Home or cottage sale SmartFile

You sold your home or your cottage. Most of the time no tax is owed, but the sale still has to be reported, and a family that owned two properties at once has to choose which one shelters which years. This SmartFile makes that choice and fills in the form.

What it does

1. Counts your years of ownership the way CRA does, including the “plus one” year.
2. Finds the best split of years between the property you sold and a cottage or second home your family still owns, so the most gain stays tax-free across both.
3. Works out any taxable gain and estimates the tax on it.
4. Tells you which box to tick on Schedule 3 (line 17900) and what goes on line 15800.
5. Fills in Form T2091(IND), the principal residence designation, ready to check and keep or attach.

Good to know

• Leaving a home sale off your return can cost a penalty and keeps that year open for CRA indefinitely.
• A family (you, your spouse or partner, and children under 18) can designate only one property per year.
• Rented out part of the home, ran a business from it, or bought it before 1982? SmartFile tells you when to get a professional to look.