Whether you’re a new or seasoned home buyer, property taxes can often creep up on you quickly. With MCAP’s Property Tax Service, you’ll never have to worry about missing a tax payment!
If you make any changes with the municipality, please ensure the municipality is informed to continue sending the tax information to MCAP for payment.
Property Tax Savings Account
Funds accumulated in your Property Tax Savings Account are used to pay your annual property taxes. We ensure the tax bill is paid for your property regardless of the balance in your account. This means that at some point during the year your account may have a surplus and at other times a shortfall. The taxes will be paid no matter the dollar amount accumulated in your Property Tax Savings Account. When the final tax instalment is paid, your loan will go through an automatic adjustment process to review the tax portion to ensure we are collecting enough to pay your taxes for the next year.
You can make a lump sum payment into your Property Tax Savings Account any time after funding. Once the additional funds have been deposited into your Property Tax Savings Account, an adjustment can then be made to the tax portion being collected with your mortgage payment.
What is a surplus?
A surplus (credit) is money accumulated in your Property Tax Savings Account. Surpluses are applied to your next property tax payment.
What is a shortfall?
A shortfall (debit) in your Account happens if there was not enough money in the Account when property taxes were paid. This money needs to be reimbursed to MCAP for taxes paid on your behalf. If there is a shortfall in your Account, you are charged an interest rate equivalent to your mortgage rate. We take the outstanding amount into account when calculating your new tax portion for the upcoming tax year. You may reduce the shortfall in your Account by making a lump sum payment into the Account, or a series of payments over time.
The adjustment process
After paying the final tax payment of the year, we’ll review your tax portion to ensure we are collecting the necessary amount. We’ll also send you a Property Tax Statement to show the status of your Property Tax Savings Account, and to advise of any changes to the tax portion. This will show how we calculated the tax portion and will let you know when the change will take effect. The tax adjustment also takes into consideration possible increases in taxes.
What is a tax year?
A tax year is the period between when your final taxes are paid, to the expected date the final taxes are due for the upcoming year.
What if a different lender is currently collecting my taxes? Will the taxes accumulated from that lender be automatically transferred over to my MCAP Property Tax Savings Account?
Your current lender would include any tax funds accumulated in your account with payout of your mortgage. The balance would not be transferred to your new MCAP Property Tax Savings Account.
For properties in British Columbia
If your property is in British Columbia, we pay the gross amount of your property taxes, unless our records indicate otherwise. Homeowners who are eligible for the Home Owner Grant are responsible for applying directly to the municipality for a reduction in taxes annually. Home Owner Grant applications may be obtained from your municipality.
- The grant is available to Canadian citizens or the holder of permanent residency status in Canada, who live in British Columbia. He or she must occupy the home as his/her principal residence.
- NOTE: The grant must be applied for each year. It is up to the homeowner to apply for this grant.
- It is up to the homeowner to advise us of their current HOG status or when/if there is a change to their status.
- Homeowners can apply online or by visiting the tax office for an application. Some tax bills have a detachable application for customers to fill out and mail in.
For properties in Quebec
MCAP does not automatically pay your School Taxes. If you would like us to pay your School Tax bill on your behalf, please send the bill to us annually. We will make the necessary adjustments to your tax portion.
How do we calculate the tax portion?
Property taxes are collected annually based on your municipalities final due date. We determine the number of payments remaining until the final due date based on the number of payments you make annually (12, 24, 26, or 52) and then we divide your annual property taxes by the number of remaining payments.
New Builds/New Construction
Your tax bill may not reflect the full property taxes for your property. The assessed value may be for the land only and you will receive Supplemental or Apportionment billings from your municipality. If you do, send them to us so that we can make payment on your behalf to your municipality.
Name Change / New Ownership
It is up to the Homeowner to request update/change of ownership at their municipal tax office.
Utility Bills
It is up to the homeowner to pay their own utilities.
TIPPS/PAPP
It is up to the homeowner to cancel their TIPPS or PAPP with their municipal tax office.
