My question is: Canadian-specific QUESTION: Dear David I was told recently that if you rent a live/work space in a commercially zoned area (i.e gastown) you can write off 70% of your rent? Are there other tax benefits from living in a live work space ? thanks BXXXXXXX --------------------------------------------------------------------------- david ingram replies If you do not use the space as a full time office or studio or the major source of income for you, you can NOT deduct anything. My personal record for making the deduction is/ was 80% after a fight with appeals. In that one, we proved that the taxpayer never slept there (he had a lady friend whose house he slept at and has since married), rarely ate there with the exception of guests and clients. In fact, He regularly let his out of town clients use the sleeping area. In spite of the fact that he did NOT use it as a residence period, they still took the bedroom area which he "could" have used and made it a personal portion. On the other hand, if he did not have a bedroom area and made it a 100% office, he could have deducted 100% which was what we had tried for in the first place. For most people who have their place set up as a working AND living space, I would think that 70% would be too high. For instance, if you use the bathroom at night when you live there, the dual use bathroom is not deductible. If you have a Television in a living area that you meet clients in but also use for your personal use at night, the dual use living room is not deductible. If you use the kitchen to prepare your own meals once a day and use it to make coffee and snacks for your clients six times a day, the dual use kitchen is not deductible. In other words, to deduct part of your home as a business decoction, it must be a dedicated area with no personal use period. Further, to deduct any space in your residence, you have to be making a profit. Offices / studios / workshops / storage / etc. in your personal residence, can only be used as a deduction against the business operating out of the space. You should come out to one of our "making your mortgage interest deductible" seminars. There is one TONIGHT as follows: (anyone can call (604) 731-8900 to register for a seat. Every Thursday evening Fred Snyder and I hold a free seminar at Fred's office at 1764 West 7th (corner of Burrard in the Spence Diamond building) in Vancouver. The topics are: Seg funds and an alternative to the traditional RRSP. Making your mortgage income tax deductible Critical Care insurance for disasters. coffee and sometimes cookies of course. Phone 604-731-8900 to reserve your seat -and, you are welcome to bring your brother, your sister, your mother or father, your children, your best friend, your worst enemy or your own financial advisor who hasn't explained how to make your mortgage deductible. AND Answers to this and other similar questions can be obtained free on Air every Sunday morning. Every Sunday at 9:00 AM on 600AM in Vancouver, Fred Snyder of Dundee Wealth Management and I, David Ingram host a LIVE talk show called "ITS YOUR MONEY" Those outside of the Lower Mainland will be able to listen on the internet at www.600AM.com <http://www.600am.com/> Local calls are taken at (604) 280-0600 and Long Distance calls are taken at 1( 866) 778-0600 Callers to the show are invited to attend free seminars on financial planning with such specialities as deductible mortgage interest. They are held at Fred Snyder's Office at 1764 West 7th in Vancouver - (604) 731-8900 for more information. ========================================= David Ingram's US/Canada Services US / Canada / Mexico tax, Immigration and working Visa Specialists US / Canada Real Estate Specialists 4466 Prospect Road North Vancouver, BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7 Res (604) 980-3578 Cell (604) 657-8451 (604) 980-0321 Fax (604) 980-0325 Email to taxman at centa.com <mailto:taxman at centa.com> www.centa.com <http://www.centa.com> www.david-ingram.com <http://www.david-ingram.com/> Disclaimer: This question has been answered without detailed information or consultation and is to be regarded only as general comment. Nothing in this message is or should be construed as advice in any particular circumstances. No contract exists between the reader and the author and any and all non-contractual duties are expressly denied. All readers should obtain formal advice from a competent and appropriately qualified legal practitioner or tax specialist in connection with personal or business affairs such as at www.centa.com <http://www.centa.com> . If you forward this message, this disclaimer must be included." Be ALERT, the world needs more "lerts" ============================== This from "ask an income tax and immigration expert" from www.centa.com <http://www.centa.com/> or www.jurock.com <http://www.jurock.com/> or www.featureweb.com <http://www.featureweb.com/> . David Ingram deals on a daily basis with expatriate tax returns with: multi jurisdictional cross and trans border expatriate problems for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, China, New Zealand, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Georgia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Scotland, Ireland, Hawaii, Florida, Montana, Morocco, Israel, Iraq, Iran, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mali, Bangkok, Greenland, Iceland, Cuba, Bahamas, Bermuda, Barbados, St Vincent, Grenada,, Virgin Islands, US, UK, GB, and any of the 43 states with state tax returns, etc. Rockwall, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston Texas Denmark, Finland, Sweden Norway Bulgaria Croatia Income Tax and Immigration Tips, Income Tax and ImmigrationWizard Income Tax and Immigration Guru Income Tax and Immigration Consultant Income Tax and Immigration Specialist Section 216(4) 216(1) NR6 NR-6 NR 6 Non-Resident Real Estate tax specialist expert preparer consultant expatriate anti money laundering money seasoning FINTRAC E677 E667 4789 4790 TDF-90 Reporting $10,000 cross border transactions ========================= Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Garland, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon. 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