QUESTION:
Hello David, I currently own a rental property and would like to demolish, build and move in, so it becomes my primary residense before I sell it. The house has been a rental property for the past 7 years. My question is how will the Capital Gains be treated by the government, over the 7 years it was claimed as a rental property, when I sell the new house as it becomes my primary residense? Thanks
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
david ingram replies:
This is the second time I have answered this. somehow or
other the half hour answer disappeared in the sending the first
time.
1. When you move into a rental property, it
triggers a deemed disposition and any increase in value of the property becomes
taxable on schedule 3 and line 127 of your T1 tax return.
2. If you have been claiming CCA (Capital
Cost Allowance) (depreciation) on the building part and the building has
maintained its real value or gone up in value, then you must add the CCA
'recaptured' on to your last rental T776 schedule and pay tax on
it.
3. If you did NOT claim CCA, you
will not have to pay tax on the recaptured amount AND, AND, AND you will be able
to defer paying tax on the amount of Capital Gain you reported on line 127 under
Section 45(3) of the tax act.
What you do is get a separate piece of paper and
write
"Under section 45(3) of the Income Tax Act, I hereby elect to
defer paying tax on the deemed disposition of the property at:
123 XXX Street
XXXXXXXX, XX
Canada X1X 1X2
until the property is actually sold"
Then you put the amount of capital gain on the deemed
disposition on line 256 of the return and write Section 45(3) beside the number
256 as an explanation.
Then when you sell the house ten or fifteen years later,
you have to remember to add that amount back on to line 127 of that year's tax
return and pay tax the year of the actual sale.
Any gain between the deemed sale value and what you
actually sell it for is tax free as your principal residence
UNLESS.
You are just moving in to make it look like your
principal residence because you think it will all be tax
free.
If you are building this new house to make money and only
moving in to make it look like a tax free principal residence or to avoid the BC
homeowners warranty program, the CRA will tax you on the profit at normal
tax rates.
You should go to www.centa.com, click on TAX
GUIDE in the top left hand box and then click on the Capital Gains Section. Although
written 16 years ago, it is still apropos regarding all these rules. In
fact the taxable part of capital gains went from 50% to 66 2/3% to 75%, down to
66 2/3% and is now back at 50% since it was written.
The following will also help explain when a house you live in
is tax free, taxable as a capital gain, and fully taxable.
My question is:
Canadian-specific
QUESTION: If I bought and moved into a house and decide 6 months later that
I don't like it and sell that house to move elsewhere do I attract capital
gains on the sale of my home?
=================================
david ingram replies:
And how high is up?
If you bought a house to resell any profit is taxable at ordinary income
rates unless you can get it into another category.
If you bought a house or cabin to rent or use as a second home and decide
ten years later to sell it for some reason or other, it is likely a capital
gain.
If you buy a house and decide to sell it in six months, you can expect that
the CRA "might" try and tax you at full rates unless you can show that the
house was truly your principal residence and that you sold it for reasons
other than making a profit.
reasons might be:
1. You lost your job
2. The school your child goes to is just not any good
3. You cannot stand your neighbour
4. You get divorced
5. you are transferred to another city
6. You are pregnant and need a bigger house
7. My favourite was a couple who ended up in a battle with organized
druggies and sold out in fear of their lives.
However, if you bought a fixer upper and fix it up and sell it and buy
another fixer upper around the corner and your kids keep on going to the
same school and you shop at the same stores and catch the same bus, etc.,
you will be paying straight tax.
The US is different. In Canada it is "all" tax free as a principal
residence or taxable. In the USA, you have to have lived in the home for 2
out of the last five years to claim up to $250,000 tax free per person. If
you sell before the 24 months is up for a good reason - death of a spouse
job transfer, job loss, etc. - then you can prorate the $250,000 by
multiplying $250,000 by the number of months you were in it divided by 24
(12 months would be $125,000 for instance).
-----------------
QUESTION: If I bought and moved into a house and decide 6 months later that
I don't like it and sell that house to move elsewhere do I attract capital
gains on the sale of my home?
=================================
david ingram replies:
And how high is up?
If you bought a house to resell any profit is taxable at ordinary income
rates unless you can get it into another category.
If you bought a house or cabin to rent or use as a second home and decide
ten years later to sell it for some reason or other, it is likely a capital
gain.
If you buy a house and decide to sell it in six months, you can expect that
the CRA "might" try and tax you at full rates unless you can show that the
house was truly your principal residence and that you sold it for reasons
other than making a profit.
reasons might be:
1. You lost your job
2. The school your child goes to is just not any good
3. You cannot stand your neighbour
4. You get divorced
5. you are transferred to another city
6. You are pregnant and need a bigger house
7. My favourite was a couple who ended up in a battle with organized
druggies and sold out in fear of their lives.
