04/19/2021
Changes to the FEDERAL (not provincial) portion of the New Housing GST Rebate rules - it is now EASIER to qualify for the rebate worth up to $6,300 to homebuyers.
Changes to the FEDERAL (not provincial) portion of the New Housing GST Rebate rules - it is now EASIER to qualify for the rebate worth up to $6,300.
BEFORE: if two or more individuals buy a home together, all must buy the home for use as their (or a relation's) primary place of residence in order to qualify for the rebate - otherwise none of them qualifies.
WHY IT WAS PROBLEMATIC: purchasers sometimes add friends or distant relatives as partial owners on title to facilitate financing. For example, Husband and Wife, the newlyweds, buy their first condo (primary residence) and the Wife's Uncle agrees to be 1% owner on title and co-signs on the mortgage. If the Uncle does not plan to live in the condo, none of the purchasers (Husband, Wife or Uncle) are entitled to the rebate.
BUDGET 2021 PROPOSAL: the condition that each purchaser must acquire the home for use as their (or a relation's) primary place of residence is removed. Instead, the GST New Housing Rebate would be available as long as the new home is acquired for use as the primary place of residence of any one of the purchasers or a relation of any one of the purchasers.
The Federal portion of the New Housing GST Rebate entitles homebuyers to recover 36% of the GST (or the federal component of the HST) paid on the purchase of a new home priced up to $350,000. The rebate is phased out for new homes priced between $350,000 and $450,000. There is no rebate for new homes priced at $450,000 or more.