing will meet all requirements of the provincially legislated standard tax bill. Arrears are included in the first installment due date amount. Installment due dates will be indicated on the payment stubs. Billing messages may be used to relay information to property owners such as penalty and interest charge rates.

Delivery of Property Tax Bills

Property tax bills and notices are mailed to the address of the property as shown on the tax roll unless the property owner provides the City, in writing, an alternate mailing address. Use of the alternate mailing address continues until it is changed in writing or ownership of the property changes.

All tax bills or notices sent by standard letter mail are considered delivered to and received by the addressee unless Canada Post returns the mailing to the City and an error in the mailing address is evident. Property owners are responsible to ensure they receive their tax bills annually. Property owners are asked to follow up with Taxation Services where they have not received their tax bills by February and July each year. Property owners are responsible to notify the City of changes to a mailing address in writing. Failure to notify the City of an address change is not an error on behalf of the City. Complete the Tax Account Information Change form to provide an update to the City if needed.

Legislative requirements surrounding property tax billing assist with the processing of the property tax collections. Despite all efforts made, if an error or omission in the form or substance of a property tax bill occurs, it does not invalidate any proceedings for the recovery of taxes.

Mail Cycle
Month	Type and details
January	Interim Billing
February	first Installment Due
March	Reminder Notices Final Notices prior to Tax Sale Registration (Intention to Enforce on Security & Notice of Intent by Secured Creditor)
April	Second Installment Due
May	Final Billing (Residential) Reminder Notices
June	Final Billing (Non-Residential) Third Installment Due (Residential)
August	Reminder Notices
September	Third Installment Due (Non-Residential) Fourth Installment Due (Residential)
October	Fourth Installment Due (Non-Residential) Reminder Notices
November	Reminder Notices Tax Sale Registration Risk Notice
December	Final Notice of Tax Arrears

Supplementary and Omitted property tax bills with be mailed according to the M.P.A.C. submission.

Ownership Changes

The Provincial Land Registry Office (L.R.O.) System is the service for the legal determinant of the ownership of land. The names of the owners on the property tax account are to agree with the ownership registered at the Land Registry Office on the parcel register. The City requires the instrument (deed / transfer of land) registered at the L.R.O. be submitted to Taxation Services for processing. This includes removing a name from ownership, changing a name on title or adding a name to ownership for all property tax accounts.

Letters submitted by a law office do not contain all the pertinent information required for ownership changes to be processed. The property owner is responsible to ensure that their property tax account has the correct mailing address.

Severances / Consolidations

Property owners may apply for severances of their properties under the authority of The Planning Act. If granted by the City of Oshawa Planning Department, the assessment values must be split between all the parcels of land. As part of their legislated services, M.P.A.C. divides the assessment information.

Under the authority of The Municipal Act (S. 356), the Treasurer may divide the assessment roll into the parcels being severed and direct the property taxes accordingly.

As severed portions of the land are often sold, the Municipality will not recalculate the property taxes for a part year. It is understood that the seller and purchaser's lawyers would allocate the levies accordingly during the sale process. The allocation of levies will be shown on the “statement of adjustments” provided to the property owners by the law office completing the title transfer.

Consolidations are processed by M.P.A.C. at the written request of the property owner. Property owners should contact M.P.A.C. directly.

A severance or consolidation of a parcel identification number at Land Registry Office does not constitute a consolidation or severance of a tax roll.