Canadians more willing to relocate but cost is a big consideration
Amid the chaos and stress of moving from one province to another, the last thing on most people’s minds is how their family’s relocation will affect their tax return.
However, the Canada Revenue Agency offers a long list of eligible tax deductions related to moving to help offset the costs.
The average cost of relocation was about $73,500 in 2017, up 29 per cent from 2015, according to the Canadian Employee Relocation Council.
Much of that increase can be attributed to soaring home sale prices, which result in equally steep real estate commissions.
Finding a replacement home in a more expensive city is a big worry for people considering a move, says Stephen Cryne, president of the Canadian Employee Relocation Council.
“That’s a growing issue and it’s a key factor for people who are looking at the quality of lifestyle, particularly if they’ve got families,” he said in an interview.
Bryan Borzykowski and his family are among the 300,000 Canadians who endure an interprovincial move each year.
The freelance journalist was able to absorb some of the anxiety by cashing in on Toronto’s pricey housing market to return to the relative affordability of his hometown in Winnipeg.
“It was a difficult decision but we decided to do it to be close to family,” he said in an interview.
According to Aaron Gillespie, tax partner with KPMG in Hamilton, the most common error people make is not being aware of everything they can claim.
Eligible moving expenses include real estate commissions and legal fees, transportation and storage costs, travel expenses including meals, temporary living expenses, utility hookup and disconnections, mortgage interest, property taxes and insurance premiums. Deductions are valid as long as the move takes the employee 40 kilometres closer to their new work location.
Expenses can’t be deducted for items including work done to make your home more salable, any losses from the sale, travel expenses for house-hunting, value of items you left behind, repairs on rented homes, replacement of personal items such drapes and carpets and mail-forwarding.
“I think these rules are fairly generous in favour of the taxpayer,” says Gillespie. The Toronto Star building is shown in Toronto on June 8, 2016.
The company that owns the Toronto Star newspaper has signed a deal to buy iPolitics Inc., an Ottawa-based digital political news service.
Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available.
Torstar Corp. says once the deal closes its daily newspapers and websites across the country will soon begin publishing articles from iPolitics.
Launched in 2010, iPolitics provides daily political news and industry briefs, a quarterly magazine, policy-oriented podcasts
and specialized parliamentary monitoring services.
Torstar says the Toronto Star and iPolitics will maintain separate bureaus in Ottawa.
The deal is expected to close Oct. 1.
Aside from the Star and its affiliated website, Torstar owns daily and community newspapers throughout Ontario, a 56.4 per cent interest in VerticalScope and minority interests in a number of other companies. Torstar also holds an investment in The Canadian Press as part of a joint agreement with a subsidiary of the Globe and Mail and the parent company of Montreal’s La Presse.