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Municipal
Capped Assessment Program (CAP)
The CAP is a Provincial program to help protect property owners against the effects of sudden and dramatic increases in the market value of their property. The program limits the amount of taxable assessment that municipalities can use to calculate your property taxes.
The CAP is a result of legislation passed by the Nova Scotia legislature in May 2004. This program came into effect with the 2005 assessment and was amended in subsequent years.
All property in Nova Scotia continues to be assessed at market value.
Municipalities will use your capped assessment value when calculating your property taxes. Contact your municipality for more information on your property taxes.
CAP Percentage
Under the Assessment Act the CAP is set at the Nova Scotia Consumer Price Index. For 2012, the CAP rate is set at 3.9%.
CAP Eligibility
Eligibility Criteria
If there is no Taxable CAP Value indicated on the assessment notice, property owners should contact the PVSC Office. In order to be eligible for the CAP a property must:
- Be at least 50% owned by a Nova Scotia resident (residency is defined as someone who lives in Nova Scotia no less than 183 days a year
- Be classed as taxable residential or taxable vacant resource property
- Have a market value increase that exceeds the CAP, excluding construction
- Be owned by the same person or transferred to certain close relatives such as a spouse, child, grandchild, great grandchild, parent, grandparent, brother or sister. The property may also be owned by or transferred to family trusts or farm cooperatives
- If a condo, be owner-occupied
- Mini-homes, mobile homes, mobile home parks, co-operative housing and the residential portion of commercial farms are also eligible
- Classified as taxable residential with less than 4 dwelling units or taxable vacant resource
Impact of construction
Construction is defined as additions/renovations to the property that were not assessed in the previous year. The value associated with construction is not capped in the year that it is added to the assessment roll.
Purchasing a property
The provincial CAP legislation states that if you purchase a home and the property does not stay within your family (see above definition for family sale) your property taxes will be based upon the market value assessment for the following year. In the following year, if you meet all the eligibility requirements, your assessment will be included in the CAP program.
More information is available on the Provincial Government web site at:
http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/muns/cap.asp
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