Federal Budget - Advantages to Purchasing or Refinancing

Home, Sweet Home

The federal budget offers several measures of interest to people who plan to renovate or buy a home. Here's how they could theoretically work in unison for a first-time buyer or those considering a refinance:

Step 1: Claim the First-Time Home Buyers' Tax CreditDetails: Offers tax relief of up to $750 to first-time buyers to help defray closing costs on their purchase.

Step 2: Take advantage of changes to the federal Home Buyers' ProgramDetails: You can take up to $25,000 out of your RRSP to buy a first home and pay no taxes, up from $20,000

Step 3: Renovate your new home with help from the temporary new Home Renovation Tax CreditDetails: Claim up to $1,350 in tax relief for upgrades to your home done before Feb. 1, 2010; available to everyone, not just first-time buyers; applies to renos costing $1000 to $10,000

Step 4: Get energy efficient using the ecoEnergy Retrofit program, which was expanded in the budgetDetails: Get a grant of up to $5,000 for changes to your home that add to energy efficiency: you can also claim the home reno tax credit for these upgrades

Have a great week, everyone!