Here’s How Canadians Can Cash In On A $50,000 Tax Rebate

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has just announced that they are now accepting applications for the new first-time home buyers’ (FTHB) GST/HST rebate! For eligible Canadians, this is your chance to cash in on a major opportunity that can cover up to $50,000 on your newly constructed or renovated home.

Here’s who’s eligible, and how to apply.

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First-time Home Buyers’ Rebate

This rebate is “one of the ways the Government of Canada is making homes more affordable,” says the press release. It can “help you recover the taxes paid on your home, whether you purchase a new or substantially renovated home, or have one built.”

Eligible applicants can recoup up to $50,000, but they must be considered all of the following in order to apply:

• “You are at least 18 years of age
• You are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada
• You have not lived in a home that you or your spouse or common-law partner owned, or jointly owned, whether in or outside of Canada, as your primary place of residence at any time in the calendar year or in the previous four calendar years
• You meet all of the criteria above on a specific date. This date will depend on whether you bought your home from a builder or built it yourself.
• Neither you, nor your spouse or common-law partner, have previously received an FTHB GST/HST rebate”

And obviously, you must also have purchased or built a home to be eligible.

You must either have purchased a newly built or substantially renovated home from a builder, constructed or substantially renovated a home (or hired someone else to do this for you), or you purchased a share in a co-operative housing corporation with the purpose of using a unit in a newly built of substantially renovated co-op as your primary residence. For all these routes, your new home must be your primary place of residence.

There are some other bits of criteria that may apply to you, depending on how your home was built or purchased. For all the requirements, check out the CRA’s webpage on the rebate here.