Vacant House Tax: Rates, Exemptions, Declaration & Penalties

A vacant house tax is an extra annual charge that a small number of cities impose on residential properties left empty for most of the year. Rates run from flat fees of a few thousand dollars per property up to 3% to 10% of assessed value, billed on top of regular property taxes. If your city has one, you typically must file an occupancy declaration every year, and missing that deadline can get your home classified as vacant by default even when someone was living in it the whole time.

Which Cities Charge It

Only a handful of North American cities currently levy a vacant house tax. Washington, D.C. has taxed vacant and blighted properties at elevated rates since 2011, the longest-running U.S. program.¹ Oakland voters approved a flat-dollar vacancy tax in 2018, and Berkeley followed in 2022.² San Francisco voters passed Proposition M in 2022, though litigation has delayed its implementation.

Outside the U.S., Vancouver introduced its Empty Homes Tax in 2017 and Toronto launched its Vacant Home Tax in 2022.³ Canada also imposes a separate federal Underused Housing Tax of 1% annually, though it mainly targets foreign national owners.⁴ If you don’t own residential property in one of these jurisdictions, no vacant house tax applies to you.

What Counts as Vacant

Each city sets its own vacancy threshold, and the differences are wide. Toronto treats a residential property as vacant if it was unoccupied for six months or more during the tax year.⁵ Vancouver takes a similar approach for its reference year. Oakland’s rule is much tighter: a property qualifies as vacant if it was in use fewer than 50 days in the calendar year.² San Francisco’s Proposition M set its line at 182 days.

Occupancy generally means someone is living in the property as their home or a tenant is holding a lease. Short stays, occasional visits, and storing belongings don’t count. In Toronto, a tenant or other occupant needs a written agreement of at least 30 days and must occupy the property for a combined total of at least six months.⁵ The property has to serve as someone’s actual residence for a meaningful stretch of the year, not just be theoretically available.

Rates and How the Bill Is Calculated

Some cities charge a flat dollar amount per property. Others calculate the tax as a percentage of assessed value, which hits expensive properties much harder.

Washington, D.C.: Vacant properties (Class 3) are taxed at $5 per $100 of assessed value, or 5%. Blighted vacant properties (Class 4) are taxed at $10 per $100, or 10%. Starting in 2027, D.C. shifts to a graduated scale that increases with the length of the vacancy, beginning at 2% in the first year and rising to 5% by the fourth.⁶
Toronto: 3% of the property’s Current Value Assessment. A home assessed at $800,000 would owe $24,000.⁵
Vancouver: 3% of the property’s assessed taxable value for the 2025 reference year.³
Oakland: A flat $6,000 per parcel for residential and nonresidential properties. Condos, duplexes, and townhome units under separate ownership pay $3,000 per vacant unit.²

All of these amounts are billed on top of regular property taxes. In percentage-based cities, the numbers add up quickly. A $2 million condo sitting empty in Vancouver would owe $60,000 in vacancy tax alone.

Common Exemptions

Every jurisdiction with a vacant house tax carves out exceptions for situations where leaving a property empty is unavoidable. The specifics vary, but most programs share the same core categories.

Death of the owner: A home often sits empty while an estate moves through probate. Toronto exempts the property for up to three tax years following the owner’s death.⁵
Major renovations: If construction genuinely prevents occupancy and the owner has valid building permits, most cities grant an exemption. Toronto requires the city’s Chief Building Official to confirm that the scope of work justifies the vacancy.⁷
Medical reasons: Owners hospitalized or living in a long-term care facility are generally exempt. In Toronto, this applies when the principal resident has been in a care facility for at least six months of the tax year, and the exemption can last up to two consecutive years.⁵
Property transfer: A home that changed hands through a genuine sale during the tax year is typically exempt for that assessment period.
Court orders: Properties tied up in legal proceedings that prevent occupancy, such as divorce settlements or ongoing litigation, often qualify.

Oakland recognizes ten separate exemption categories.² Claiming any exemption typically requires documentation, so keep records of permits, medical documents, or legal filings before you file.

The Annual Declaration

In cities with a vacancy tax, filing your annual declaration on time matters even if your property was occupied all year. Toronto requires every residential property owner to submit a declaration by April 30, 2026 for the 2025 tax year.⁸ Miss the deadline and the city may deem the property vacant by default, leaving you to contest a tax bill you shouldn’t owe.

The form asks you to report occupancy status for each month of the preceding year and to identify who was living there: you, a tenant with a written lease, or another permitted occupant. Have your property tax account identifiers ready from your most recent tax bill or assessment notice. Most cities offer an online portal, and paper forms by mail are usually accepted as well.

If the property was vacant beyond the threshold, you’ll need to state the reason and cite any applicable exemption. Keep supporting records on hand. Utility bills showing consistent usage, signed lease agreements, and building permits for renovations all serve as evidence if the city audits your declaration.

How Cities Detect Vacancy

A tax nobody enforces is just a suggestion, so cities put real effort into verification. Mandatory self-declaration does the initial work: every owner has to file, and the city then audits.

Water usage is one of the most reliable indicators. Negligible consumption or a shutoff for nonpayment strongly suggests nobody lives there. Cities also cross-reference postal data such as mail forwarding requests, utility account status, and code enforcement records. Some municipalities send inspectors after notifying the owner, and neighbor complaints can trigger a review. A declaration claiming full occupancy on a property with zero water use and no utility accounts is going to draw scrutiny.

Penalties

Cities enforce these taxes with real financial consequences, both for skipping the declaration and for lying on it. Vancouver imposes a $250 fine for failing to submit a property status declaration by the deadline, and the undeclared property gets automatically classified as vacant, triggering the full 3% tax. False declarations are treated more harshly: Vancouver can fine owners up to $10,000 per day for a continuing offense on top of the tax itself.⁹

Unpaid vacancy taxes are eventually added to the property’s outstanding tax balance in most jurisdictions. If the total debt goes unpaid long enough, the property can be sold at a tax sale to recover what’s owed, with interest and late charges accumulating along the way.

How to Appeal an Assessment

If you believe your property was incorrectly classified as vacant or the tax was calculated wrong, every city with a vacancy tax provides a way to contest it. The process is broadly similar: file a formal notice of complaint or appeal within a set deadline, submit documentation, and wait for review.

Toronto allows property owners to file a notice of complaint if they disagree with their assessment, with instructions provided on the notice itself.⁵ Appeals that turn on factual disputes are the strongest. Water bills, a signed lease, or medical records proving occupancy or an exemption give you a clear case.

Don’t let the appeal deadline pass while you gather evidence. You generally have to file within a specific window after receiving the assessment, even if supporting documents come later. Pay the tax or arrange a payment plan in the meantime to avoid accumulating interest; a successful appeal will result in a refund or credit.

1
DC Office of Tax and Revenue. Vacant Real Property
2
City of Oakland, CA. Vacant Property Tax (VPT)
3
City of Vancouver. Empty Homes Tax
4
Government of Canada. Underused Housing Tax (UHT)
5
City of Toronto. Vacant Home Tax
6
D.C. Law Library. D.C. Law 26-41 – Vacant to Vibrant Amendment Act of 2025
7
City of Toronto. Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 778 – Taxation, Vacant Home Tax
8
City of Toronto. 2025 Vacant Home Tax Declaration Period Now Open
9
City of Vancouver. Empty Homes Tax Enforcement and Penalties