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New Member
posted Oct 29, 2019 9:49:37 PM

Can you deduct legal fees and realtor commission from capital gain of a vacant land sale?

I bought vacant land in 2012 for $29,500.00. I paid $1,802.93 in HST and $1,643,93 in legal fees. I haven't done anything to the property while owning it. I sold it in 2015 for $39,000.00 and paid $1,233.81 in legal fees and $4,407.00 to my realtor. Am I allowed to use these to adjust my purchase and sale price of the vacant land to reduce the capital gain?

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1 Best answer
New Member
Oct 29, 2019 9:49:39 PM

For the Adjusted Cost Base (ACB) of the property, you are going to show $32,946.86.  The HST is part of the cost of the property, and the legal fees etc are included with the adjusted cost base.  The Proceeds of Distribution will be $39,000.00 and the Outlays and Expenses will be $5,640.81.  The resulting capital gain will be $412.33.

1 Replies
New Member
Oct 29, 2019 9:49:39 PM

For the Adjusted Cost Base (ACB) of the property, you are going to show $32,946.86.  The HST is part of the cost of the property, and the legal fees etc are included with the adjusted cost base.  The Proceeds of Distribution will be $39,000.00 and the Outlays and Expenses will be $5,640.81.  The resulting capital gain will be $412.33.