Not a day goes by that I'm not asked a variation of this question, "How much HST do I have to pay if I Sell (or Buy) a house.

The answer is, "It depends".  

Firstly, it depends whether you are buying or selling. If you are selling, you only have to pay HST on the commission you pay to your Realtor.  So, if your home sells for $250,000 and your commission is 6% the government's piece of your pie will be 13% of $15,000, which is $1,950.  This $1,200 more than you would have paid prior to July 1st, 2010. (Commission has always been subject to GST)

Now, if you are a Buyer of real estate, you don't need to worry, unless you're planning to purchase a new home.  Just like the GST, the HST applies to new construction only, not resale homes.  

The good news for New Home Buyers is, just like the GST you get a rebate on the HST.  

Here's how it works:  We all know that HST is a combination of the GST (5%) and the PST (8%).  The rebate on New Home Construction is divided into the two parts and calculated separately.  The GST portion, has not changed, you still get the rebate, which you assign back to the builder, whom in turn, burys it into the price of the home.  The PST portion is calculated in a similar fashion. The Government will rebate back to you, 75% of this portion of the HST - not bad!  

So, to keep it simple, PST was 8% and 75% of that is 6%, which means that you will only be paying an extra 2% on that new home.  Not only that, but your builder will calculate the tax and the rebate, and build it into the sticker price on your new home - just like the builders have always done with the GST.

Here's the rub:  There is a cap on the amount of that new rebate - it's $24,000 and since that rebate represents 6% of the total cost of the home, the maximum home value for which you can claim the rebate is $400,000.  Every dollar above $400,000 that you spend for your new home will be taxed at 13% - ouch!

My Name is Rob Thompson and I'd like to be your REALTOR.

Thanks for listening.