Such property may be considered a principal residence of the individual under Canadian law if all of the other requirements of the
definition of a principal residence are met.
When you determine whether you are a first - time homeowner you must take into account any previous ownership
of a principal residence by your spouse.
Included in a package of measures to slow down the housing market was a new rule requiring people to report the
sale of a principal residence on their tax return starting in 2016.
One of the more significant changes occurred in 1982 when spouses could no longer each claim a principal residence exemption which enabled a «double - up»
of the principal residence exemption.
Tax specialists and policy makers speculate that a possible plan would allow a capped amount to be tax - free on the sale
of your principal residence with any proceeds over this amount to be taxed as capital gains in your tax bracket at the time of sale.
As discussed above, paragraph (c. 1) of the definition
of principal residence in section 54 of the Act enables a trust, in effect, to claim the principal residence exemption if very specific conditions are met.
When you move
out of your principal residence and rent it out rather than sell it, the property has what CRA calls a «change in use» — it becomes a rental property used to generate rental income, rather than a principal residence with no income.
If you change all or
part of your principal residence into a rental property, or move into a rental property that you own, you will be considered to have disposed of all or part of the property at the time you change its use from either personal to business or business to personal, as the case may be.
FHA Energy Efficient Mortgage: A program that provides mortgage insurance for the purchase or
refinance of a principal residence that incorporates the cost of energy efficient improvements into the loan.
The designation of a property as a principal residence is a significant and important financial planning tool because the CRA allows you to shelter the profits earned on the sale
of a principal residence from taxes owed.
(For more on the
basics of the principal residence exemption and how the sale of property doesn't always produce a capital gain see my Home Owner column in the June 2013 issue of MoneySense.)
If a written binding contract was entered into by a taxpayer before December 15, 2017 to close on the purchase
of a principal residence before January 1, 2018, the old rules will apply if the home is purchased before April 1, 2018.
Concurrent with the Department of Finance's announcement, the CRA announced significant changes to its administrative position regarding the
reporting of principal residence dispositions.
The definition
of principal residence also contains a size restriction on the immediately contiguous land to the housing unit (not to exceed a half hectare unless the taxpayer can establish that any excess was necessary for the use and enjoyment of such property — the courts are littered with cases where the taxpayer has argued that the excess land is necessary for the use and enjoyment of the property).
An individual who was a non-resident of Canada in the year of the
acquisition of the principal residence property will no longer be able to automatically add «1» to the number of «principal residence» years in the calculation of the proration as discussed above.
While Quebec does not currently have legislation in place to implement a foreign buyers tax, it says it is monitoring the sale of property to and by foreign purchasers by tracking the
locations of their principal residences.
The booming stock market and the $ 500,000 capital gains tax exclusion on the sale
of a principal residence play a role, too, says Steve Goddard, RE / MAX — Beach Cities Realty, Manhattan Beach, Calif..
In general, the adjusted tax
basis of a principal residence is the cost of the property (i.e., what you paid for the property when you first purchased it), plus amounts paid for capital improvements, less any depreciation and casualty losses claimed for tax purposes.
Tax specialists and policy makers speculate that a possible plan would allow a capped amount to be tax - free on the sale
of your principal residence with any proceeds over this amount to be taxed as capital gains in your tax bracket at the time of sale.
This enhancement will ensure you retain your Claims Free Discount when your policy renews after you have had one claim arising
out of your principal residence and its contents.