If any of your clients from Nova Scotia bought a newly constructed home, they might be eligible to receive a tax benefit. The First-Time Home Buyers Rebate is a program to encourage the development of new property. The rebate is 18.75% of the provincial portion of the HST or 1.31% of the price of stock in a cooperative. It’s also capped at $3,000.
To qualify for the rebate, your client has to buy a newly constructed home to be used as their primary residence. Your clients, and anyone who'll be living in the new home, can’t have owned a home in Canada within the past five years, or the home they previously owned within this timeframe was involuntarily destroyed.
There’s also restrictions on what type of property qualifies for the rebate. The home your client buys has to have been built on land they owned before construction started. Alternatively, the land could have been owned by the builder of the homes. Other types of properties eligible for the benefit include condominium units, home installed on leased land, and purchases of shares in a Cooperative Housing Corporation. The property must be new; any renovations or conversions from a rental to a condominium don’t qualify.
In general, your client has 24 months to claim the rebate. If they bought the home, this window begins based on the date of sale noted on the deed transfer documents. If your client owns the land, they have two years from the date of their occupancy permit. Otherwise, their timeline usually begins from the date on a bill of sale.
It’s exciting enough to be moving into a newly constructed home. Help your clients get even more out of their purchase by securing the First-Time Home Buyers Rebate.
