Home owners tips are important to save money on renovations and repairs to your investment.
Here are some amazing home owners tips to take advantage of valuable tax rebates if you need to undergo any renovations, repairs, or even a brand new build.
Each year there are new federal, provincial and municipal programs to support homeowners who need or want to make upgrades to their homes. But many homeowners end up leaving this money on the table. Don’t miss out! Let’s take a look at the rebates and tax credits that are currently available to home owners. For 2022, this is no different, there are multiple rebates and tax credits available to homeowners.
First, let’s start with one of the best home owners tips – the Substantial Home Renovation Rebate.
SUBSTANTIAL HOME RENOVATION REBATE
If you have substantially renovated your principal residence within the last two years, and you’ve had to hire a builder, contractor, or other skilled trades, you could be entitled to a tax free housing rebate of up to $24,000 from the government – regardless of your personal income or the market value of the home.
This rebate specifically applies to principal residence only or on cottages that have been substantially renovated and will be used as a principal residence upon completion.
To qualify for this rebate, you must own the home or own the home with a group of people. It can’t be owned by a company. If owned by a group, then only one person can apply for the rebate. You must apply for the rebate within two years of completing renovations on the property, however, technically a home owner has up to four year retroactively to apply as it could take up to two years to complete then two more years to claim upon completion. You can apply for this rebate when the work is 90% complete. Once completed, the tax-free rebate cheque should arrive, directly, to you, in four to five weeks.
CUSTOM HOME REBATE
There is also a custom home rebate which includes most of the same points as those listed above and with a $24,000 tax-free rebate. This rebate applies to modular homes, homes or cottages torn down and rebuilt as the home owners primary residence, and new custom homes built on a vacant parcel of land.
Moving along to more great home owners tips! They don’t just apply to home owners living in the home, but also to those of you who have invested in a rental property. Next up, let’s review the Investment Property Rebate.
INVESTMENT PROPERTY REBATE
If you have bought a newly built (aka never been lived in before) house or condo within the last two years and planned to rent it out, then you can apply for an investment property rebate to obtain up to $30,000.
To qualify, as the home owner, you must apply for this rebate within two years of the closing date; otherwise, you’re no longer eligible for the claim. Flips are not included.
Now, if you bought the property to use personal and decided to leverage it as a rental property instead, then you can still apply for this rebate through your builder. This also reduces the price of the home to the purchaser and related taxes owed by the builder.
On the flip side, if you decide to rent out the property instead of living it, then chances are you’ll receive a tax bill from the government reflecting that this rebate has been applied to the purchase price of the property. As an investor, you’ll need to apply for this rebate to offset this bill from the CRA (again, within two years).
Home owners tips don’t stop there. Let’s take a look at an energy efficiency rebate next.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY REBATE
Before you undergo any home renovations to your primary residence or to your investment property, you could be entitled to and eligible for rebates related to energy efficient upgrades up to $5,000. These can apply to air sealing, boilers, furnaces, insulation, skylights, water heaters and/or windows.
PROPERTY TAX REBATES
Did you know that there are also property tax rebates available?
These home owners tips are among these least known about and can apply in the following situations:
– if a home was destroyed or is unusable due to fire, demolition etc.
– the tax class for the property has changed such as converting a commercial property to a residence.
– there were repairs/renos that were undertaken during the year which prevented the owner or tenant from living in it for at least three months.
– if the home owner (taxpayer) is unable to pay their taxes due to extreme poverty or illness.
Next to fire, water is one of the most potentially damaging elements that a home can face. Due to the severe weather we’ve experienced in recent years, across Ontario, many municipalities are upgrading storm water management and drainage systems – not only to protect the environment but also to help prevent flooding to properties.
Credit – Bay Ward Bulletin
BASEMENT FLOODING PREVENTION SUBSIDY
To support and promote these initiatives, several cities/towns are offering a Basement Flooding Prevention Subsidy to make it easier and also more affordable for home owners to make the necessary improvements to reduce flooding risks posed by severe rainstorms. Sewers can also become overloaded due to extra water in downspouts, weeping tiles, drains in foundations as well as sump pumps that are connected to sanitary sewers.
At this time, funding is available in Brantford, Cornwall, Durham & Peel Regions, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Niagara Falls, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, Toronto and Vaughan.
These subsidies and funding initiatives vary but are generally offered for downspout removal, sewer back up valves, sump pumps as well as weeping tile removal.
Now, what if you are a non-resident home owner? Then these home owners tips to follow are especially important for you.
NON-RESIDENT SPECULATION TAX REBATE
The Non-Resident Speculation Tax (NRST) is a 15% tax charged on residential property purchased in the Golden Horseshoe Area if you’re not a citizen or a permanent resident of Canada or to foreign corporations/taxable trustees. This tax is applied in addition to the Land Transfer Tax so it can have a considerable impact on the cost of a property.
To obtain a rebate of the NRST, the following situations must apply.
– within four years of the date of purchase/acquisition, you became a permanent resident of Canada
– you were enrolled in school continuously for two years from the date of purchase at an approved institution for at least 60% of a full course load
– you have worked full-time with a valid work permit for at least one year continuously (no less than thirty hours per week and no less than 1,560 hours of paid work in a year)
To qualify for the NRST rebate, then you as the foreign national must own the property (alone or with a spouse) and occupied it for the duration of the period that begins within sixty dates after purchase or acquisition.
There are also a few great rebate programs related to energy conservation and the environment. Home owners tips don’t stop at renovations, repairs or new builds!
HOME ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM
The Home Energy Conservation Program (HEC) is funded by Ontario’s Green Investment Fund. This particular program helps home owners improve energy efficiency with $1,600 in incentives and is run by Enbridge. This includes eligible appliances, HVAC and home energy updates. For more details, go to https://enbridgesmartsavings.com/ to see if you could be eligible.
This brings us to the last rebate I’d like to share for my home owners tips – the Home Accessibility Tax Credit (HATC).
HOME ACCESSIBILITY TAX CREDIT
This is a non-refundable tax credit that helps support seniors and individuals with a disability with a rebate on mobility renovations for their home for up to $10,000 in qualifying expense. These can include new ramps, bathroom renovations, elevators, stair lifts and more.
If you are 65 years or older, or claim the disability tax credit then you qualify for the HATC program for eligible renovations on your principal residence.
If you plan on making a permanent change to your home, like removing a staircase in place of a ramp or installing an accessible bathroom on the main floor you qualify for the HATC.
I hope you’ve found all of these home owners tips to be helpful. If you feel you may need some added support on any of these rebates, you can consider working with a company called Access Rebates – https://accessrebates.ca.
If you liked this article, you may also find this article on curb appeal and this one on home safety tips to be useful.
If you don’t plan to renovate or repair your home, but could be thinking about a move, I’d love to help. I can be reached at 647.896.6584, by email at info@serenaholmesrealtor.com or by filling out this simple contact form.
For more, make sure you’re following me on social @serenaholmesrealtor and are subscribed to my YouTube channel.
