BILL NO. 463
(as introduced)
1st Session, 64th General Assembly
Nova Scotia
2 Charles III, 2024
Private Member's Bill
Income Tax Act
(amended)
Claudia Chender
Dartmouth South
First Reading: September 5, 2024
Second Reading:
Third Reading:
Explanatory Note
This Bill creates a renters’ tax credit allowing an individual to claim a $500 income tax credit if the individual rents accommodation and lives in a household with a taxable income of $85,000 or less, with those amounts being adjusted annually to reflect the Consumer Price Index.
An Act to Amend Chapter 217
of the Revised Statutes, 1989,
the Income Tax Act,
Respecting Renters’ Relief
Be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:
1 Clause 22A(1)(b) of Chapter 217 of the Revised Statutes, 1989, the Income Tax Act, as enacted by Chapter 3 of the Acts of 2024, is amended by striking out "and subsection 10G(1)" and substituting ", subsections 10G(1) and 38D(3) and clause 38D(4)(b)".
2 Chapter 217 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 38C the following heading and Section:
- 38D (1) In this Section,
(a) "cohabiting spouse or common-law partner" has the same meaning as in section 122.6 of the Federal Act;
(b) "eligible rental unit" means a living accommodation in the Province, but does not include prescribed rental units;
(c) "eligible tenant" means an individual who
- (i) occupies an eligible rental unit as the individual's primary residence under a tenancy agreement, licence, sublease agreement or similar arrangement for at least six one-month periods in the taxation year, and
(ii) paid rent, or had rent paid on the individual's behalf, to occupy the eligible rental unit;
(d) "rent" does not include the following payments:
- (i) a payment to a person who is not at arm's length as described in subsection 251(1) of the Federal Act,
(ii) a payment in respect of a capital lease,
(iii) a payment in respect of an amount that is not included in computing the income of the taxpayer under paragraph 6(6)(a) of the Federal Act,
(iv) a payment in respect of a campsite, moorage or a manufactured home space as defined in the Residential Tenancies Act,
(2) Notwithstanding the definition of "eligible tenant" in subsection (1), a person is not an eligible tenant for a taxation year if the person
(a) is, at the end of the year, a person described in paragraph 149(1)(a) or (b) of the Federal Act; or
(b) is, at the end of the year, confined to a prison or similar institution and has been confined for a period of, or periods the total of which in the year was, more than six months.
(3) Subject to subsection (9), an individual is considered to have paid, at the end of the year, on account of tax payable $500 if
(a) the individual, other than an individual that is a trust, was resident in the Province on December 31st of the taxation year, and includes an individual who died in the taxation year and was a resident of the Province on the day of death;
(b) the total of the taxable income of the individual and the taxable income of the individual's cohabiting spouse or common-law partner, if any, was $85,000 or less for the taxation year;
(c) the individual was an eligible tenant in the taxation year; and
(d) the individual files with the individual's annual return for the taxation year in which the tax credit is claimed documentation in a form satisfactory to the Minister.
(4) Where, on December 31st of the taxation year, an individual was the cohabiting spouse or common-law partner of another individual and both individuals are eligible tenants, only the individual designated by the Minister is eligible for the tax credit under this Section.
(5) The Minister shall request an individual who claims a tax credit pursuant to this Section to voluntarily provide the total rent paid, whether that total is inclusive of utilities, and the name of the individual's landlord.
(6) An individual who becomes bankrupt in a calendar year is entitled to claim, for each taxation year that ends in the calendar year, only the amounts that the individual is entitled to claim for the taxation year, except that the sum of all amounts that may be claimed under this Section for all taxation years of the individual ending in the calendar year shall not exceed the total amount that the individual would have been entitled to claim in respect of the calendar year if the individual had not become bankrupt.
(7) An individual who is resident in Canada for only part of a taxation year is entitled to claim for the year only the amount the individual would be entitled to claim for the year under this Section that can reasonably be considered wholly applicable to any period in the year throughout which the individual was resident in Canada, computed as though that period were the whole taxation year, except that the amount that may be claimed under this Section shall not exceed the amount that the individual would have been entitled to claim under this Section if the individual had been resident in Canada throughout the year.
(8) The Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) prescribing rental units or classes of rental units for the purposes of the definition of "eligible rental unit" in subsection (1);
(b) prescribing types of payments for the purposes of the definition of "rent" in subsection (1).
(9) The money required for the purpose of this Section must be paid out of money appropriated for that purpose by the Legislature.
This page and its contents published by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly, and © 2024 Crown in right of Nova Scotia. Created September 5, 2024. Send comments to legc.office@novascotia.ca.
