From Bruce McKenna at the Canadian Commercial Real Estate Law Blog, is this piece on the increase Toronto’s Land Transfer Tax. Here is a copy of the Municipal Land Transfer Tax By-law from Toronto.ca.
I spend a fair amount time structuring transactions to avoid triggering the payment of transfer tax. Massachusetts has proposed closing some of those loopholes, but not taken any action. Maryland has a new law effective later this spring that extends the reach of that state’s transfer tax.