However, if you bought a fixer upper and fix it up and sell it and buy
another fixer upper around the corner and your kids keep on going to the
same school and you shop at the same stores and catch the same bus, etc.,
you will be paying straight tax.
The US is different. In Canada it is "all" tax free as a principal
residence or taxable. In the USA, you have to have lived in the home for 2
out of the last five years to claim up to $250,000 tax free per person. If
you sell before the 24 months is up for a good reason - death of a spouse
job transfer, job loss, etc. - then you can prorate the $250,000 by
multiplying $250,000 by the number of months you were in it divided by 24
(12 months would be $125,000 for instance).
-----------------
My question is: Canadian-specific
QUESTION: Hi,
If we buy a fixer-upper to renovate and flip without renting it out what are the allowable expenses for deductions?
Thanks
____________________________________________________________________
QUESTION: Hi,
If we buy a fixer-upper to renovate and flip without renting it out what are the allowable expenses for deductions?
Thanks
____________________________________________________________________
david ingram replies:
In general anything you spend to do the fixing is a
deduction from the final sale profit. This would include but is not
limited to:
materials, subcontractors, legal, accounting, real
estate commissions, surveyors, appraisals, interest on the mortgage, interest on
a building loan, interest on material loans (maybe because you used a credit
card to buy), truck expenses to get supplies and transport tools, afvertising,
utilities, photography, landscaping, trash removal, dumping fees, building
permits, architects fees, engineering fees, home inspection fees, insurance,
helpers, etc.
Remember that any profit is taxable at straight
income rates on line 135. Flipping or renovating does NOT create capital
gains tax. The following older Questions will explain that a
bit.
______________________________________________________________________
DAVID
A "friend" who is a BC realtor and has the
flipping question presented to her
from time to time recently attended a seminar that was related to this
subject. As a result she was able to provide me with some interesting
thoughts to ponder concerning "intent" and "professional background" when it comes to "flipping houses"
and tax in Canada. You may possibly be looked at as a Developer all the
subsequent implications.
Read the full article at <http://tax.centa.com/comment.php?mode=view&cid=8>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
david ingram replies:
In Canada, the purchase and sale of any piece of real estate with or without
renovations is considered a sale and subject to straight income tax unless:
1. It was bought for and clearly used as your personal residence and was
intended to be used for an indefinite period of time which is usually in the
five to ten year range.
2. It was bought as and used as a recreational property
3. It was bought for the purposes of earning long term rental income.
In the case number 1, there is no tax.
In the case of numbers 2 and 3, the sale is treated as a capital gain and
only fifty per cent of the profit is taxed at your regular tax rates.
Lots of / many (anyone caught) are taxed full tax rates when they buy a
house, move in, fix it up and sell it a year or two later and then do
another one.
Of course, most are NOT caught in these circumstances.
However, "any" flip is going to be straight income unless the person can
prove that they bought it to live in and then:
* married a person with three children and it is not big enough (had to sell
and bought bigger)
* were transferred to another city (had to sell to buy in new city)
* lost their job, were injured, etc. and can no longer afford to move in. In
this case, they would have to show that they had the finances to have paid
for it when they bought it. (Not only can they not afford it but they have
moved into their parents' basement (boomeranged).
* Inherited a house from their parents and do not need it any more. (are
living in the new house)
You can read more by going to www.centa.com - click on tax guide in the top
left hand corner and then click on the "capital gain" section.
david
This older q & A also gives an idea
My daughter is closing on a presale Yaletown condominium this summer. She
is working until Christmas in Alberta. She returns to Vancouver from Jan to
May and if the job becomes a full time position, then she may return to
Alberta to live. At the time of presale, February 2004, we thought that the
suite would be assigned to her and that she would live in the suite.
I was hoping that she could declare the suite as her permanent residence
since she is only renting in Alberta and the work is not permanent. In
May 2007, she could decide to keep or sell the suite.
What does she need to do in order to qualify the suite as her permanent
residence?
-----------------------------------------
david ingram replies:
There is no absolute answer because you can call a toad a frog all day long
but it is still a toad.
To be a principal residence and tax free for income tax purposes, the
property must have been bought by her to live in and she HAS TO move into
it. - No exceptions that I know of.
You can expect that the CRA will be looking at "every" quick resale in EVERY
downtown building.
In deciding if it is a capital gain or a flip, the CRA will be looking at
the suitability of the unit as a residence, the ability to pay for the unit
and past and even future performance.
