Underused Housing Tax
The new Underused Housing Tax is an annual 1% tax on the ownership of vacant or underused housing in Canada.
There is a significant failure to file penalty of a minimum
$5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for corporations.
If you are an affected owner, you must file an Underused Housing Tax return for each residential property that you owned in Canada on December 31st.
You are an affected owner if you or your business falls into one of these categories:
Most private Canadian corporations that own most types of residential properties;
Non-Canadian citizens and non-permanent residents who own residential property;
Individuals who are trustees of a trust that own residential property (with some exceptions for testamentary trust situations);
Partners of a partnership that own residential property.
NOTE: residential properties that are held by two or more individuals may be considered a bare trust or a partnership, and therefore require a filing.
It is likely that you will not owe any tax under these new rules,
but you are still required to file the return if you are an affected owner.
The filing deadline is October 31, 2023.
If you would like us to file the return for you, please contact us. Click here for more information about the Underused Housing Tax.