Bill 234 2009

An Act to amend the Taxation Act, 2007 to provide for a tax credit for heritage properties

Note: This Act amends the Taxation Act, 2007.  For the legislative history of the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public Statutes – Detailed Legislative History at www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

   1.  The Taxation Act, 2007 is amended by adding the following Part:

part v.3
heritage property tax credit

Definitions

   104.11  (1)  In this section,

"eligible property" means, in respect of a taxpayer, a property that, at any time,

  (a)  is an eligible heritage property as defined in subsection 365.2 (2) of the Municipal Act, 2001, and

  (b)  is owned at that time, whether jointly with another person or otherwise, by the taxpayer or, if the taxpayer is an individual, a qualifying relation in respect of the taxpayer; ("bien admissible")

"government assistance" means assistance in any form from a government, municipality or other public authority, and includes a grant, subsidy, forgivable loan, deduction from tax or investment allowance, but does not include any assistance as may be prescribed; ("aide gouvernementale")

"qualifying activity" means, in respect of an eligible property, an activity that,

  (a)  relates to a property that is an eligible property at the time of the activity, and

  (b)  satisfies such conditions as may be prescribed; ("activité admissible")

"qualifying expenditure" means, in respect of an eligible property of a taxpayer for a taxation year, an outlay or expense that,

  (a)  is made or incurred in the year by the taxpayer or, if the taxpayer is an individual, a qualifying relation in respect of the taxpayer,

  (b)  is the cost of goods acquired or services received if they are directly attributable to a qualifying activity in respect of the eligible property, and

   (c)  is not excluded by the prescribed rules; ("dépense admissible")

"qualifying relation" means, in respect of a taxpayer who is an individual, a person who is the taxpayer's spouse or common-law partner, or a child of the taxpayer who has not attained the age of 18 years before the end of the particular taxation year, other than a child who was, at any time in the year, a married person, a person who is in a common-law partnership or a person who has a child. ("proche admissible")

Heritage property tax credit

   (2)  Taxpayers may, in computing their tax payable under this Act for a taxation year, deduct a heritage property tax credit equal to the lesser of their tax payable under this Act for the year, determined without reference to this section, and the amount determined under subsection (3).

Amount of tax credit

   (3)  The amount of a taxpayer's heritage property tax credit for a taxation year in respect of an eligible property of the taxpayer is the amount calculated using the formula,

A × (B – C)

in which,

  "A"  is the percentage prescribed for the purposes of this subsection,

  "B"  is the lesser of the amount prescribed for the purposes of this subsection and the total of all amounts each of which is a qualifying expenditure in respect of the eligible property for the year that is incurred after the prescribed date, and

  "C"  is the total of all government assistance, if any, relating to the qualifying expenditure in respect of the eligible property that, on the taxpayer's filing due-date for the taxation year for which the tax credit is claimed, the taxpayer has received, is entitled to receive or may reasonably expect to receive, to the extent that the government assistance has not been repaid under a legal obligation to do so.

Apportionment

   (4)  If more than one taxpayer is entitled to a tax credit under this section for a taxation year in respect of a particular eligible property, the total of all tax credit amounts shall not exceed the maximum tax credit that would be available for the year by any one of those taxpayers in respect of the property, if that taxpayer were the only taxpayer entitled to a tax credit for the year under this section, and if the taxpayers cannot agree as to what portion of the tax credit each is entitled to, the Minister may fix the portions.

Commencement

   2.  This Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.

Short title

   3.  The short title of this Act is the Taxation Amendment Act (Heritage Property Tax Credit), 2009.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Taxation Act, 2007 to provide a non-refundable tax credit in respect of qualifying expenditures that are directly attributable to a qualifying activity relating to an eligible heritage property, as defined in section 365.2 of the Municipal Act, 2001, that is owned by the taxpayer or, if the taxpayer is an individual, the taxpayer's qualifying relation.  The tax credit will apply to qualifying expenditures that are incurred after the prescribed date.  Various components of the tax credit will be prescribed by regulations made under the Taxation Act, 2007.