CCA is optional. You don’t need to enter a property as a CCA asset or take CCA on it if you do. Whether it is beneficial or not depends on your situation. If you take CCA on the property, you can take the CCA deduction to offset your rental income. But if you sell it at a profit, you may end up with “recapture”, which will be added to your rental income and taxed at the same rate.
Whereas, if you don’t enter your property as a CCA asset, you don’t get the CCA deduction. But when you sell it, any gain you have is taxed as a capital gain, which currently means that only 50% taxable (this may change in the future).
If you don’t take CCA on the property, then you don’t need to report the purchase of the property. You would only need to report it when it is sold. If you do want to take CCA on the property, then you would have to enter it as an addition in the year that you started using it to earn income.
