The Greater Toronto Area’s housing boom has been great for the local economy but many home buyers are unaware of the available HST housing rebate in Ontario and GST housing rebate in Ontario. The HST housing rebate in Ontario and GST housing rebate in Ontario is a rebate provided to home buyers to apply for a refund on GST/HST paid on their homes. The rebate is available to home owners who have purchased a home from the builder or custom-built their own homes. The HST housing rebate in Ontario and GST housing rebate in Ontario is available to those home owners who buy the property as their principal place of residence.

The GST/HST new housing rebate allows an individual to recover some of the goods and services tax (GST) or the federal part of the harmonized sales tax (HST) paid for a new or substantially renovated house that is for use as the individual’s, or their spouse’s primary place of residence, and all of the other conditions are met. In order to qualify for the Federal rebate, the total purchase price of the home must be less than $450,000 otherwise one cannot qualify to recover the federal portion of the HST paid.

If your house is located in Ontario, you may also be eligible to claim a provincial new housing rebate to recover some of the provincial part of the HST that you paid to buy the house. To qualify for this rebate, you must be someone who bought a new or substantially renovated house (including a new condominium unit) from a builder, and you meet the following conditions:

• * the house is located in Ontario and is for use as yours, or your spouse/common-law partner’s primary place of residence; and
• * you are eligible to claim a GST/HST new housing rebate for the house, or you would be eligible if the purchase price was less than the $450,000 maximum threshold for claiming that rebate. This means that a provincial new housing rebate may be available even if a GST/HST new housing rebate for some of the federal part of the HST is not available.