Tax Rebates

You may be eligible for a property tax rebate for a property in Tillsonburg. Review our rebate options and learn how to apply below.

Charitable Tax Rebates

Registered charities which occupy property in the commercial or industrial class may be eligible for property tax rebates of 40 per cent. All those who wish to apply must have a valid registration number issued by The Canada Revenue Agency and submit an application by the last day of February following the tax year.

The application form can be downloaded as an online fillable PDF document. It is also available at the Customer Service Centre at 10 Lisgar Ave.  

The tax rebate offered to charities is intended to offset property tax increases that resulted from the elimination of the Business Occupancy Tax.  Qualifying charities must apply each year for the rebate.

Vacant Unit Rebate

Property owners of vacant commercial and industrial buildings may apply for a property tax rebate under certain specifications set out in Section 364 of The Municipal Act and Ontario Regulation 325/01.

To be eligible for a vacant unit rebate, the building or section of building must have been vacant and unused for at least 90 days and the following conditions are met:

• The entire commercial or industrial building has been unused for at least 90 days.
• A suite(s) or unit(s) within a commercial building has been vacant for at least 90 consecutive days and is
  • unused; and clearly delineated or physically separated from the used portions of the building; and capable of being leased for immediate occupation, or
  • not capable of being leased for immediate occupancy because it is undergoing or in need of repairs/renovations or is unfit for occupation.
• A portion of an industrial building has been vacant for at least 90 consecutive days and is
  • unused; and clearly delineated or physically separated from the used portions of the building.

Exclusions from rebates

No rebate applications will be considered for properties:

• where seasonal businesses operate involving closing the building for a portion of the year
• where buildings or portions of buildings are vacant but leased to a tenant
• where land is considered vacant (e.g. new buildings that have never been occupied)

No rebate is payable under section 364 of the Act for a taxation year in respect of a building, structure or portion of a building if the municipality paid or credited a rebate in respect of the building, structure or portion, as the case may be, for any five previous taxation years.

Application deadlines

Owners of qualifying properties may submit a maximum of two applications per property per year. Specifically, they may submit either:

• one application in respect of all vacancies that occurred on a property during the entire year, due February 28 of the following year, or
• one application in respect of the vacancies that occurred during the first six months of the year, due August 31 of the current year, and a second application for vacancies that occurred during the last six months of the year, due February 28 of the following year.

The application form can be downloaded as an online fillable PDF document. It is also available at the Customer Service Centre at 10 Lisgar Ave.

Section 357 - Cancellation, reduction, refund of taxes

A property owner may make application under Section 357 of the Municipal Act for a refund of property taxes for the following reasons:

• Ceased to be liable to be taxed at rate it is taxed
• Became exempt
• Fire/Demolition
• Mobile unit removed

The property tax refund application can be made for a period during the year or for the entire year.  This application must be made to the Town of Tillsonburg no later than February 28 of the year following the taxation year to which the application relates.

The application form can be downloaded as an online fillable PDF document. It is also available at the Customer Service Centre at 10 Lisgar Ave.