Home Renovation Tax Credit to End Soon
The Home Renovation Tax Credit is a non-refundable tax credit based on eligible expenses for improvements to your house, condo or cottage.
The HRTC can be claimed on your 2009 income tax return and applies to eligible expenses of more than $1,000, but not more than $10,000, resulting in a maximum non-refundable tax credit of $1,350 [($10,000 − $1,000) × 15%].
It applies to work performed or goods acquired after January 27, 2009, and before February 1, 2010 under an agreement entered into after January 27, 2009.
Note: The Home Renovation Tax Credit is only available for the 2009 tax year.
Eligible expenses for goods acquired during this period, even if they are installed after January 2010, will still qualify. If an eligible expense involves work performed by a contractor or a third party, and the work is not completed by the end of the eligible period, only the portion that is completed before February 1, 2010 will qualify even if a payment has been made.
Home Energy Audit Basics
A home energy audit is the first step to assess how much energy your home consumes and to evaluate what measures you can take to make your home more energy efficient.
An audit will show you problems that may, when corrected, save you significant amounts of money over time.
During the audit, you can pinpoint where your house is losing energy.
Audits also determine the efficiency of your home’s heating and cooling systems. An audit may also show you ways to conserve hot water and electricity. You can perform a simple energy audit yourself, or have a professional energy auditor carry out a more thorough audit.
A certified energy advisors uses a variety of techniques and equipment to determine the energy efficiency of a structure. Thorough audits often use equipment such as blower doors, which measure the extent of leaks in the building envelope, and infrared cameras, which reveal hard-to-detect areas of air infiltration and missing insulation.
To learn more about home energy evaluations, watch this video.
Video: ecoENERGY Home Energy Assessments
Watch the following video to learn more about the ecoENERGY home energy assessments performed by Amerispec’s certified energy advisors.
Learn about the energy evaluation process and what you must do to qualify for government energy grants in Canada.