Form T1135 Foreign Income Verification Statement must be filed when a Canadian taxpayer answers ‘yes’ to the question “Did you at any time in the year own specified foreign property valued at over $100,000 (CAD)?”
Watch: Foreign Property and the T1135
However, some real estate is considered exempt from this question, and therefore doesn’t trigger — and need not be reported on — form T1135.
The key is the word ‘specified’ in ‘specified foreign property.’ Not all foreign property fits CRA’s definition, and if the property isn’t specified foreign property it doesn’t count towards the $100,000 threshold, and doesn’t have to be reported on T1135 (whether you’re obliged to file or not).
In determining whether a particular piece of real estate is ‘specified foreign property’ or not, CRA seems to be interested in establishing what the primary reason for holding the property is: is it an investment property that is held primarily for the purpose of earning profit? Or is it a personal property owned for personal use (which may or may not be occasionally rented out to help with costs)?
The simple fact of renting out the property is not enough to make the distinction, so this determination can be tricky. Even CRA provides examples rather than rules in this situation. Refer to their own information (below) to determine if your property is ‘Specified Foreign Property ‘ (i.e. reportable) or not (i.e. exempt).
The blue text below is taken directly from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website. If a given piece of foreign real estate isn’t considered specified foreign property with respect to this guidance, you can omit it from your calculations of the CA$100,000 foreign property threshold. And regardless of whether or not you file the T1135 (e.g., if you reach the threshold due to your other foreign property) you don’t need to report it there.
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CRA on Real Estate and Specified Foreign Property
38. If an individual owns a condominium in Florida that has a cost amount of $120,000, is the property specified foreign property for the purposes of Form T1135 if the condominium is:
- used exclusively by the taxpayer as a vacation property?
- rented out for eight months of the year with a reasonable expectation of profit and kept for personal use the other four months?
- rented out for part of the year without a reasonable expectation of profit for the purpose of recovering a portion of condominium expenses?
Specified foreign property does not include personal-use property. Personal-use property is generally defined as property owned by the taxpayer that he or she or a related party uses primarily for personal and enjoyment purposes. The CRA takes the view that “primarily” means more than 50%. Whether a particular property is primarily for personal use and enjoyment is a question of fact that is determined on a case-by-case basis.
In situation (a), the individual does not need to report the condominium since it is held primarily for personal use and enjoyment.
In situation (b), the property is not held primarily for personal use and enjoyment. As a result, it is a specified foreign property and has to be reported on Form T1135.
In situation (c), if there is no reasonable expectation of profit and the individual is merely recovering part of the condominium expenses, the CRA will consider it a personal-use property. As such, the property is not a specified foreign property and is excluded from the reporting requirements of Form T1135.
39. A taxpayer owns a four-unit property located outside of Canada. One unit is personal-use property of the taxpayer and the other three units are rented out with a reasonable expectation of profit. What are the Form T1135 reporting requirements? Assume the taxpayer owns other specified foreign property with a total cost amount in excess of the $100,000 reporting threshold.
If all of the units have roughly the same size and value, the property would be a specified foreign property and the taxpayer would have to report the entire cost amount of the property on Form T1135. Since 75% of the property is rented out for profit, it is not considered to be personal-use property.
40. If a Canadian corporation has a warehouse in England with a cost amount of $900,000 used to store business inventory, is the warehouse a specified foreign property?
A property that is used or held exclusively in the course of carrying on an active business is excluded from the definition of specified foreign property. If the warehouse is used only for storing inventory used in the corporation’s business, it does not have to be reported on Form T1135.
41. If a taxpayer acquires a specified foreign property for $500,000 with a down payment of $50,000 and the balance financed through a mortgage, does the taxpayer have to file Form T1135 if the property is his or her only foreign property?
Yes, the taxpayer still has to file Form T1135. Although the down payment is $50,000, the cost amount of the property, being $500,000, exceeds the $100,000 reporting threshold.
42. If a taxpayer enters into a purchase contract to buy a $500,000 specified foreign property that will be built and completed in two years, but has made a down payment of $50,000, does the taxpayer have to report it if it is his or her only foreign property?
The purchase contract should be reviewed to determine when the taxpayer acquires the property. If the title of the property has not passed to the taxpayer, the taxpayer does not have to report this foreign property.
Read more about: Foreign Property Worth Over $100,000 CAD
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If an individual owns a condominium in Portugal that has a cost amount of $220,000 CDN, is the property a specified foreign property for the purposes of Form T1135? The condominium is used exclusively by the taxpayer as a vacation property
Refer to the CRA guidance I linked in the article. But in general, if the condo is solely personal-use, it does not have to be reported on T1135.
Purchased condo 2010 in Florida. Used strictly for personal use 5 to 6 months per year (except recent covid period. Never rented or earned any other income. We are now in our late 70’s and could no longer travel. And sold in 2022 109k capital gain. the US return has been filed.
We were told in 2010 that we did not need to declare the property and have never done so?
Because it was for personal use, the property did not have to be reported on T1135 Foreign Income Verification Statement, no. But if you’re still a resident of Canada, the capital gain on the property does have to be reported on your Canadian tax. You’ll simultaneously file a foreign tax credit (FTC) claim to get credit for any US tax you paid on the sale. This should minimize the actual capital gains tax you pay on the Canadian side. If you’d like our assistance with filing the return declaring the sale and making the foreign tax claim, please contact us directly and we’ll be happy to assist.
I bought a condo apartment in India worth 57k CAD where my parents live for free of cost. I pay the mortgage and I don’t collect any rent from my parents. Do I need to report that on my T1135 form? I do file that form every year using Detailed reporting method thanks to my huge savings bank balance in the US.
Refer to CRA’s wording above; but in general, no. The property is clearly not held as a vehicle for earning profit from rent, so it’s not a specified foreign property.
Inherited (half) a property in UK. Property still in the Probate procedure. Probate has not been granted yet. Property currently unoccupied. Property used once/twice a year for family visits from overseas. No revenue generated from property. Should this property still be reported on T1135?. Thank You!
At this moment certainly not, since the property doesn’t belong to you yet. It’s in probate, so it currently is owned by the estate of the person who passed away. An estate is a form of trust, which has to file its own tax returns including its own T1135 if applicable.
As for when you have actually inherited the property, if you keep it for personal use then it doesn’t have to be declared. But if you hold it as an investment with the hopes of renting it at a profit, it may become specified foreign property and need to be declared.
Remember, too, to keep things in perspective. If the property isn’t earning revenue, there’s no tax liability even if you (or the estate) do have to declare it on T1135.