Real estate rental property
If you own property and rent it as a
source of revenue, the income or loss
must be reported on your tax return. If a
net rental loss results, it can generally be
deducted against other sources of income
for the year. Expenses you incur to earn
rental revenue can generally be deducted
against this revenue. These expenses
can include mortgage interest, property
taxes, insurance, maintenance and repairs,
utilities, advertising and management fees.
automobile expenses, keep a record of your
total kilometres and business kilometres
driven in the year.
and property tax.
Car allowance
You may claim the costs of operating a car,
including capital cost allowance, if you’ve
driven it for business purposes and/or it’s
available for business use.
If you’re required to use your own car
for business, the reasonable per-kilometre
allowance you’re paid is not taxable. But
you must record the distance you travel.
Otherwise, the allowance is not considered
reasonable and must be included in your
income.
If
your employer
d o e s n ’ t
Automobile
The total cost of a car on which you can
claim capital cost allowance is generally
restricted to $30,000 plus goods and services
tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) and
provincial sales tax (PST). Related interest
expense is limited to $300 per month for
cars acquired after 2000. If you lease your
car, you can generally deduct lease costs of
up to $800 per month, plus GST/HST and
PST.
You cannot deduct car expenses if you’re in
receipt of a tax-free per-kilometre allowance,
which is excluded from your income. If you
received the allowance but your reasonable
business-related car expenses exceed this
amount, consider including the allowance in
income and deducting the expenses.
Child-care expenses
Business
expenses
In
general
terms,
a l l
reasonable expenses you incur to earn
business income are deductible in computing
business income for tax purposes. However,
there are
provide
a tax-free perk i l o m e t r e
allowance, or if you include your allowance
in income because it’s not reasonable, you
may be able to deduct certain car expenses
when calculating your income.
some specific restrictions:
Home office
• For business meals and entertainment,
you can generally only claim a maximum
of 50% of the expenses as a business
expense.
If you work from your home, you may be
able to claim limited home office expenses.
This is possible if you perform most of
your employment duties from your home
workspace, or you use the home workspace
exclusively for job-related purposes and
regularly for meetings with customers,
clients or others.
• If you use your car for your business, you
can claim business-related operating
costs, including fuel, maintenance, repairs,
licence and insurance. In addition, you can
claim depreciation or lease costs subject
to prescribed maximum amounts. Keep
in mind that the business portion of these
expenses will generally be computed by
reference to business kilometres over
total kilometres driven in a year.
Driving between your home and your
business premises is not considered
business travel. To support your claim for
Vg;uy; 15
The only expenses you may deduct are a
proportionate share of rent relating to your
home office and, if you own the home, a
proportionate share of maintenance costs,
such as utilities, cleaning supplies and
minor repairs. As a homeowner, you cannot
deduct notional rent, mortgage interest,
insurance or property tax, unless you’re a
commission salesperson, in which case you
may be able to deduct part of your insurance
Only the lower-income spouse or partner
can deduct child-care expenses, unless they
were infirm, confined to an institution, living
separately because of a marital breakdown,
or in full-time attendance at a designated
educational institution in the year.
The deduction limit is $7,000 for each child
under the age of seven and $4,000 for those
aged seven to 16, inclusive. And if the child
is eligible for the disability tax credit, the
limit is $10,000. The total deduction cannot
exceed two-thirds of the claimant’s earned
income.
► Ensure that all child-care payments for
the year will be made by 31 December.
► Retain receipts supporting child-care
expenses indicating the recipient’s name
and, where applicable, social insurance
number.
► If you’re a single parent attending
school, you may be entitled to claim a childcare expense deduction against any source
of income.
Child tax benefit
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