old fat biker bloke

Saw a post somewhere (can't find it now) that indicated folk get spanked with 'a tax' if they sell their house but are no longer on Canadian ice, sorry, I mean soil.

Can anyone enlighten me please &/or direct me to the thread.

Many thanks!!!

sans

Yep tis true If your know longer residing in thee igloo.....Your classed as a none resident and they slam you with sales tax....they class it as a second home ( the cheek of it Mmmm).

Jerseygirl

Go to the pink bar at the top of the page...click on 'Search'...then click on 'Advanced Search'. Top left hand side of the page in the box 'Search for key words'...type in 'selling a house in canada'...make sure the box underneath says...search entire posts.

Now go to the bottom left of the page...scroll down to 'Search in Forums' located in a large box are a list of BE's Forums...click on 'Moving back to the UK'...it should be highlighted in blue. Now scroll down the page and click on the 'Search now' box.

You should see a list of past posts in this forum regarding this subject. This is it....try this link first...but it is time sensitive so you may have to search yourself as I've described above.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/searc...searchid=65731

old fat biker bloke

Thanks guys - found it!!! Here it is for anyone else who's going home - having skim-read it it seems far easier to sell while you're still here (despite chomping at the bit not to be...)

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Tax_an...e_Sales-Canada

Bevm

As I understand it, it's that as non-residents we're not entitled to capital gains exemption on the sale of our primary residence, which we would be if we were resident.

So if you haven't made much on the house, or even a loss, it's not an issue. If you've made $100,000 profit, it's a big issue! I believe we can also offset losses. So if you have any investments and they've taken a dive, you could offset capital gains on your house with capital losses on your investments.

One of the upsides of the current economic situation. Not a lot of capital gains on investments to bother us!

Don't take this as gospel, but that's what I understand.

Bev

Bsidebaby

does this mean if you dont make much profit on the sale of your house then you dont get taxed very much at all?

Bevm

That's as I understand it. Let's say it's 20%. (I don't know.) If you've made $100,000 that's $20,000. If it's only $5000 profit, then it's $1,000.

Bev

cricket1again

You can only be taxed if you've made an income. If you've made a loss, and this can be a loss against an asset such as a property, you won't have to pay tax.

A lot of people are taking advantage of the current economic downturn by getting rid of tax liabilities and any other kind of asset turned liability by eithert selling them under value, winding them down or just devaluing them. That's why the Inland Revenue are finding that they have a shortfall in revenue.

Talk to your tax office for advice though and make them aware of any depreciating values.

iaink

If you no longer have a home in Canada then you will pay capital gains tax as the house you are selling is no longer considered your primary residence...

woodywoodside

Sorry but I have just written on another thread about this and talked to our lawyer about this too. The money 25% is withheld regardless of profit or loss you may then claim it back in the following tax year.

johnh009

According to this site, you are taxed on the gross proceeds (not just gains), but it can be claimed back:

http://www.churchpickard.com/images/nrsalerp.pdf

woodywoodside

Thats correct the whole sale amount regardless. Also note that its with held by the buyers lawyers not yours.

sans

This is what i was trying to say happened to the Manghams last yr, in another thread........They got stung for 50k and only lived in the house for 3 wks, they also had to re-sell for less then they paid .

But because i didn't know all the ins and outs, i couldn't argue the point.

People on work permits and temporary visa's best do their home work before they buy in Canada too.

Ps getting a tax return in from outside of Canada... is know easy task either.

snogood

If we've lost value on investments, and on our house (yes, things are going well ), would we be entitled to any kind of tax rebate somewhere along the line? No idea how (or even why to be honest), but if one can offset losses of one against the other, what about if both are on a losing streak. Or am I just being mega hopeful Surely that's a loophole I'm looking for

I still think it sounds easier to just wait and sell the house before you move. But some people might be busting to get back to the UK?

Bevm

I don't know that one, but if it is possible I think it's only capital gains over capital losses earned here in Canada. But you'd need to ask an accountant!

You can always revise your returns backwards. I think it's three years. I don't know how that'd factor into it.

Bev