Right now, Canadian first-time home buyers can take advantage of the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit (HBTC). If you qualify and your home qualifies, this could be a nice bonus to taking the plunge of buying your first piece of residential real estate.

You qualify for the HBTC if you are a first-time home buyer who buys a home in Canada. For the purposes of this tax credit, “first-time home buyer” refers to anyone (and their spouse or common-law partner) who has not owned and lived in a residence during the year they buy or for any of the four years prior to their purchase. (If you are eligible for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC), you don’t have to be a first-time buyer to purchase)

The tax credit amount is determined by the lowest personal income tax rate of the year times $5000. For instance, 2009’s lowest rate was 15%. Multiplied by the amount of $5000, this equals $750. So, for 2009, the HBTC is $750. Each year, the credit is recalculated, so it may be higher or lower than previous years.

The beauty of this particular credit is the flexibility of the purchase options. In addition to the standard single-family home unit, this tax credit covers a lot of residential real estate. You can get this tax credit on a mobile home or even on a co-op where you own equity interest in a unit (Unfortunately, shares that only give you the right to tenant a unit are not eligible). Condos of all types qualify as well, with apartments, duplexes and whole apartment buildings.

You can only claim the HBTC once per dwelling, so if you and another eligible party jointly purchase a home, you can’t each get $750 in tax credits! However, you are able to share the credit if you so desire, so that each eligible party gets a share.

The 2009 and subsequent personal income tax returns will incorporate a new line that allows you to claim this credit. If someone else is doing your tax return, ensure that their attention is drawn to the fact that you are eligible for this credit. You don’t have to supply any supporting documents, but ensure that you have them easily accessible should the CRA want to take a look at them.

Keep the HBTC in mind when you consider buying a Canadian home. It’s just another great reason to take the final step of real estate home ownership.

There is a common adage that says the only two things that are certain in life are death and taxes. While death is definitely not certain when it comes to a home business, taxes assuredly are. If you are going to operate a home business, there are some things you need to know about taxes or you may find yourself in a world of trouble.

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I can not think of one person I know who likes paying taxes, doing taxes or talking about taxes; but the fact of the matter is taxes are an inevitable part of life and if you start a home business, they are probably going to be an even bigger part of your life than they were before.

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When you work for someone else, your taxes are taken out of your paycheck and then at the end of the year, you simply file your tax return and you either pay money to the IRS or you get money back. Paying home business taxes gets to be quite more complicated than that. While income taxes are the main concern of those employed by others, home business owners need to worry about use taxes, sales taxes, employment taxes, income taxes and a number of other taxes that may apply to their business.

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The first thing you need to take care of in terms of home business taxes is the process of getting an EIN number. A business’ EIN number is much like a social security number for your business. It is the number that is used when reporting taxes to the IRS. Once you have your EIN number and your home business starts generating income, you are going to have to start making estimated tax payments to the IRS.

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Unlike the annual tax returns you filed when you were employed by someone else, home business owners have to pay taxes on a quarterly basis. For example, you are going to have to pay taxes on the money you make from January through March in April and for the money you make in April through May, you have to pay taxes on in June. The IRS provides home business tax payers with the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System in order to make paying your quarterly taxes more convenient.

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If your home business has employees, you are also going to have to take care of your employees’ income taxes. When you have employees, you are required to withhold their income tax from their paychecks and you must pay that income tax to the IRS. If you have less than one-thousand dollars in income tax liability each year, you can do this annually. However, if your employees’ income tax liability is going to total up to more than one-thousand dollars a year, you are going to need to pay the IRS either monthly or semi-weekly.

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Remember, this only applies to you if your home business has actual employees. Independent contractors are not considered employees and taxes do not have to be withheld from payments made to independent contractors.

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Home business owners also have to pay self employment taxes. Self employment taxes are taxes self employed people pay to Social Security and Medicare. This tax allows you to receive Social Security and Medicare benefits when you retire.