In other words if she claimed this one as a principal residence and then did
it again a year later, the CRA would have every right to go back and
reclassify the first one.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
from time to time recently attended a seminar that was related to this
subject. As a result she was able to provide me with some interesting
thoughts to ponder concerning "intent" and "professional background" when it comes to "flipping houses"
and tax in Canada. You may possibly be looked at as a Developer all the
subsequent implications.
Read the full article at <http://tax.centa.com/comment.php?mode=view&cid=8>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
david ingram replies:
In Canada, the purchase and sale of any piece of real estate with or without
renovations is considered a sale and subject to straight income tax unless:
1. It was bought for and clearly used as your personal residence and was
intended to be used for an indefinite period of time which is usually in the
five to ten year range.
2. It was bought as and used as a recreational property
3. It was bought for the purposes of earning long term rental income.
In the case number 1, there is no tax.
In the case of numbers 2 and 3, the sale is treated as a capital gain and
only fifty per cent of the profit is taxed at your regular tax rates.
Lots of / many (anyone caught) are taxed full tax rates when they buy a
house, move in, fix it up and sell it a year or two later and then do
another one.
Of course, most are NOT caught in these circumstances.
However, "any" flip is going to be straight income unless the person can
prove that they bought it to live in and then:
* married a person with three children and it is not big enough (had to sell
and bought bigger)
* were transferred to another city (had to sell to buy in new city)
* lost their job, were injured, etc. and can no longer afford to move in. In
this case, they would have to show that they had the finances to have paid
for it when they bought it. (Not only can they not afford it but they have
moved into their parents' basement (boomeranged).
* Inherited a house from their parents and do not need it any more. (are
living in the new house)
You can read more by going to www.centa.com - click on tax guide in the top
left hand corner and then click on the "capital gain" section.
david
This older q & A also gives an idea
My daughter is closing on a presale Yaletown condominium this summer. She
is working until Christmas in Alberta. She returns to Vancouver from Jan to
May and if the job becomes a full time position, then she may return to
Alberta to live. At the time of presale, February 2004, we thought that the
suite would be assigned to her and that she would live in the suite.
I was hoping that she could declare the suite as her permanent residence
since she is only renting in Alberta and the work is not permanent. In
May 2007, she could decide to keep or sell the suite.
What does she need to do in order to qualify the suite as her permanent
residence?
-----------------------------------------
david ingram replies:
There is no absolute answer because you can call a toad a frog all day long
but it is still a toad.
To be a principal residence and tax free for income tax purposes, the
property must have been bought by her to live in and she HAS TO move into
it. - No exceptions that I know of.
You can expect that the CRA will be looking at "every" quick resale in EVERY
downtown building.
In deciding if it is a capital gain or a flip, the CRA will be looking at
the suitability of the unit as a residence, the ability to pay for the unit
and past and even future performance.
In other words if she claimed this one as a principal residence and then did
it again a year later, the CRA would have every right to go back and
reclassify the first one.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Ingram wrote:
On January 29, 2008, David Ingram wrote:
It is very unlikely that blind or unexpected email to me will be answered. I receive anywhere from 100 to 700 unsolicited emails a day and usually answer anywhere from 2 to 20 if they are not from existing clients. Existing clients are advised to put their 'name and PAYING CUSTOMER' in the subject line and get answered first. I also refuse to be a slave to email and do not look at it every day and have never ever looked at it when I am out of town. e bankruptcy expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax service and help
However, I regularly search for the words"PAYING CUSTOMER" and
always answer them first if they did not get spammed out. For the last two
weeks, I have just found out that my own email notes to myself have been spammed
out and as an example, as I wrote this on Dec 25, 2007 since June 16th, my
'spammed out' box has 47,941 unread messages, my deleted box has 16645 I have
actually looked at and deleted and I have actually answered 1234 email questions
for clients and strangers without sending a bill. I have also put aside
847 messages that I am maybe going to try and answer because they look
interesting. -e
bankruptcy expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax
service and help
Calls welcomed from 10 AM to 9 PM 7 days a week Vancouver (LA) time - (please do not fax or phone outside of those hours as this is a home office) expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax service help.
$1,700 would be for two people with income from two countries
Catch - up returns for the US where we use the Canadian return as a guide for seven years at a time will be from $150 to $600.00 per year depending upon numbers of bank accounts, RRSP's, existence of rental houses, self employment, etc. Note that these returns tend to be informational rather than taxable. In fact, if there are children involved, we usually get refunds of $1,000 per child per year for 3 years. We have done several catch-ups where the client has recieved as much as $6,000 back for an $1,800 bill and one recently with 6 children is resulting in over $12,000 refund.
