HRTC and You

In addition to decorating for private clients, I work Saturdays at Randall's Decorating Center in Bell's Corners and I've noticed that business is still strong and steady. It seems that people are not looking to sell or buy new properties, but are choosing instead to fix up the homes they have (though I did hear on the news earlier that now is the best time to buy a new construction home).


Here's where the new Home Renovation Tax Credit comes in: you can receive up to $1350 back on your tax return for the 2009 tax year. To be eligible, you must spend more than $1000 up to $10,000 on home improvement items that cannot be removed when you move ($9000 x 15% = $1350).

Here are a few examples from the Canada Revenue Agency's website:

-Renovating a kitchen, bathroom or basement
-New carpet or hardwood floors
-Building an addition, garage, deck, garden/storage shed, fence
-Re-shingling a roof
-A new furnace, woodstove, boiler, fireplace, water softener or water heater
-A new driveway or resurfacing a driveway
-Painting of interior or exterior of a house
-Window coverings directly attached to the window frame and whose removal would alter the nature of the dwelling
-Laying new sod
-Swimming Pools (Permanent - in ground and above ground)
-Fixtures – lights, fans, etc.
-Associated costs such as permits, professional services, equipment rentals and incidental expenses.


Notice the bold and italicized words above? Yes, it seems that the services of an Interior Decorator are eligible for the HRTC! I called Service Canada today to get more information, but because this is a new program, they didn't have all the info. I'll keep you posted!