The Canada Revenue Agency yesterday expanded a search on taxpayers’ title to US vacation properties. Auditors seek six years’ worth of records on Canadians including names, addresses, tax assessments, lot sizes and the value of American properties bought and sold, according to Blacklock's Reporter..“The agency requires U.S.A. real estate and property data where a Canadian resident is party to the purchase, sale or transfer,” auditors wrote in a notice to contractors. “Canadian owned real estate and property data are required in bulk format to identify current and historical records.”.“This information will enhance the Agency’s ability to administer tax programs,” said the notice Bulk U.S.A. Real Estate And Property Data. Proceeds from the sale of vacation properties are taxable in Canada..The agency earlier reviewed U.S. real estate records dated from 2014 to 2020. Auditors did not say how much, if any, tax owed was recovered..“For the purposes of this process ‘Canadian resident’ or ‘Canadian’ means an individual, business, trust or entity of any kind that can be identified by a Canadian postal address or any other identifying data element,” said the notice. “We consider a Canadian to be party to a real estate transaction when they can be identified as the purchaser, seller, owner, part owner or beneficial owner of the property.”.Auditors in 2016 required for the first time that homeowners report the sale of a primary residence under threat of $8,000 fines, even though proceeds were not taxable. Reported sales averaged 446,000 a year, according to Access To Information records..About 1.5% of annual tax filers reported they had sold their home. Mandatory reporting was intended to track the taxable sale of non-residences like vacation homes or investment property..“In recent years, the agency has increasingly been identifying cases where taxpayers did not report their income from real estate transactions,” staff wrote in a 2019 notice. “The penalties and interest associated with unreported real estate sales can be substantial.”.CMHC in a separate initiative disclosed in an Access To Information memo last February 24 it had compiled records on millions of mortgage holders who owned second properties. The data scoop dated from 2018..“It will only be used for the purposes of identifying if a borrower has more than one ‘uninsured’ loan or products with the same issuer,” said a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) briefing note dated May 3, 2018..“Please note that wherever possible, CMHC would collect the information in a way that would not allow the identification of any individual directly or indirectly.”
