Principal Issues: Has CRA maintained a registry of certificates, issued by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in respect of multi-unit residential buildings?
Position: No
Reasons: Program is completed.
July 6, 2005
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The Honourable John McCallum, Minister of National Revenue, has asked me to reply to your email of March 5, 2005, regarding information on the Multiple Unit Residential Building (MURB) registry.
The MURB provisions in the Income Tax Regulations were introduced in 1973 as tax incentives to stimulate investment in multiple-unit rental properties. In order for a building to be eligible for the incentives, a certificate had to be issued by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in respect of that building. CMHC maintained a registry of the certificates until such time as the program ended in 1987, at which time the certificates were transferred to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for storage.
Since the program had already ended, it was decided that the CRA should not incur the extra expense of maintaining a registry. The individual certificates were eventually matched and filed with the tax records of the registered building owners. It should be noted that the owners in question were not necessarily resident in the province where the building was erected. Accordingly, there is no longer a means of determining which buildings qualified under the program.
I regret not being able to provide you with the information that you were seeking; however, you will agree that the inherent cost would not warrant the maintenance of a registry for what has long been a defunct program.
Ed Gauthier
Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Tax and Regulatory Affairs
Policy and Planning Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
c.c.: Minister's Office
Political Assistant
Luisa A. Majerus, CA
(613) 832-3488
June 21, 2005
2005-012063