A problem that could have been avoided

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/05/2025 (308 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s an issue causing economic harm and anxiety for many Manitoba homeowners, with its impact being felt throughout the province well into next year. The worst part is that it was entirely avoidable.

Last week, it was revealed that many Manitobans did not receive the Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit on their 2025 property tax bills. The new credit of up to $1,500 replaced the previous 50 per cent education property tax rebate.

In order to have the rebate applied to a particular property tax bill, the taxpayer must own the property, it must be their principal residence and be assessed as a single residential dwelling, and the homeowner cannot be receiving the credit on any other home in the province.

If all those requirements are met, the taxpayer must also register the home as their principal residence via a “Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit self-declaration.” You don’t get the credit against your property taxes unless you sign that piece of paper and deliver it your local government.

Most Manitobans were never told about that requirement. Or, if they did somehow find out about it, the deadline for ensuring it would reduce this year’s property tax bill had already expired. There was no media campaign that told homeowners about the registration requirement and deadline, and many only found out about the requirement in the past few days. Others still don’t know.

Those who haven’t received the rebate on this year’s property tax bill for their principal residence can claim the tax credit on their 2025 income tax return. In the meantime, they must pay their property tax bill (without a discount for the rebate) before the deadline in order to avoid a late payment penalty.

This is a serious problem for several reasons. First, there is no cogent explanation why many homeowners have received the rebate on their tax bills despite not filling the required declaration, while others have not. I received the rebate on my property tax bill even though I did not file a declaration, while my son did not receive the rebate because he also failed to do so.

Second, many Manitobans are still struggling with affordability challenges and a sudden increase in their property tax bill makes life much harder. Third, an income tax credit via a tax return that will be filed sometime next spring does not solve a cash crunch that is happening right now. Beyond that, an income tax credit is far less valuable for low-income Manitobans than an up-front rebate.

Fourth, many homeowners who pay their property taxes as part of their mortgage payments are suddenly finding out that their respective payments will be much higher because of the absence of the rebate. If the taxpayers can’t afford the higher payment, they could face foreclosure proceedings.

Fifth, school divisions across the province will be receiving extra tax revenue that should have been subject to the rebate ($1,500 per property), yet will have no way of knowing how big the overpayment is until homeowners claim the income tax credit next year. The province will likely claw that extra money back from divisions, almost all of whom are strapped for cash.

Sixth, this year’s rebate process creates a mess for the provincial government’s books, in that it was first announced in the previous fiscal year, is being rolled out in the current fiscal year, but the total amount of income tax credits paid to Manitoba homeowners won’t be known until well into the next fiscal year. That complicated reality has huge implications for the province’s deficit calculations for the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years.

All of those problems — and all of that anxiety — could have been avoided if the province had simply notified Manitobans that they must file paperwork by a certain date in order to qualify for the rebate on this year’s property tax bills.

They didn’t do that, but there is an obvious solution to the problem: permit those Manitobans who failed to file the necessary declaration to do so when they pay their taxes this year, and apply the $1,500 rebate or reduction to their respective property tax bills at that time.

And, after doing that, do a better job of warning homeowners next year.

Deveryn Ross is a political commentator living in Brandon.

deverynrossletters@gmail.com X: @deverynross