Elderly dependent renting portion of house?

[gakele]

I claim caregiver amt for my father (70+) who lives with me. he pitch in $200/month as rent towards the house. Can I also claim rental income/loss against @2400 he pays yearly, because expenses related to his use of portion of house are way more than he contributes as rent?

[Delphision · Accepted solution]

Calling CRA is always good advice. 

One thing to keep in mind is that before CRA will allow deductions, there has to be an expectation of profit and the income would have to be reported. You would not be allowed to claim all the costs of running the household as expenses against the income. I expect that it would be treated much like a bed and breakfast, where the expenses would be portioned by the square footage of his room and meals.

If you are claiming caregiver, that intent to profit is going to come into question and they will disallow the deductions.  On the other hand, if your father is just considered to be contributing to the cost of housekeeping expenses, you do not have to report the income.  One of the criteria for claiming the caregiver amount is that you "maintain a dwelling" for your dependent so reporting rent could possibly be problematic.

PER CRA

Personal portion of expenses

If you rent part of the building where you live, you can only claim the amount of your expenses that relate to the rented part of the building.

[Sara-TurboTax]

I would recommend giving the CRA a quick call to verify which option would be better suited to your circumstances! They can be reached at 1-800-267-6999 & 1-800-959-8281