Principal Issues:
What is eligible for the home renovation tax credit?
Position:
None.
Reasons:
General comments provided based on budget documents.
XXXXXXXXXX
April 1, 2009
Dear XXXXXXXXXX :
The office of the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, forwarded to me a copy of your email, which I received on February 5, 2009, regarding the new home renovation tax credit (HRTC).
Presently, there is no proposed legislation regarding the new HRTC introduced in the federal budget tabled on January 27, 2009. However, the Honourable James M. Flaherty, Minister of Finance, announced in Annex 5 of the budget documents that expenditures will qualify if they relate to a renovation or an alteration of an eligible dwelling, including land that forms part of the eligible dwelling, and the renovation or alteration is of an enduring nature and is integral to the eligible dwelling. Such expenditures would include the cost of labour and professional services, building materials, fixtures, equipment rentals, and permits.
For example, the following expenditures will be eligible for the HRTC:
- Renovating a kitchen, bathroom, or basement
- New carpet or hardwood floors
- Building an addition, deck, fence, or retaining wall
- Purchasing a new furnace or water heater
- Painting of the interior or exterior of a house
- A new driveway or resurfacing a driveway
- Laying new sod
More information on the credit is available on the Canada Revenue Agency Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/hrtc and on the Department of Finance Canada Web site at www.budget.gc.ca/2009/pamphlet-depliant/pamphlet-depliant3-eng.asp and at www.budget.gc.ca/2009/plan/bpa5a-eng.asp#personal.
I trust that the information I have provided will be helpful.
Sincerely,
Jean-Pierre Blackburn, P.C., M.P.
Louise J. Roy
(613) 946-3499
2009-030953
February 17, 2009