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If you are not sure how to manage your home business taxes, you should hire a small business accountant to consult with you on the best way to approach your tax requirements. Hiring an accountant who is willing to teach you how to do your own home business taxes can be much more cost effective than hiring an accountant who insists on doing all of your taxes for you without any explanation of what is being done.??

When you are thinking of a refinancing home mortgage move so you can lower your payments and pay at a lower interest rate, you may not really save money in the long run. The total amount of the loan, the interest rate and the length of the loan term will determine what kind of savings you will make; another thing that has to be considered are the taxes related to the move.

The taxes you pay on your mortgage are an automatic itemized deduction when you prepare payment for them. In refinancing home mortgage, you will pay fewer taxes supposedly on the loan itself to the government. But check with the accountant if this move is going to move you into a higher tax bracket, which could be another thing to think about.

The best person to tap for advice when it comes to tax deductions (and their impact on your overall financial condition) will be an accountant or a specialist skilled in tax preparation matters. You should get an accountant or the tax preparation specialist who can help in making your decision on whether or not to refinance your mortgage loan. Seek also the advice of your friends, coworkers and family who may have experienced a similar situation before. They may have availed themselves of such services from a reliable accountant and they can give good information that can help you make the right decision.

If you cannot avail of a tax preparation specialist or an accountant for this problem on taxes, there are many free tax calculators that are widely available online. By entering a few lines of information about your situation that the online calculator needs as inputs, you will easily get an idea of what savings you can make should you decide to go ahead with the refinancing home mortgage move; the online tax calculator will also tell you of the amount of possible tax deductions. The online tax calculators however are only a tool, though they could be accurate. The best advice you can get on the taxes will still be from a professional tax preparer or an accountant, who can give you (with the appropriate explanations) the exact figures relating to your savings and tax deduction amounts.

Taxes are important and no one can avoid them, being a government requirement that has to be complied with. The aspect on taxes in mortgage refinancing is equally important to take into consideration, as the amount of the loan could be a factor to determine whether you stay in your current tax bracket, or it will move you up into a higher one, where you have to pay more. A tax preparation specialist or the online tax calculator can help make the decision much easier for you.

Here at http://refinancinghomemortgagetips.com you will find all the essential tips and hints on how to get the most out of refinancing home mortgage with a shorter loan term.

With the spring and summer seasons fast approaching, at least in most parts of the country, many Canadians are preparing for spring clean-up, kids report cards, and that annual home renovation project. While the downturn in the economy may get some nervous about spending their hard earned dollars on fixing up the home front, the Canadian government has made it a bit easier on families and our wallets by providing tax relief with the new home renovation tax credit (HRTC).

The 15% home renovation tax credit may be applied to renovation costs for projects such as finishing your basement, re-modeling your kitchen or even painting your house! You must spend at least $1000 to take advantage of this great tax break.

Now, I have heard many people balk at the $1350 tax credit maximum as a mere ?drop in the bucket?. It very well may be if you are hiring a contractor to do the work for you. But, we are Canadians, and these are tough times. Surely we can do it ourselves. Right?

Do it yourself centre?s, like Home Depot, have been telling us for years that ?we can do it? and they are obviously ?willing to help.? You just need an idea, a plan and maybe a long week-end to get started.

While the tax break will help, it is very important to note that not all expenditures involving your project are covered under the HRTC. Purchasing the tools you may need to get the job done is not covered but don?t worry. Renting anything you need for your project is covered and you probably don?t really need a circular saw or a paint sprayer taking up more room in your garage anyways. An excellent resource to help you find the tools you need to rent is rentcharlie.com (http://www.rentcharlie.com).Not only can you find the rentals you need but also a local rental company that carries them. Renting the tools you need is also a great idea because you can get expert advice from the rental store owner on what tools to use and possibly a tip or two.

So Canada, put on your work boots, carpenter pants and tool belt. Plan a simple re-modeling project and take advantage of the home renovation tax credit. You can do it and the HRTC and rentcharlie.com can help.