Paying Property Taxes

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.

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 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.

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

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

Submit a written request prior to:

• January 31 for the Interim Tax Bill; or,
• May 31 for the Final Tax Bill.

Join or adjust the Pre-Authorized Payment program 

• To join the program, new applicants can mail in a paper form or complete the Pre-Authorized Tax Payment Plan form.
  
  
• Existing P.T.P. program members can change banking information or their withdrawal date by completing the Pre-Authorized Tax Payment Change form.
  
  
• Existing P.T.P. program members can request to cancel their automated withdrawals by completing the Pre-Authorized Tax Payment Cancellation form.

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

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.

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 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. 

Complete the refund request form.

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

Misapplied payments

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

Complete the misapplied payments form.

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. 

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

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.

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.

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.