What improvements to your home are tax deductible?

If you use your home solely as your personal residence, you cannot deduct the cost of home improvements. These costs are non-deductible personal expenses.

What improvements to your home are tax deductible?

If you use your home solely as your personal residence, you cannot deduct the cost of home improvements. These costs are non-deductible personal expenses. The gain is calculated using the owner's base or your total financial investment in the property at the date of sale, which includes the price paid for the home and any improvements you have made during the years you owned your home. The two basic requirements that qualify home office improvements for a tax deduction are regular and exclusive use of space and that your home be the primary place of your business.

Eligible applicants must have been 65 years of age or older by the end of the tax year in which the renewals were completed. People with disabilities and those over 65 can request a deduction on their annual income tax return for certain renewals. Improvements that benefit your entire home are depreciable based on the percentage of home office usage. To qualify for depreciation of home improvement costs, you must use a portion of your home that is not a personal residence.

One way to devalue home improvement costs is to own a business and use a part of the house as an office for the business. Even if you don't plan to sell your home next year, it's important to thoroughly document any tax-deductible home improvements you make along the way so you can get the most out of your money when the time comes. However, the base of your home does not include the cost of improvements that were later removed from the home.

Home renovation

tax credits allow you to deduct a portion of your renewal expenses from your taxes.

When it comes to home renovations, there are a lot of things you can do to earn that extra coin, and many Canadians are taking that leap to improve their home. Energy-efficient renovations, such as solar panels, are not a cheap investment, so it's good that they give you tax credits for doing them. The Government of Canada has implemented certain fiscal measures to help Canadian families when they renew. While garden-variety home improvements won't give you a tax deduction right now, they could be helpful in reducing taxes if and when you sell your home.