# first time home buyer tax credit question



## joncnca (Jul 12, 2009)

hi all,

i owned a condo up until 2010, after which i purchased a townhouse with my wife in 2011 (i.e. final closing and registration in 2011). my wife and i are both equally on title for the townhouse. we were married in 2011.

would she qualify for any part (i.e. 50%) of the first time home buyer tax credit for her 2011 tax return? (she's never owned a house, and she did not live with me when i owned my condo)


also, i previously received a notice of reassessment approving the GST/HST New Housing Rebate....does this have anything to do with the first time home buyer tax credit? i haven't really 'seen' this money, i imagine it was credited to me by the builder...any idea where i can verify that?

thanks!


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## joncnca (Jul 12, 2009)

no one has any idea?

here's another wrinkle...when the townhouse closed, my wife and i were not yet married. so she was a first time buyer, i was not, but we were not married at the time of closing. does that mean she's still eligible.

CRA publishes this:
You or your spouse or common-law partner acquired a qualifying home.
You did not live in another home owned by you or your spouse or common-law partner in the year of acquisition or in any of the four preceding years (first-time home buyer).

Doesn't that make her eligible?

I feel like some other 3rd party bloggers and articles don't interpret this correctly...I almost think many accountants may interpret this incorrectly


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## Charlie (May 20, 2011)

I think your wife qualifies fully as long as she didn't live in your other condo. There is no 50% -- one or the other may claim, and you don't qualify. But I don't see why she wouldn't. This is the Line 369 credit of $5K, right?

The HST/GST housing rebate is totally different. In almost all cases you assign it to the developer and thus pay a wee bit less on your purchase. It should show up in your purchase documents or the statement of adjustments (though sometimes they net it there).


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## joncnca (Jul 12, 2009)

right, on purchase, my lawyer told me that it worked out better for us that we were not married yet at the time of closing. this fact allowed us to claim 50% of the land transfer tax rebate (she was a first time owner, i was not). if we were already married, she would not have been eligible for the land transfer tax rebate, because i already owned a condo previously.

my now wife should qualify for the first time home buyer's tax credit (yes, line 369 credit of $5k) because the home qualifies (new townhome) and she did not live in my condo in the year of acquisition or any previous year (she lived with her parents in their home). all of her mail went to her parents home, which i would imagine is sufficient proof she didn't live with me.

i've asked my lawyer for the final report for our home closing, i realize i never got a package with all the finalized documents...i imagine the HST/GST housing rebate should be somewhere in those docs, assigned to developer.


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