What is the Underused Housing Tax?

New this tax season is the Underused Housing Tax (UHT) return

Where you, or your corporation, own or have interest in a residential property located in Canada, you may have a new Underused Housing Tax (UHT) return to file by April 30, 2023.

This filing is separate from any similar municipal filings.

Do you need to file an Underused Housing Tax (UHT) return?

If you are not the legal owner of any residential real estate in Canada, you do not have to file a UHT return, and you will not have any UHT to pay.

If you are the owner of residential property in Canada, whether you need to file a return depends on what type of entity is the legal owner of the property:

If you have a property with one of the types of owners listed above who is required to file, your return needs to be filed by April 30.

This filing is separate from your income tax filings and represents a separate engagement whether you are required to file a return. Please contact us as soon as possible to determine if you would like for us to determine if you need to file and if you would like to complete the form for you.

If you decide to engage us to prepare this return on your behalf, please note that our minimum fee is $500 + HST per UHT return prepared.

Do you have to pay Underused Housing Tax (UHT)?

The Underused Housing Tax (UHT) is an annual 1% tax on the ownership of vacant or underused residential properties that are situated in Canada as determined by an assessment.

While you may need to file a UHT return, it does not necessarily mean that you will have tax to pay. There are four types of tax exemptions with specific criteria:

1. Type of owner
2. Availability of the property (not lived in year-round)
3. Occupant of the property (primary residence)
4. Location and use of the property (rural and vacation properties)

Failure to file an Underused Housing Tax (UHT) return

All UHT returns for 2022 are due on April 30, 2023. Corporation ownership is based on the 2022 calendar year.

The minimum penalty for not filing is $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a corporation and applies even if you do not owe any tax.

Contact us for more information