Determining PR for multiple properties for emigration/departure tax

[Lilkurty]

My husband and I are dual citizens currently living in Canada. When I retire we are planning to move permanently to Florida as we will be entitled to Medicare at that time. We may or may not sell our condo in Canada when we make the move. Our son may continue to live there (he has disability tax credit) and we would not charge him rent. Here are the details:

• Bought a condo in FL in 2010
• Built a home in Canada and moved in 2002 and sold it in 2015
• Bought a condo in Canada in 2013, rented for 1 year, renovated and moved in 2015

• Planning to move for tax purposes to FL in 2027.

Can I claim FL condo as PR for all the years I owned it at that time? It has the most significant capital gains.

Thank you!

[Heidi123]

Currently, you can't claim your FL condo as a principal residence (unless you, your current/former spouse or common-law partner, or any of your children have lived in it at some time during the year).

After you move into the FL condo, you will be eligible to claim it as a principal residence for the year you are living there.

As per the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA):

"Another requirement is that the housing unit must be ordinarily inhabited in the year by the taxpayer or by his or her spouse or common-law partner, former spouse or common-law partner, or child."

For more detailed information, please read the CRA's article Income Tax Folio S1-F3-C2, Principal Residence.

Thank you for choosing TurboTax.

[Lilkurty]

Thanks for your reply. My husband and I split our time between Winnipeg and Florida, so we do spend several months each year at the condo in Florida. It would qualify as a PR under the CRA rules.

I should have worded my question better. We sold our Winnipeg house in 2015,  before the CRA required a form to be filled out designating PR. Since we own multiple properties we can designate only 1 property per year, but we could designate the Florida property for some years and the Winnipeg property for other years. Since the Florida property has had the most capital gains, I would like to designate it for all the years that we owned it (from 2010 to year of emigration).

We sold our Winnipeg house in 2015, so I am unsure if I can let the CRA know at the time of emigration (when I will have to fill out the PR form) that for those 5 years and all subsequent years, we are designating the FL condo as our PR.

[TurboTaxBrenda]

We recommend contacting the CRA at 1 (800) 959-8281 for clarification and an answer on your behalf. 

Thank you for choosing TurboTax.