How Property Taxes Are Calculated in New Brunswick

A New Brunswick property tax bill can look like a pile of numbers, yet it comes from a short formula. Once you know which number is the assessment, which are the rates and which is just an account number, the amount owing makes much more sense.

This article explains each part, using the province's published rates, and points out where your own bill may differ.

This article covers the law of New Brunswick.

The basic formula

Service New Brunswick assesses each property annually with values as of January 1, local governments set their rates in the fall, and bills go out in early March. The bill combines local and provincial rates, each applied per $100 of assessed value.

The formula is: tax owed = (assessed value ÷ 100) × (local rate + provincial rate).

As a provincial-only example on a $200,000 assessment, 2,000 × $0.5617 = $1,123.40, before any credit and before the local rate is added. Your local rate then adds to that figure.

Where the assessed value comes from

Property is assessed at its real and true value as of January 1 of the year preceding the assessment year.

That means your assessment reflects values from an earlier date rather than today's market.

The provincial and local rates

Provincial residential rates for 2024 to 2026 are $0.5617 or $1.0345 per $100 of valuation, depending on the property category in the Assessment Act, and the non-residential rate is $1.8560 per $100.

Municipalities set the local residential rate. Non-residential local rates must be between 1.4 and 1.7 times the residential rate through 2026, and from 2027 the upper limit is 2.0 times. An additional tax of $0.0194 per $100 applies from 2011 in municipalities, rural districts and rural communities.

• Provincial rate: set in the Real Property Tax Act.
• Local rate: set by your municipality and varies from place to place.
• Additional tax: $0.0194 per $100 in the places named in the Act.

Credits and special cases

Owner-occupied primary residences get the Residential Property Tax Credit, which reduces the provincial rate to $0 on the first 0.5 hectares of land around the home. Non-owner-occupied residential property is taxed at the higher provincial rate.

There is also a tax deferral program for seniors, aged 65 or older, who receive the residential credit. Whether you qualify depends on your circumstances, so confirm the details before relying on it.

Yearly property tax is different from transfer tax

If you are buying a home, you may meet a second tax that is separate from your yearly bill. For deeds tendered on or after April 1, 2016, the Real Property Transfer Tax is 1% of the greater of the consideration for the transfer or the assessed value of the real property. It is payable by every person who tenders a deed for registration in the province, and it must be paid before the deed is registered.

Here, assessed value means the value of the property at the time of registering a deed, taken or extrapolated from the current assessment list, so a price below assessment does not lower the tax. For example, a price of $300,000 with an assessed value of $250,000 gives tax on $300,000, which is $3,000, while a price of $200,000 with the same assessed value gives tax on $250,000, which is $2,500. The tax is rounded to the nearest dollar, with fifty cents treated as one dollar.

• For a partial interest in property, the transferred share's percentage is applied to the assessed value.
• No transfer tax is payable on certain instruments, including leases under 25 years, wills, certain transfers from estates to beneficiaries or heirs, and transfers to registered charities.
• The Act as read has no first-time buyer exemption.
• Where a deed can be registered in more than one registry office, the tax is payable only once, on the first transfer tendered.

The 1% rate was lower in earlier years: 0.5% from June 1, 2012 to March 31, 2016, and 0.25% before that. Those lower rates are kept for agreements for sale or purchase signed before the dates the Act specifies, so an older agreement may be treated differently from a recent one. How these rules apply to a particular purchase depends on the facts, so it is worth confirming with a lawyer.

What the PAN is, and what to do next

The PAN is the Property Account Number used for assessment and taxation. It is separate from the PID, which is a land-parcel or map identifier. You can search assessment information online through Service New Brunswick's Property Assessment Online using address, PAN or PID.

Land Titles is a parcel-based registration system that uses a Parcel Identifier (PID) to uniquely identify parcels of land and to record interests in that land. Describing land by its approved PID is a sufficient description for every transaction, instrument or proceeding relating to it.

Each person in whose name real property is assessed must pay the taxes on it, and taxes are due when the real property tax notice is mailed. Unpaid amounts attract penalties set by regulation.

• Find the assessed value, PAN and rates on your bill.
• Divide the assessed value by 100 and multiply by the combined rate to check the total.
• Confirm whether the Residential Property Tax Credit is applied if you live in the home.
• If you are buying, ask your lawyer how the current year's taxes will be handled at closing.
• If the assessment looks wrong, ask a lawyer how to challenge it.

Frequently asked questions