KBR Special Bulletin: UHT Deadline Extended

Evelyn Jacks

No, this isn’t fake news or a late day Halloween trick:  the CRA announced just before 2 p.m. on October 31 that they are indeed extending the deadline for the filing of the UHT-2900 return.  This return was due at midnight on October 31 to report residential property ownership for the 2022 calendar year.  The new deadline is April 30, 2024.  No interest or penalties will be levied in the meantime.   The Underused Housing Tax (UHT) is a controversial new tax in Canada because it is much more broad-based than first announced. This and more year end tax planning news will be covered in tomorrow’s Virtual CE Summit from Knowledge Bureau, available in a recorded online version after the event. 

Touted as an annual tax on the ownership of vacant or underused housing in Canada, the UHT brings the federal government into the taxation of real estate normally the domain for provincial governments and municipalities.  But it also brings significant uncertainty to the filing of other tax returns, including personal returns for reporting rental income from a partnership and GST returns.

The government’s release notes that this tax is part of its long-term plan to increase available housing for Canadians. But the tax filing requirements will require otherwise excluded Canadians who own residential real estate in a private corporation, trust or in a partnership to file a tax return to exempt themselves out of paying the 1% tax.  Failure to do so will result in automatic penalties of $5000 or $10,000, depending on the circumstances.  Those penalties were to have been levied starting tomorrow November 1.  This is no longer a worry until May 1, 2024.

The release ends with this note:  “It is the duty of the owner of Canadian residential property to determine if they are an affected or excluded owner.” 

Self assessments are difficult when the tax law is this complex, and the deadlines are a moving target.  Nonetheless, we’ll consider this a Halloween treat. 

For more information be sure to see your DMA-Personal or Corporate Tax Specialist for details.