{"id":2096,"date":"2016-03-25T14:42:32","date_gmt":"2016-03-25T18:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/steveroblin.com\/?p=2096"},"modified":"2023-11-28T16:21:20","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T21:21:20","slug":"homeownertaxbreaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/steveroblin.com\/homeownertaxbreaks\/","title":{"rendered":"Tax breaks available to renters, homeowners and first-time buyers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Canada\u2019s red-hot housing market continues to heat up, but that hasn\u2019t stopped the government from offering up a few incentives, too.<\/p>\n

\u201c20 years ago none of these (credits and incentives) were there,\u201d says Brian Quinlan, accountant and partner at\u00a0Campbell Lawless LLP<\/a>.
\nNow, the government is offering all sorts of goodies to help Canadians with their living situation \u2013 be it renters, first-time home buyers or homeowners.
\nYahoo Canada Finance<\/em>\u00a0took a look at the different credits and incentives you don\u2019t want to skip over when filing this season\u2019s taxes.
\nRenters<\/strong>
\nWhile there\u2019s no specific federal income tax deduction or tax credit, rent may qualify for provincial tax credits and benefits for lower income individual or families.
\n\u201cIn Ontario, it is part of the Ontario Trillium Benefit (OTB)\u2026 cheques are sent out quarterly and amounts received are not taxable,\u201d says Quinlan.
\nOTB payments are based on the previous year\u2019s income tax return. To figure out if you\u2019re eligible use the provincial government\u2019s\u00a0
calculator<\/a>.
\nBut it\u2019s not just Ontario says Gerry Vittoratos, a tax specialist at\u00a0
UFile<\/a>.
\n\u201cIn Manitoba it\u2019s a pure tax credit on your return based on rent you\u2019ve paid as well,\u201d explains Vittoratos. \u201cIn Quebec it\u2019s similar to Ontario.\u201d
\nMoving along<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/span>
\nIf you moved at least 40 km to take courses as a full-time student at a post-secondary program, you can deduct\u00a0
expenses<\/a>\u00a0incurred from transportation and storage costs as well as the cost of cancelling a lease for your old residence and travel expenses like vehicle rentals, meals, accommodation and temporary living expenses.
\nThe moving expenses deduction applies to both first-time home buyers and homeowners who have moved that year, says Vittoratos.
\n\u201cA lot of people don\u2019t realize if they\u2019re moving for the purposes of the job they can claim moving expenses as well,\u201d he says.
\nHomeowners get the added bonus of deducting any costs to maintain the old residence (up to a maximum of $5,000) when it was vacant after they moved provided they\u2019ve made a reasonable effort to sell the home during that time.
\nAccording to the CRA, this includes \u201cinterest; property taxes; insurance premiums; and cost of heating and utilities expenses.\u201d
\nFirst-time home buyers<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/span>
\n\u201cThere are several things that could be applicable to home buyers,\u201d says Vittoratos. \u201cThe most obvious one is the home buyers\u2019 amount which is a non-refundable tax credit of $5,000 on the return \u2013 but what you\u2019re getting as a tax credit is really 15 per cent of that amount which is $750 dollars.\u201d
\nThe point of the Home Buyer\u2019s Tax Credit (HBTC) is to assist first-time home buyers with the costs associated with the purchase of a home like legal fees, disbursements and land transfer taxes, which can be crushing, especially after saving for a down payment. It\u2019s calculated by multiplying the lowest personal income tax rate for the year \u2013 which is 15 per cent \u2013 by that $5,000 credit.
\n\u201cThe only catch is you have to meet the CRA definition of a first time home buyer,\u201d says Vittoratos.
\nIn other words, you or your spouse or common-law partner have to have acquired a qualifying home \u2013 which is single-family, semi-detached houses, a townhouse, mobile home, condo or apartment \u2013 and haven\u2019t \u201clived in another home owned by you or your spouse or common-law partner in the year of acquisition or in any of the four preceding years.\u201d
\n\u201cIt can\u2019t be a cottage \u2013 it has to be the principal place of residence,\u201d he adds.
\nYou can also take up to $25,000 out of an RRSP tax free to fund your purchase provided you begin repaying it the second year after the year you take it out.
\nGenerally, you have up to 15 years to repay.
\nHome office\u00a0<\/strong>
\n\u201cWhether you rent or own, if you have your own business you can deduct certain expenses based on only the portion of the home you are using for the business,\u201d says Vittoratos.
\nBut the rules are strict.
\nTo claim a portion of your home as a home office, 51 per cent of the time you\u2019re in that space it must be used for business. After figuring out what percentage of your home\u2019s total square footage that room makes up, you can deduct that percentage of the cost of electricity, heating, maintenance, property taxes and home insurance if you own.
\n\u201cHowever you cannot deduct mortgage interest or capital cost allowance,\u201d he says. \u201cBut it\u2019s not just limited to business owners, it\u2019s also salaried employees or commission employees who have a home office \u2013 a renter can deduct heat and hydro but they can\u2019t claim the rent that they\u2019re paying.\u201d

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SOURCE: \u00a0yahoofinance.ca<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Canada\u2019s red-hot housing market continues to heat up, but that hasn\u2019t stopped the government from offering up a few incentives, too. \u201c20 years ago none of these (credits and incentives) were there,\u201d says Brian Quinlan, accountant and partner at\u00a0Campbell Lawless LLP. Now, the government is offering all sorts of goodies to help Canadians with their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts","category-resources"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTax breaks available to renters, homeowners and first-time buyers - Steve Roblin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/steveroblin.com\/homeownertaxbreaks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tax breaks available to renters, homeowners and first-time buyers - Steve Roblin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Canada\u2019s red-hot housing market continues to heat up, but that hasn\u2019t stopped the government from offering up a few incentives, too. \u201c20 years ago none of these (credits and incentives) were there,\u201d says Brian Quinlan, accountant and partner at\u00a0Campbell Lawless LLP. 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