Words and Phrases - "principal place of residence"
31 December 2024 External T.I. 2021-0885741E5 F - CIAPH - habitation admissible
Can an individual can claim the first-time home buyers’ tax credit (“FTHBTC") if the individual owned a home outside Canada and occupied it during the four-year period referred to in s. (a)(ii) of the definition of “qualifying home” in s. 118. 05(1)? CRA responded:
[A]n individual owned a home that he inhabited during the four-year period referred to in subparagraph (a)(ii) … if he owned the home he inhabited during that period as his principal place of residence. …
[A]n individual does not meet the condition set out in subparagraph (a)(ii) … if the individual owned a home, located in Canada or outside Canada, that he inhabited as his principal place of residence in the four-year period referred to in subparagraph (a)(ii) … .
CRA quoted Income Tax Technical News No. 31R2 as to the meaning of “principal place of residence”:
An individual's “principal place of residence” is the place where the individual regularly, normally or customarily lives. In our view, the place where the individual normally sleeps is a significant factor in making this determination. Other significant factors include the location of the individual's belongings, where the individual receives his or her mail, and where the individual's immediate family, including the individual's spouse or common-law partner and children, reside.
| Locations of other summaries | Wordcount | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Topics - Income Tax Act - Section 118.05 - Subsection 118.05(1) - Qualifying Home - Paragraph (a) - Subparagraph (a)(iii) | s. (a)(iii) inapplicable if no spouse or common-law partner at the time of home acquisition | 32 |
23 January 2003 External T.I. 2002-0161405 F - COUT DE TRANSPORT DU CONJOINT
An employee worked temporarily at a special work site and kept a self-contained domestic establishment elsewhere, which remained at his disposal. His spouse came to live with him at the special work site. The employer reimbursed the employee's board and lodging at the special work site and the airfare costs of the employee and his spouse to travel periodically to their home away from the special work site, which occurred 4 or 5 times a year.
CCRA indicated that the spousal presence at the special work site would be an important factor, but would not be decisive of the factual question as to whether their off-site home was the employee’s “principal place of residence.”
| Locations of other summaries | Wordcount | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Topics - Income Tax Act - Section 6 - Subsection 6(6) - Paragraph 6(6)(b) | transportation costs could include those of a spouse staying with the employee at the special work site | 107 |
18 February 2003 External T.I. 2003-0182325 F - RAP LIEN PRINCIPAL DE RESIDENCE
A couple (Mr. and Ms. X), currently live in an apartment which they rent from the co-owners, who include Ms. X. Can they avail themselves of the HBP rules for the purchase of a new residence? In responding negatively, CCRA first noted that s. 146.01(2)(a.1) provided that a joint owner of a housing unit is deemed to have an owner-occupied housing unit if the housing unit is inhabited by the individual as the individual’s principal place of residence at that time, and then stated:
[CCRA] generally considers an individual's principal place of residence to be the place where the individual maintains a self-contained domestic establishment. According to subsection 248(1), a self-contained domestic establishment is a dwelling-house, apartment or other similar place of residence in which place a person as a general rule sleeps and eats. The Agency considers a residence to be a self-contained domestic establishment if it is a residential unit to which access is restricted and which has a kitchen, bathroom and sleeping space. …
… Mr. and Ms. X will not be able to avail themselves of the HBP rules … .
14 June 2013 External T.I. 2013-0477881E5 F - Régime d'accession à la propriété
Can an individual who had already owned a home in the U.S withdraw an amount from an RRSP under the home buyers’ program? After stating that “where an individual owning a home has lived in it as the principal place of residence, we consider that the individual owned the home as an owner-occupant” and referring to the discussion in Income Technical News No. 31 of the meaning of “principal place of residence,” CRA stated:
The fact that the home was located in the United States does not alter this opinion.