I work from home full time as a salaried employee for another company that requires me to work from home. Are roof and external wall repairs claimable as a tax credit?

[matlev91]

Last year I had major repairs done to my home: the roof was replaced, the building envelope was repaired in several places, balconies were resurfaced and new railings were installed for a total of > $50,000.  Are (a %age of) these repairs claimable?  The CRA guidelines says only "minor" repairs are eligible, but I've read various reports saying you can claim roof repairs (which I would consider major), so I'm not sure where the other repairs I've listed fall into place.  I'd love to get some money back, but I don't want to be over zealous and have the CRA come knocking and claw everything back.

[TurboTaxSusan · Accepted solution]

As an employee, you can't claim renovations or other expenses that extend the useful life of your property or improve it beyond its original condition. You also can't claim expenses that are not related to the workspace. ex: If you don't use your balconies for work related purposes, then you can't claim any repair costs for them.

[matlev91]

Thanks for your answer @TurboTaxSusan , so in other words because the wall and roof repairs are the typical end-of-useable-life repairs they can't be claimed?

[TurboTaxSusan]

Yes. They can't be claimed because they are capital expenses, and an employee can't claim capital expenses as a work from home expense.