Published 7 September 2026 · By Jatin Dua, Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty
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Get My Free Estimate →They are different numbers built for different purposes. Current Value Assessment is the value MPAC assigns for property taxation, based on a legislated valuation date rather than on today’s market. Market value is what a buyer would pay now. At the top of the market the two can diverge substantially, in either direction.
CVA matters for two things in particular. It is the base for your municipal property tax, and it is the base for Toronto’s Vacant Home Tax at 3% of Current Value Assessment from the 2024 taxation year onward. What it is not is a valuation you should use to price a listing or make an offer.
Two numbers, two purposes
| Current Value Assessment | Market value | |
|---|---|---|
| Produced by | MPAC, for taxation | The market, or an appraiser |
| As at | A legislated valuation date | Today |
| Method | Mass appraisal across large numbers of properties | Property-specific analysis |
| Used for | Property tax; Toronto Vacant Home Tax | Listing, offers, financing, estates |
| Reliable for pricing? | No | Yes, when properly done |
Mass appraisal is the important phrase. Assessment is produced across enormous numbers of properties at once, which works acceptably for uniform housing stock and works badly for the unusual, the very large and the heavily improved — which describes most of the luxury market.
Where the number genuinely bites
Property tax
Your municipal tax bill is calculated on Current Value Assessment. At the top of the market this is a substantial recurring number, and it is one of the costs buyers most often fail to include when comparing two properties.
Toronto’s Vacant Home Tax
This is where CVA becomes seriously expensive. Toronto’s Vacant Home Tax is 3% of Current Value Assessment from the 2024 taxation year onward, up from 1% at launch in 2022.
| Current Value Assessment | Vacant Home Tax at 3% per year |
|---|---|
| $2,000,000 | $60,000 |
| $3,000,000 | $90,000 |
| $5,000,000 | $150,000 |
Why assessments drift from the market at the top end
- Sparse comparable data. The same problem that defeats automated models defeats mass appraisal.
- Improvements the assessment has not captured. A major renovation changes market value immediately and assessment on a different schedule.
- Land attributes weighted crudely. Frontage, table land, ravine exposure and view are what drive top-end value and are hard to encode at scale.
- Timing. Assessment is anchored to a legislated valuation date. The market is not.
When to consider an appeal
If your assessment is clearly out of line with genuinely comparable properties, the reconsideration process is worth using — not because it changes what your house is worth, but because it changes what you pay every year, and because it changes the base for any vacant home tax exposure. Confirm the current process and deadlines directly with MPAC.
The practical takeaway
Never use your assessment to price a listing or an offer — it is built for a different job. Do use it to calculate your annual property tax and, critically, your vacant home tax exposure if the property will ever sit unoccupied. And file the declaration every single year, without exception.
Frequently asked questions
Is my MPAC assessment my home’s value?
No. Current Value Assessment is calculated for property tax purposes as at a legislated valuation date, not as at today. Using it as a market value — in either direction — is one of the most common errors homeowners make.
What does my assessment actually affect?
Your municipal property tax bill, and in Toronto the Vacant Home Tax, which is charged at 3% of Current Value Assessment for the 2024 taxation year onward. Those are the two places the number has real financial consequences.
How much is Toronto’s Vacant Home Tax on a luxury home?
Three per cent of the property’s Current Value Assessment annually. On a property assessed at $3,000,000 that is $90,000 a year. Every residential property owner must file an annual declaration of occupancy status; failing to declare defaults the property to vacant.
What is the penalty for not declaring?
Failing to declare results in the property being deemed vacant and the tax being applied. A false declaration or failure to provide required information carries a penalty of up to $10,000, in addition to the tax itself.
Can I appeal my assessment?
Yes, through MPAC’s Request for Reconsideration process and, where applicable, the Assessment Review Board. It is worth doing where the assessment is clearly out of line with comparable properties, since it directly affects both your tax bill and any vacant home tax exposure.
Should a buyer look at the assessment?
As context, yes — it tells you what the annual property tax will be and what the vacant home tax exposure would be if the property were ever unoccupied. As a guide to what to offer, no.
Thinking about buying or selling at the top end?
Send me the address, or the shortlist you are considering. I will tell you what the property is actually worth today, what the land is worth without the house, what the transfer tax and carrying costs will be, and whether the deal makes sense. Confidential, always.
connect@jatindua.com · 437-987-1925 · Book a free consultation
Confidential. Read personally and answered within 24 hours. I never share, sell or distribute your information.
Related reading
- Toronto’s vacant home tax at 3%: what it costs on a luxury home
- How luxury homes are actually valued in Toronto
- Closing costs on a $5 million Toronto home: the full line-by-line
- Vacant home taxes in Ontario compared
Sources
Everything above that is a rule, a rate or a published number comes from these. Verify anything that matters to your own deal.
About the author — Jatin Dua, Broker of Record
I’m the Broker of Record at RE/MAX Quantum Realty, 799 The Queensway in Etobicoke, and I work with buyers, sellers and investors across Toronto and the west GTA. A large part of my work sits in the upper end of the market, where the comparables are thin, the rules are heavier and the cost of a wrong number is measured in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The free estimators on this site are mine. I built them because the first question every owner asks is “what is it worth?” and the honest answer starts with a number you can check yourself. connect@jatindua.com or 437-987-1925.