Line 369 - Home buyers' amount

Line 369 - Home buyers' amount

You can claim $5,000 for the purchase of a qualifying home in the year if both of the following apply:

• you or your spouse or common-law partner acquired a qualifying home

• you did not live in another home owned by you or your spouse or common-law partner in the year of acquisition or in any of the four preceding years (first-time home buyer)

  Note
  You do not have to be a first-time home buyer if you are eligible for the disability tax credit or if you acquired the home for the benefit of a related person who is eligible for the disability tax credit. However, the purchase must be made to allow the person with the disability to live in a home that is more accessible or better suited to their needs. For the purposes of the home buyers' amount, a person with a disability is a person who is eligible for the disability tax credit for the year in which the home is acquired.

A qualifying home must be registered in your or your spouse's or common-law partner's name in accordance with the applicable land registration system and it must be located in Canada. It includes existing homes and homes under construction.

The following are considered qualifying homes:

• single-family houses

• semi-detached houses

• townhouses

• mobile homes

• condominium units

• apartments in duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes or apartment buildings

  Note
  A share in a co-operative housing corporation that entitles you to own and gives you an equity interest in a housing unit located in Canada also qualifies. However, a share that only gives you the right to tenancy in the housing unit does not qualify.

You must intend to occupy the home, or you must intend that the related person with a disability occupy the home, as a principal place of residence no later than one year after it is acquired.

You and your spouse or common-law partner can split the claim, but the combined total cannot be more than $5,000.

When more than one person is entitled to the amount (for example, when two people jointly buy a home), the total of all amounts claimed cannot be more than $5,000.