Welcome Tax Calculator Magog 2026

The exact amount of your transfer duties based on your city's official rate grid, first-time buyer credit included, and city-to-city comparison.

Calculator 2026

Estimate your real estate transfer taxes

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2026 First-Time Buyer Tax Credit

Since April 2026, Quebec offers a refundable tax credit covering up to $5,875 of the welcome tax for eligible first-time buyers. The credit reimburses 100% of the tax on the first $5,000, then 25% of the slice up to $8,500. Three conditions apply: you must not have lived in a dwelling owned by you or your spouse during the year of acquisition or the 4 preceding calendar years, the property must be your principal residence, and the dwelling must be eligible. Retroactive to January 1, 2026; advance payment available from October 2026 for credits exceeding $1,000.

→ Read the full welcome tax credit guide

A stepped rate grid that stands out in the Eastern Townships

Magog's welcome-tax curve is built differently from most of its neighbours. Rather than jumping straight from the mid-range to the top municipal bracket, two transitional steps soften the climb on the western shore of Lake Memphrémagog — a mechanic worth understanding before you write your offer, especially in a market that has accelerated faster than the surrounding region.

A snapshot of the Magog market

According to the Century 21 Eastern Townships monthly market report, the single-family median in Magog climbed from $539,000 to $615,000 between October 2024 and October 2025 — a 14.1% year-over-year increase, while monthly sales rose from 58 to 77 transactions. That lift, sharper than the regional average for the Eastern Townships, pushes more closings into higher municipal brackets. It is worth weighing before you set a price ceiling for the downtown core, the Omerville sector, or the back roads of the former Magog township that hug the foothills of Mount Orford.

What moves the amount, and how Magog stacks up

The City's Taxation page confirms that the taxable base is always the greater of the price paid, the consideration stated in the deed, or the market value derived from the roll — that is, the roll value multiplied by the annual comparative factor. To see where your transaction lands, look up your address on the Magog interactive map or on the Acceo citizens portal (English). Any honest estimate starts there. On the grid side, Magog's structure parts ways with Sherbrooke, the regional hub, which jumps in a single step from the mid-range to the top municipal bracket. Magog inserts two transitional steps that smooth the curve before the top bracket kicks in, and that top kick-in lands at a later threshold than in most Eastern Townships municipalities. Compared with Mont-Tremblant, another resort destination, Magog's grid is more gradual: Mont-Tremblant inserts only one transitional step before its top bracket, where Magog uses two.

The 2023 Housing Policy and local programs

Magog adopted its first Housing Policy in fall 2023, with an objective of moving from 125 to 220 new housing units per year by the end of the decade. The companion bylaw requires at least 20% of new units in a rental project of five or more dwellings to be affordable, and provides a municipal subsidy to partially offset the lost revenue for affected developers. A separate bylaw frames the conversion of rental buildings into condominiums and the City's right of first refusal — a framework that shapes what gets built, who can buy, and ultimately who pays the welcome tax. The Programs and Subsidies page is worth a scan before signing, in particular for heritage renovation work downtown and the active housing measures the City refreshes as it rolls out its Housing Policy.

Payment, timing and the provincial home-access credit

Bylaw 2641-2017, amended by Bylaw 2788-2020, sets the upper municipal bracket mechanics. For payment, the City confirms on its Taxation page that bills below a set threshold are payable in a single instalment 30 days after the demand is mailed, while bills above the threshold are spread, since January 1, 2025, over three equal instalments at 30, 60 and 90 days — breathing room that does not exist in every Quebec municipality. Pay online through Acceo Transphère, through your bank under "Ville de Magog", or in person at city hall. Enrolling in the online tax account keeps the schedule and balance visible. Provincially, check eligibility for the new refundable home-access tax credit introduced by Revenu Québec: it applies across Quebec independently of municipal mechanics, and your notary will confirm eligibility at the deed.

Useful resources and contacts

Whether you are closing in Omerville, Cherry River, downtown, or along a back road in the former Magog township, keep these handy:

The calculator above gives a working estimate to help you budget; the official notice issued by Ville de Magog's Taxation service remains the document of record for final payment.

What is the transfer tax?

Commonly called the "welcome tax", the real estate transfer tax is a mandatory municipal tax collected when a property changes hands in Quebec. It is always paid by the buyer, never the seller, to the municipality where the building is located, in the months following the signing at the notary.

Is the welcome tax paid every year?

No. The transfer duty is paid only once, when the property changes hands. Do not confuse it with municipal and school taxes, which recur every year: the welcome tax is a single bill, sent by the municipality after the sale is registered in the Land Register.

How is the welcome tax calculated?

The calculation is based on the highest amount among the following:

  • The purchase price paid for the building;
  • The amount of the consideration entered in the deed of sale;
  • The market value of the building, meaning the value entered in the municipal assessment roll multiplied by the city's comparative factor.

This amount is then subject to a progressive rate scale that varies by municipality. In 2026, the first bracket (up to $62,900) is taxed at 0.5%, the next ones at 1% and then 1.5%, and several large cities add higher brackets (up to 4% in Montreal).

New construction: the tax base is the price before GST and QST.

Calculation example (2026)

For a property purchased in Montreal at a price of $600,000 (tax base):

  • $0 to $62,900 (0.5%) :$314.50
  • $62,900 to $315,000 (1%) :$2,521.00
  • $315,000 to $552,300 (1.5%) :$3,559.50
  • $552,300 to $600,000 (2%) :$954.00
  • Total to pay:$7,349.00

Calculated with the official rate grid in force in Montreal. Source: Ville de Montréal

Who is exempt from the welcome tax?

The Act respecting duties on transfers of immovables provides exemptions. The most common cases:

  • Transfer between spouses: married, in a civil union, or common-law partners who have lived together for at least 12 months (in case of separation, the transfer must occur within 12 months of the end of the union);
  • Transfer in the direct line: between parents and children or grandparents and grandchildren (but not between siblings);
  • Tax base under $5,000;
  • Transfer to a corporation in which the transferor holds at least 90% of the voting shares.

Even when exempt, the municipality may charge a special duty, generally capped at $200. The exemption must be recorded in the notarized deed: your notary claims it for you.

Not exempt? The 2026 first-time buyer tax credit can still refund up to $5,875 of your tax. See the first-time buyer credit guide

Why is it called the "welcome tax"?

The official name is "duties on transfers of immovables", introduced by a 1976 Quebec law allowing municipalities to collect this duty. The nickname is often attributed to Jean Bienvenue, Minister of Municipal Affairs at the time ("bienvenue" means "welcome" in French), but the expression mostly owes its success to its irony: a "welcome" billed to the new owner. Both terms refer to exactly the same tax.

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