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Level 2
posted Oct 29, 2019 10:00:13 PM

I rent out my basement of my own house (I live upstairs, it's my primary residence). Can I claim a part of my mortgage interest, property tax and utility as expenses?

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1 Best answer
New Member
Oct 29, 2019 10:00:15 PM

Yes, definitely, you are able to claim a portion of the mortgage interest etc against the rental income.  Use the square footage of the apartment divided by the total square footage of your house for the percentage allocation.

 

6 Replies
New Member
Oct 29, 2019 10:00:15 PM

Yes, definitely, you are able to claim a portion of the mortgage interest etc against the rental income.  Use the square footage of the apartment divided by the total square footage of your house for the percentage allocation.

 

Level 2
Oct 29, 2019 10:00:16 PM

Thank you, Jeffrey. But for CCA stuff (furniture, furnace, water heater, appliances), do you think I should choose not to report the expense because of the future tax implications?

New Member
Oct 29, 2019 10:00:18 PM

If you own the appliances, sure, claim CCA.  You aren't likely to sell those for more than you purchased them...so any recapture issues should be small, if any.  Claiming depreciation on the value of the house, however, I would not recommend...as you could have a large CCA recapture in one year, if/when you sell the property, and that could boost your income drastically for one year.  Also, as long as you don't claim CCA on the house, then you don't lose your Primary Residence exemption if and when you do sell your home.

Level 1
Oct 29, 2019 10:00:19 PM

How to share with your spouse in Turbo Tax?

New Member
Oct 29, 2019 10:00:21 PM

it is not clear where one enters the portions amount for these (interest, utilities, etc.) on Turbo Tax

Level 1
Oct 29, 2019 10:00:22 PM

When you use Easy Steps method, at Rental Property Identification - select your property from drop down menu and this will pre-fill information for your spouse.  It took me long to find out :=)