The Manitoba government will begin mailing education property tax rebate cheques in the next week to the owners of residential, farm and commercial properties in Manitoba.
“Our government promised to start phasing out the education property tax in 2021, which will return nearly $250 million this year to Manitobans who own homes, farms and businesses,” said Finance Minister Scott Fielding. “The education property tax phase-out represents the largest tax savings in Manitoba history and protects Manitobans’ hard-earned incomes by offering much-needed tax relief.”
Budget 2021: Protecting Manitobans, Advancing Manitoba committed $248 million in education property tax rebates to the owners of approximately 658,000 eligible properties, based on municipal assessment information. Depending on the municipality, owners of multiple properties may receive one combined bill.
To provide property owners their rebate as soon as possible, the government has passed new legislation and will begin the printing and mailing process in the week ahead. Manitobans do not need to apply for the rebate, as the province will calculate the amount and automatically mail cheques before the municipal property tax due date.
In 2021, home and farm owners will receive a 25 per cent rebate, which will increase to 50 per cent in 2022. Other property owners will see a 10 per cent rebate this year. The average rebate will be an estimated $1,140 per property over the next two years. The province will also reduce various related credits and rebates to ensure all property owners are paying 25 per cent less on residential and farm properties, regardless of whether they qualify for existing credits and rebates.
“By keeping our promise to begin phasing out the education property tax this year, we are fulfilling our $2,020 Tax Rollback Guarantee one full year ahead of schedule,” said Fielding. “We are modernizing Manitoba’s tax structure and this rebate will be paid for entirely by government so it will not affect funding to schools.”
The minister noted Manitoba is the only province that uses school property taxes, which are set locally by each different municipality, to fund the education system. The rebate will not impact the amount of school taxes that fund local school divisions.
The legislation also makes a change to the Residential Tenancies Act to freeze the rent increase guideline at zero per cent in 2022 and 2023.
