If you bought a home in 2014 then chances are you had a whole lot of additional expenses aside from the actual purchase of the property itself. There were probably closing costs, real estate fees and maybe even moving expenses. These all add up, but with the excitement of buying a home the negative aspects of this sort of get swept under the carpet and forgotten about.
Now hopefully you are all settled in, and your next task at hand is getting all your documents together so you can file your taxes. What may be different for you this tax filing is perhaps the opportunity to claim an amount of $5,000. On line 369 of your tax return.
As usual there are some criteria you are going to have to meet to quality for this.
You and your spouse (or common law partner) purchased a home that qualifies, and you weren’t residing in a previous home that you or your spouse owned in the year that you bought it or the previous four years to this.
So first things first, before getting too excited about this $5,000 what actually qualifies as a home that is acceptable under this credit?
It can be either a single family home, or semi-detached. Also included are townhouses and mobile homes. Apartment and condo buyers are not left out as this can include your purchase. It can also include a home that is under construction.
The home must be registered in your name or in both you and your spouse’s(common law partner’s name, according to the land registration rules, and the home must be in Canada.
Now if you happen to have equity interest in a home here in Canada such as in co-operative housing it should qualify as well. If the share only allows you tenancy rights in the house then it will not qualify.
For those with disabilities that are looking at this credit, they do not have to be first time home buyers as outlined here. You must be eligible for the disability tax credit in order to qualify, or you must have purchased the home for the benefit of someone who does qualify for the disability tax credit.
If you are the disabled individual who qualifies then you must intend to occupy the home by making it your main residence no later than one year after you have purchased this property. The same applies if it were purchased on behalf of a disabled person.
Don’t forget to tell your accountant about your new home acquisition to determine if you are eligible for this credit. Also, if you relocated because of work speak to your Toronto accountant about this to see if you qualify for moving expenses.