Canadian Visitor Tax Refund on the Sale of Property

GST/HST Rebate on the Taxable Sale of Real Property by Non-Registrants

Have you recently made a taxable sale of real property, like a piece of land or building, as a non-registrant? Did you pay the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and/or the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) on the property when you initially purchased or developed it, and couldnâ€™t recover the tax at the time? If so, you may be able to claim it now.

Thanks to the Canada Revenue Agency's taxable sale of real property by a non-registrant (subsection 257(1)) clause, you could be eligible for a partial or full refund on the GST/HST you paid on the original cost for the property and/or any improvements you made to it.

To claim your GST/HST rebate, use the following application form: GST189 General Application for Rebate of GST/HST.

Terms of Eligibility

To qualify for the rebate, you must meet all of the following criteria:

Be a non-registrant, and;
Have paid the GST/HST on a real property purchase upon acquisition and/or at the time when you made improvements to it, and;
Have made a taxable sale of said property

If you have concerns about whether or not the sale of your real property is taxable, or have other questions about your eligibility, please call 1-800-959-8287.

Rebate Application Submission

To receive your GST/HST rebate, you must file your claim within:

2 years from the date the amount for your sale of the property becomes payable or is paid, or;
2 years from the date the redemption period expires (where applicable)

Download your application form here.

Along with your completed, signed and dated application, you will need to submit a letter detailing the circumstances for claiming the rebate, such as:

The property's address plus a description of the space (e.g.: vacant land, renovated housing structure)
Your initial intention for purchasing the property
The purpose you've assigned for the property (e.g.: personal residence, rental property)
A comprehensive list of the improvements you made to the property, and the GST/HST paid on them

If you made a sale of the property, you will need to include some additional information such as:

A copy of each Statement of Adjustments related to the property - the one from your initial purchase and the one from the sale
The payment due date for the property sale or, if paid prior to the due date, the date on which you received payment by the purchaser
The purchaser's full name and address
Your GST/HST return that shows you are reporting the GST/HST payable by the purchaser on your sale, if you yourself collected the tax
Evidence supporting whether or not you are a non-resident of Canada

Note: if the property in question has been seized, be sure to provide the redemption period expiry date on your application form.

For more information on eligible GST/HST rebates: visit the General GST/HST rebate application website.