Choosing a real estate accountant
When it comes to real estate accounting services, you want the right professionals working with your business to deliver real estate tax knowledge that supports your best interests. While assessing the best fit for a new real estate accountant, it’s important to choose an industry specialist over a generalist. Why? Because those who live and […]
Short-term rentals: Top GST/HST questions answered
Short-term rentals have seen a noticeable increase in popularity the last few years. Whether people decide to rent out their homes while on vacation, buy a block of properties to use for AirBnB, or share their cottage on the weekends, the demand for short-term and weekend getaways is ever-present. Plus, there’s often more money to […]
Ontario Housing Supply Action Plan: Positive changes for real estate developers and rental providers
The Ontario government Ontario Housing Supply Action Plan proposed changes to address barriers getting in the way of a new rental and ownership properties on May 2, 2019. Recommendations of industry experts like BILD and OHBA influenced this new government policy. The recommendations are centered on themes of speed, cost, mix, rent, and innovation. Overall, […]
B.C. condo registry: What can property owners expect?
In an effort to address housing affordability in British Columbia, and catch unreported tax revenues in the condo market, the provincial government has introduced a real estate condo registry. The condo registry was created to regulate pre-sale property flipping and help reduce tax evasion in the B.C. real estate market. Our real estate and construction […]
2019 Federal Budget: Impact on real estate and construction
Like many other industries, those in real estate and construction are affected by the 2019 Federal Budget update. A general synopsis of the budget can be found here. Many business owners and investors are aware of the seemingly never-ending series of budget deficits. This is particularly ironic given that government and other organizations encourage Canadians […]
U.S. tax reform & real estate: Tips for Canadian investors
Given the U.S. tax reform in 2018, we’ve been providing extensive advice on U.S. purchases being made by Canadian real estate investors. Indeed, they are by far the largest investors into U.S. real estate, contributing roughly USD$20 billion per year. So they must ensure they’re properly navigating the U.S. Tax Reform changes to protect these […]
What to watch with trust agreements and GST/HST New Housing Rebates
The need to carefully consider who is entitled to the GST/HST New Housing Rebate has been emphasized in recent court cases involving trust agreements. A trust agreement is an agreement between two parties where one party has done something on behalf of the other. We see these agreements in real estate where an individual has […]
Real estate audits – CRA renews its focus on the industry
We have been warning for many years now that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has been placing a renewed focus on real estate audits. These real estate audits can cover real estate investors, realtors, developers, and contractors, among others, across the country. This is resulting in a significant uptick in taxes and penalties for those […]
Cottage or vacation property rentals and GST/HST
As we head into vacation season, we often get questions related to GST/HST on cottage or vacation property rentals using services such as Airbnb. For example: “I purchased a cottage that is closing on June 1st. I plan to rent this out for short-term rentals on Airbnb. I am also planning to turn another cottage […]
Limited Partnerships: GST/HST Changes Proposed
Is a limited partnership part of your real estate business structure? If so, changes may be coming to your GST/HST obligations. The 2018 Federal Budget will impact GST/HST and its application on limited partnerships (LP) that are now defined to be “investment limited partnerships”. Investment limited partnerships, or ILPs, are a newly defined entity. Last […]
