1451 replies to this topic

[tjv]

I know people who own rental apartment buildings near Harvard.  Its very common for them to rent a place all year and leave the place vacant during summer break with their furniture so they can just come back in September without worrying.  Rents for a 1 bedroom start at $2500/month and up

[NinVic]

Here is an even better offer. I will rent your place and you only have to pay me $50 a month. I promise that I will never set foot in your apartment/house/condo but you will have your legal agreement from an arms length, tax paying BC resident. 

 

One thing overlooked in this non-resident tax is that once you begin renting a place out, CRA gets involved, it goes on your tax return and so on.  And CRA requires that for expenses do be deductable, there's got to be a "reasonable expectation of profit".  Renting below market to create a loss is not looked on favorably by CRA if you are then claiming part of your property taxes, maintenance, insurance, mortgage interest and so on as an expense.

 

So you can try, but non BC resident owners may get into trouble for renting a place at a loss for $600/year and having to declare it on their income tax to get the off-setting tax credit from BC government.

 

Details of this tax are still vague, as I'm curious as to when is it payable?  If you sell you house mid year, do you still pay for the whole year or is it pro-rated?  If another non resident buys a house from a non resident, do both tax payers pay it the year of sale?  Or will it be "owners as of January 1st" or something so people will try to line up their sale documents to be before a certain date? 

[LJ]

Nobody can tell you what you can rent your property out for. If you aren't claiming deductions against income CRA would not be involved. If you are renting for a dollar a year that's your business. 

And if I'm renting the place for a 6 month term there is no need for me to live in it, who is going to know?

[tjv]

I suggest we check with our resident CRA tax guy for his personal opinion (notice I didn't say CRA opinion).  There are CRA terms like "reasonable expectation of profit"

 

As for CRA not being involved, I don't see how that would play out.  Even renting for $1 is still income and you have a capital gains situation when you sell the property

[sdwright.vic]

So are you going to operate the rental as a Corporation or a Sole Proprietorship? There is a different level if risk and reporting with each one. As well the one thing that we need to remember is a bunch of those illegal basement suites are not playing by the tax rules- as in being most likely a Sole Proprietorship and not claiming the rental income on their T1.

Regardless it's Gross Rental Income (Gross Revenue) minus expenses for Net Rental Income (Net Revenue). Which is highly over simplified on the Corporate side.

As for a vacant home tax on the Federal level... since they don't have one, they are not going to be interested unless the Province decides to start sharing information about possible rental units that are generating revenue.

[sdwright.vic]

Nobody can tell you what you can rent your property out for. If you aren't claiming deductions against income CRA would not be involved. If you are renting for a dollar a year that's your business.
And if I'm renting the place for a 6 month term there is no need for me to live in it, who is going to know?

You will get an Auditor up your who-ha though on a regular basis if you are taking huge loses and and those loses are from purposely not generating enough income.

I don't think you want to fall into the "arranging affairs to avoid taxation" category.

[Sparky]

Nobody can tell you what you can rent your property out for. If you aren't claiming deductions against income CRA would not be involved. If you are renting for a dollar a year that's your business. 

And if I'm renting the place for a 6 month term there is no need for me to live in it, who is going to know?

 

If you receive an income (I would assume the $1 would be an income) wouldn't the CRA be "involved" anyway?...even if you did not declare expenses?

 

Did I read somewhere that the rental police are going to use statistics obtained from BC Hydro to deduce whether or not a particular residence is occupied?

 

....anyway this whole scheme that these socialists are dreaming up in order to solve the preceved housing crisis is somewhat annoying. It's another situation of someone who has nothing and wants to share it with everybody. 

[sdwright.vic]

+1... a dollars income is a dollars income.

[spanky123]

I wasn't talking about trying to game the CRA on the reporting of rental income. If you rent to an arm's length 3rd party then that is up to you. Nobody is going to tell you that you should have rented for more or less money as long as you are properly reporting the income. Now if you tried to claim a loss based on renting a property at - $50 a month then that is pushing things a little too far!

 

I am sure that our Mayor would not have suggested that folks provide free rent to homeless people if that was not legal!

Edited by spanky123, 03 March 2018 - 08:17 AM.

[tjv]

Did I read somewhere that the rental police are going to use statistics obtained from BC Hydro to deduce whether or not a particular residence is occupied?

As I have said before, all someone has to do is leave some appliances or heaters on to show a power draw.  VERY difficult to prove that someone doesn't live there.  Its a complete fantasy by socialists

[thaicobb]

As I have said before, all someone has to do is leave some appliances or heaters on to show a power draw.  VERY difficult to prove that someone doesn't live there.  Its a complete fantasy by socialists

The solution being encouraging/rewarding neighbour spying on neighbour and reporting to authorities.  Been done before.

[sdwright.vic]

I am sure that our Mayor would not have suggested that folks provide free rent to homeless people if that was not legal!

There is no such thing as "free rent".

[Mike K.]

So how would people offering free room and board as per the mayor’s plan be compensated, if free rent does not exist?

The government has no say in how much rent someone charges for a domicile. There are people living 100% for free in Victoria homes in exchange for taking care of the property in the absence of the owner. No money is exchanged.

[sdwright.vic]

rent1
rent/Submit
noun
1.
a tenant's regular payment to a landlord for the use of property or land.
synonyms: rental, fee, lease
"I can't afford to pay the rent"
verb
1.
pay someone for the use of (something, typically property, land, or a car).
"they rented a house together in Spain"
synonyms: lease, charter
"she rented a car"

[sdwright.vic]

If your paying nothing... it's not "rent". Why does it have to be so difficult in regards to common sense on here sometimes?

Edited by sdwright.vic, 03 March 2018 - 02:17 PM.

[Mike K.]

Using popular vernacular, rent = cost of housing.

A zero cost is free rent, scientific definition aside.

[VicHockeyFan]

How much is your rent?

 

Free.

 

Wow!

 

That's how the conversation normally goes.  Not:

 

How much is your rent?

 

Free.

 

That's impossible.  "No rent" is the proper expression, you dummy.  Go back to your VV friends.

Edited by VicHockeyFan, 03 March 2018 - 02:17 PM.

[sdwright.vic]

No it goes

"I don't pay rent"

[Nparker]

I love the places that advertise "free heat & hot water"....umm...no*. The heat & hot water are supplied for no additional charge, but they are not "free", unless you also pay no rent. Why not advertise "free apartment", with a monthly charge of $1200 for heat & hot water?

 

* same goes for "buy one, get one free"

[sdwright.vic]

I think the correct term would be:

in·clud·ed
inˈklo͞odəd/Submit
adjective
contained as part of a whole being considered.
"all of Europe (Russia included)"