What is service fee housing?

Service fee housing is an agreement between a municipality and a rental property owner (private or public) to pay a service fee instead of property taxes. Regardless of the amount of rent paid, the Income Tax Act provides that a renter living in service fee housing must calculate the property tax credit using only 10% of rent paid. Often, service fee housing is low income or senior citizen housing that can include an apartment or the rental of a single family home.

Note: It is the renter's responsibility to determine if the rental property is service fee housing before claiming a credit. Service fees are typically less than property taxes.

You can find out if a property is subject to service fee housing by contacting your city/township/village/county assessor's office.