Why $700,000? Because it sits inside this catalogue’s real range — recorded from-prices run from the low $400,000s to over $1 million — and because a round price exposes the arithmetic. Everything below is the standard Ontario treatment of a new home bought from a builder to live in, outside Toronto, by a buyer who is not claiming a first-time-buyer refund. Where a first-time buyer changes a line, it is flagged. This is how the mechanics generally work — it is not tax advice for any specific purchase, and your lawyer’s statement of adjustments is the document that governs your closing.
Line 1: HST — $91,000 gross, $67,000 net of the Ontario rebate
New housing is taxable. Ontario’s HST is 13% — a 5% federal part and an 8% provincial part — so on a $700,000 price the tax is $91,000 before rebates ($35,000 federal + $56,000 provincial).
Two long-standing rebates can reduce it, and at this price they behave completely differently:
| Rebate | How it is calculated | At $700,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Federal new housing rebate | 36% of the 5% federal part, maximum $6,300, phased out entirely between $350,000 and $450,000 of price | $0 — fully phased out |
| Ontario new housing rebate | 75% of the 8% provincial part, capped at $24,000, with no reduction by purchase price | $24,000 |
The net HST line is therefore $91,000 − $24,000 = $67,000, for a buyer (or a qualifying family member) who will live in the home as a primary residence. Investors who will rent the unit follow a different rebate route (the new residential rental property rebate) with its own rules. Two more things change this line in real life: some prices in this catalogue are recorded on bases that already adjust for tax or rebates — records here are labelled, for example, “after rebate” or “taxes included in the price” — and relief programs for first-time buyers have been expanded recently on agreement-date-specific terms. Both are exactly why the price basis on each project record matters, and why the CRA page linked below is worth reading before signing, not after.
Line 2: Ontario land transfer tax — $10,475
Ontario charges land transfer tax on the price, at marginal rates:
| Slice of the price | Rate | Tax |
|---|---|---|
| First $55,000 | 0.5% | $275 |
| $55,000 – $250,000 | 1.0% | $1,950 |
| $250,000 – $400,000 | 1.5% | $2,250 |
| $400,000 – $700,000 | 2.0% | $6,000 |
| Total | $10,475 |
Eligible first-time buyers can claim a refund of up to $4,000 of that tax — which would bring this line to $6,475 — but the refund has its own conditions, so it is noted here rather than netted into the table. Toronto charges a second, municipal land transfer tax on top; a $700,000 purchase inside Toronto would carry both, which is why this worked example stays outside it.
Line 3: the Tarion enrolment fee — $1,610 plus HST
Every new home in Ontario is enrolled with Tarion, and the enrolment fee is set by sale-price band in Tarion’s published schedule. For a $700,000 sale price the fee is $1,610 plus HST under the schedule in force since September 1, 2025 (Registrar Bulletin 15, linked below). The builder pays Tarion; on most statements of adjustments the fee appears as a pass-through line to the buyer. Whether yours passes it through is in your agreement — check the adjustments schedule, because that is also where the next lines live.
The lines no honest table can fill in
- Development charges and levies. Set by the municipality and the agreement, not by any provincial table. Some agreements cap them; this catalogue’s records include a project whose published price list records development charges at $0, and others that say nothing at all. A capped figure in your agreement is a fact; an estimate from anyone else is a guess.
- Utility connection and meter charges. Charged by the local utilities and passed through — the amounts are property-specific.
- Legal fees and disbursements. Your lawyer’s pricing, not a tariff.
- Status, discharge and registration items. Small, real, and agreement-specific.
The total that can honestly be stated
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Net HST (after the Ontario new housing rebate) | $67,000 |
| Ontario land transfer tax | $10,475 |
| Tarion enrolment fee | $1,610 + HST |
| Subtotal — fixed, published lines | $79,085 + HST on the Tarion fee |
Everything after that subtotal is written in your agreement’s adjustments schedule and your lawyer’s hands — which is the actual lesson of the exercise. On a $700,000 pre-construction purchase, roughly $79,000 of closing cost is arithmetic anyone can check against the official pages below, and the remainder is negotiated paper. Buyers who read the adjustments schedule before signing know both numbers; buyers who don’t, meet the second one at closing.