Canada’s New Tax Law on Home Sales: What You Need to Know

A recent Canadian tax law aims to curb speculative real estate sales by penalizing homeowners who sell a property within 365 days of purchase. Introduced in the 2022 federal budget and effective from January 2023, this law requires that any profit from such a sale be reported as business income, making it ineligible for the primary residence exemption. This could result in significant taxes, ranging from 28% to 53% of profits, depending on the seller's income bracket.

Exemptions to the Law

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) offers exemptions for homeowners forced to sell due to one of nine specified circumstances, including:

• Death, illness, or disability

• Marriage breakdown

• Job relocation or involuntary job loss

• Safety concerns or property expropriation

These exemptions are intended to support Canadians facing unavoidable challenges.

Additional Impact on Pre-Sale Condos and Assignments

The new rules also apply to pre-sale condos, where assignment sales are now subject to HST. Under the new policy, the CRA no longer needs to prove the seller intended to flip the property; any sale within a year automatically qualifies as business income unless an exemption applies.

CRA Monitoring and Penalties

The CRA has four real estate audit teams focused on high-risk areas in Ontario and British Columbia to ensure compliance. Non-compliance can lead to steep penalties, including a 50% surcharge on the tax owed and interest if false information is filed.

Tips for Homeowners

To avoid being taxed as a business, homeowners who want to sell should wait until after the 365-day mark to benefit from the primary residence exemption. Selling on day 366 could save substantial tax costs.

2024 Budget: Changes to the Non-Resident Speculation Tax (NRST)

With the recent release of the 2024 Ontario budget, the province is making some changes to the Non-Resident Speculation Tax (NRST). The NRST is the tax on the purchase or acquisition of an interest in residential property located anywhere in Ontario by individuals who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada or by foreign corporations or taxable trustees.

Effective March 27, 2024, the following changes include:

• The rebate application deadline for foreign nationals who become permanent residents of Canada has been extended from 90 to 180 days.

• The NRST will now apply to the standalone purchase of a parking space or storage unit. Previously this only applied if the spaces were coupled with the purchase of a residential unit.

Changes were made to the qualifying rules for rebates and exemptions under the NRST:

• A purchaser must intend to occupy the home as their principal residence within 60 days of their purchase date.

• A purchaser must occupy the home as their principal residence until a rebate application is filed to remain eligible for a rebate.

• Enrolment or Employment for the international student/worker rebates must begin within 30 days of home purchase. (The rebates have been eliminated but transitional provisions allow applications until March 31, 2025).

• Spousal status must be obtained on or before the date of home purchase to be eligible for the exemption or rebate.

• Exemptions and rebates are not available if a foreign entity who is not on title acquires a beneficial interest in the home.

View the Ministry of Finance Letter on Changes to the NRST for more details. For further information on the Non-Resident Speculation Tax, click here.

Toronto's Vacant Home Tax

As of January 1st, 2023, Toronto has now implemented a “vacant home tax”, directed at properties that are not occupied for at least 6 months of the year.

What you need to know:

Residential properties in Toronto that are unoccupied for more than six months (cumulative) in a calendar year, may be subject to the new City of Toronto's Vacant Home Tax (VHT), unless they meet one of the exemptions. The VHT was created to improve the supply of housing in the city.

1. A declaration form will need to be completed by property owners by February 2, 2023.

2. A property is considered vacant if it is not the principal residence of the owner or any permitted occupants or was not occupied by tenants for at least six months during the previous calendar year or is otherwise deemed to be vacant under the bylaw.

3. The tax is 1 per cent of the current value assessment (CVA) of the home.

4. Exemptions include principal residence, death, repairs, units undergoing major renovation, owner is in care or hospital, court order, transfer of legal ownership and occupancy for full-time employment is in place.

When Buying or Selling:

The Vacant Home Tax has implications for property transactions, both for purchasers (buyers) and vendors (sellers):

• It is the responsibility of buyers and sellers to make the appropriate arrangements to ensure that the declaration has been filed.

• The Vacant Home Tax will form a lien on the property, and any unpaid taxes will become the buyer’s responsibility.

• If a closing occurs between January 1 and the closing of the declaration period on February 2, the seller must complete the declaration prior to the closing, as only the seller will know the property’s occupancy status for the prior year.

• If a closing occurs after the declaration period – February 3 to December 31 – the buyer must submit a declaration in the following year. The buyer qualifies for the “transfer of legal ownership” exemption.

• The seller should provide a copy of the completed and filed property status declaration to the buyer.

• The seller should provide a statutory declaration at closing confirming the filed property status declaration is true and correct.

The goal of the VHT is to increase the supply of housing by discouraging owners from leaving their residential properties unoccupied. Homeowners who choose to keep their properties vacant will be subject to this tax.

Did you sell your residence in 2016? The CRA wants to know.

If you sold your principal residence in 2016, you need to be aware of new reporting requirements on this years Tax Returns.  On October 3rd, 2016, the CRA changed the reporting requirements when selling your home.  The intention of this new requirement, is to better track home-sales for capital gains purposes, especially when dealing with non-resident sales, home 'flippers' and renovators, tracking unreported GST/HST on new home sales, and unreported worldwide income.

From the CRA:

"When you sell your principal residence or when you are considered to have sold it, usually you do not have to report the sale on your income tax and benefit return and you do not have to pay tax on any gain from the sale. This is the case if you are eligible for the full income tax exemption (principal residence exemption) because the property was your principal residence for every year you owned it.

Starting with the 2016 tax year, generally due by late April 2017, you will be required to report basic information (date of acquisition, proceeds of disposition and description of the property) on your income tax and benefit return when you sell your principal residence to claim the full principal residence exemption."

Make sure you are informed when filing this years taxes - more details can be found on the Canada Revenue Agency website.

Toronto's New Land Transfer Tax - Effective March 1st, 2017

City of Toronto Council has approved changes to the Toronto Land Transfer Tax that mean additional Toronto Land Transfer Tax costs for some home buyers with a closing date on or after March 1, 2017, when it will be harmonized with the provincial LTT.

The following changes to the Toronto Land Transfer Tax were considered and approved by Toronto City Council on February 15, 2017. The changes are effective AS OF MARCH 1, 2017, for real estate transactions closing on or after this date:

• Added an additional LTT of 0.5% of the value of a residential or non-residential property from $250,000 to $400,000 (an additional $750)
• Added an additional LTT of 0.5% of the value of a residential property above $2 million
• Added an additional LTT of 0.5% of the value above $400,000 of a non-residential property
• Increasing the maximum allowed First-Time Home Buyer Rebate to $4,475, up from $3,725
• Amended the first-time home buyer rebate program eligibility rules to restrict rebate eligibility to Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada

More details on the Toronto Land Transfer Tax, and an online calculator can be found here.