As discussed in our previous publication Underused Housing Tax, the Underused Housing Tax Act (the “Act”) was implemented in 2022 and aims to target ownership of vacant or underused housing in Canada. The Act applies an annual underused housing tax (“UHT”) of 1% of the “taxable value” of the property unless the owner is an “excluded owner”, or the owner is eligible to claim a specific exemption. The CRA has released filing options and instructions on their website which are discussed below. The CRA has also released the UHT Tax Return form for those who wish to paper file.
1. Mail
- Mailing addresses are available in the “Additional Information” section of the UHT Return and Election Form.
- The UHT Return should be mailed to the tax centre which corresponds to your taxpayer type and location.
- It is suggested that any UHT Returns and accompanying payments be sent together by Registered Mail.
2. Online
This option allows taxpayers to file the UHT Return electronically. This information must be entered manually in the available portal. There is no option available to upload a copy of the Return.
For online filing, the following information will be required:
- Account Information
- your Individual Tax Number (ITN) or Social Insurance Number (SIN) or Business Number (BN-RU);
- the calendar year for which you are filing your return;
- the address with postal code of the residential property;
- Taxable and fair market value (if applicable) of the property; and
- assigned Digital Access Code (see below for instructions)
- Digital Access Code
To obtain a Digital Access Code, the following information is required:For an individual;
- Social Insurance Number (SIN) or Individual Tax Number (ITN)
- First and Last name
- Date of birth and
- Postal Code, ZIP code, or Country Code of mailing address
For a Business (BN-RU);
- Underused Housing Tax account number (BN-RU)
- Registration Date
- Name of owner
- Postal Code, ZIP code, or Country Code of mailing address
Once the above information is obtained, and the return is ready to be filed, taxpayers can visit Ready to file (cra-arc.gc.ca) and follow the prompts accordingly. At this stage, the UHT Return information will be entered manually via the online portal.
Upon successful submission of the UHT Return, a Confirmation Number will be issued which must be kept with your records.
Payment Options
CRA accepts many different payment options, which are outlined on their website (Payments to the CRA – Canada.ca).
As for all payments made to CRA for all accounts, it is strongly recommended to include the relevant SIN, ITN, or BN-RU as well as period the Return relates to.
Resources
UHT Electronic Filing Digital Access Code
The information in this article is of a general nature and is in summary form. Contact one of our tax professionals to discuss these matters in the context of your situation before acting upon such information.
