The UHT May Be Cancelled, But Vacancy Taxes Remain

As tax professionals, you are keenly aware of the constant changes our federal government makes to the Income Tax Act. Adjustments are made, and you must adapt. Not often, though, is a tax eliminated altogether. But in the case of the Underused Housing Tax (UHT), that is exactly what has happened – it was cancelled in the federal budget of November 4, 2025, but Canada’s underused housing taxes have not been eliminated. Here’s what you need to know for tax season 2026.

Substantial tax reform has recently changed the rules for post-death planning for high net worth families.

According to the Bank of Canada, since October 1950,  the record low for the Canadian dollar against the US dollar was recorded on the 21st of January 2002 – just over 13 years ago – when the loonie was worth just .6179. 

Tax tip of the week

Last week, we looked at the TFSA helping those who pay taxes on investment income. This week in part 2, we will look at savings opportunities for the middle class.

Taxpayers and their advisors may consider this question more frequently as CRA pushes for more electronic communications, such as the provision of email addresses on this year’s tax return.

This week I had a discussion with a client about what would happen when either he or his wife passed away.