David Ingram expert income tax service and immigration help and preparation of US Canada Mexico non-resident and cross border returns with rental dividend wages self-employed and royalty foreign tax credits family estate trust trusts income tax convention treaty advice on bankruptcy
It is very unlikely that blind or unexpected email to me will be answered. I receive anywhere from 100 to 700 unsolicited emails a day and usually answer anywhere from 2 to 20 if they are not from existing clients. Existing clients are advised to put their 'name and PAYING CUSTOMER' in the subject line and get answered first. I also refuse to be a slave to email and do not look at it every day and have never ever looked at it when I am out of town. e bankruptcy expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax service and help
Therefore, if an email is not answered in 24 to 48 hours,
it is likely lost in space. You can try and
resend it but if important AND YOU TRULY WANT OR NEED AN ANSWER from 'me', you
will have to phone to make an appointment. Gillian Bryan generally accepts
appointment requests for me between 10:30 AM and 4:00 PM Monday to Friday
VANCOUVER (Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles) time at (604) 980-0321.
david ingram
expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax
service and help.
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My Home office is at:
david ingram's US / Canada Services
US / Canada / Mexico tax, Immigration and working Visa Specialists
US / Canada Real Estate Specialists
My Home office is at:
4466 Prospect Road
North Vancouver, BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7
Cell (604) 657-8451 -
(604) 980-0321 Fax (604) 980-0325
North Vancouver, BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7
Cell (604) 657-8451 -
(604) 980-0321 Fax (604) 980-0325
Calls welcomed from 10 AM to 9 PM 7 days a week Vancouver (LA) time - (please do not fax or phone outside of those hours as this is a home office) expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax service help.
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
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Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax service and
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David Ingram gives expert income
tax & immigration help to non-resident Americans & Canadians from
New York to California to Mexico family,
estate, income trust trusts Cross border, dual citizen - out of
country investments are all handled with competence &
authority.
Phone
consultations are $450 for 15 minutes to 50 minutes (professional hour). Please
note that GST is added if product remains in Canada or is to be returned to
Canada or a phone consultation is in Canada. ($472.50 with GST if in
Canada)
expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income
Tax service and help.
This is not intended to be definitive but in
general I am quoting $900 to $3,000 for a dual country tax
return.
$900 would be one T4 slip one W2 slip one or two
interest slips and you lived in one country only (but were filing both
countries) - no self employment or rentals or capital gains - you did not move
into or out of the country in this year.
$1,200 would be the same with one rental
$1,300 would be the same with one business no
rental
$1,300 would be the minimum with a move in or out
of the country. These are complicated because of the back and forth foreign tax
credits. - The IRS says a foreign tax credit takes 1 hour and 53
minutes.
$1,600 would be the minimum with a rental or two in
the country you do not live in or a rental and a business and foreign tax
credits no move in or out
$1,700 would be for two people with income from two countries
$3,000 would be all of the above and you moved in
and out of the country.
This is just a guideline for US / Canadian
returns
We will still prepare Canadian only (lives in
Canada, no US connection period) with two or three slips and no capital
gains, etc. for $200.00 up.
With a Rental for $400, two or three rentals for
$550 to $700 (i.e. $150 per rental) First year Rental - plus
$250.
A Business for $400 - Rental and business likely
$550 to $700
And an American only (lives in the US with no
Canadian income or filing period) with about the same things in the same range
with a little bit more if there is a state return.
Moving in or out of the country or part year
earnings in the US will ALWAYS be $900 and up.
TDF 90-22.1 forms are $50 for the first and $25.00
each after that when part of a tax return.
8891 forms are generally $50.00 to $100.00
each.
18 RRSPs would be $900.00 - (maybe amalgamate a
couple)
Capital gains *sales) are likely $50.00 for
the first and $20.00 each after that.
Catch - up returns for the US where we use the Canadian return as a guide for seven years at a time will be from $150 to $600.00 per year depending upon numbers of bank accounts, RRSP's, existence of rental houses, self employment, etc. Note that these returns tend to be informational rather than taxable. In fact, if there are children involved, we usually get refunds of $1,000 per child per year for 3 years. We have done several catch-ups where the client has recieved as much as $6,000 back for an $1,800 bill and one recently with 6 children is resulting in over $12,000 refund.
This is a guideline not etched
in stone. If you do your own TDF-90 forms, it
is to your advantage. However, if we put them in the first year, the computer
carries them forward beautifully.
This from "ask an income trusts tax service and immigration
expert" from www.centa.com or www.jurock.com or 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, United Kingdom, Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Thailand,
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