The $1,500 Federal Tax Credit First-Time Homebuyers Leave on the Table
You closed in October 2025. By April 2026, when tax season arrives, you're thinking about mortgage payments and property tax bills, not a checkbox on Line 31270. That's where the $1,500 goes missing.
What the Credit Actually Is
The federal Home Buyers' Amount gives you a $1,500 reduction in tax owed, claimed on your personal return the year you bought. It's calculated by multiplying a $10,000 prescribed amount by the 15% federal non-refundable tax credit rate. If you owe $2,000 in federal tax, claiming this brings it to $500. If you're getting a refund, it increases the refund by up to $1,500.
Who Qualifies
You're eligible if you (or your spouse) acquired a home and neither of you lived in another property you owned in the preceding four years. The "first-time" rule is waived for buyers with disabilities if the home provides a more accessible living environment. The property must be intended as your principal residence, rental properties don't count.
How to Claim It (And When People Forget)
You claim it by filling Line 31270 on your T1 return. No separate application. No documents to submit unless CRA audits later. The failure mode is simple: you bought in September, filed taxes in March, and forgot the purchase happened in the previous tax year.
Split the credit with your partner if one of you doesn't owe enough tax to use the full $1,500. CRA allows any division, as long as the total doesn't exceed $10,000.
Not the Same as the Land Transfer Tax Rebate
Ontario, BC, and Toronto offer land transfer tax rebates applied at closing. Those reduce what you pay your lawyer on possession day. The federal credit comes later, through your tax return. Both exist. Both reduce costs. They don't replace each other.
If you missed it in the year of purchase, file Form T1-ADJ to adjust a prior return. CRA accepts adjustments up to ten years back.
The $1,500 roughly covers a real estate lawyer and a home inspection. Free recovery of costs you already paid.
You closed in October 2025. By April 2026, when tax season arrives, you're thinking about mortgage payments and property tax bills, not a checkbox on Line 31270. That's where the $1,500 goes missing.
What the Credit Actually Is
The federal Home Buyers' Amount gives you a $1,500 reduction in tax owed, claimed on your personal return the year you bought. It's calculated by multiplying a $10,000 prescribed amount by the 15% federal non-refundable tax credit rate. If you owe $2,000 in federal tax, claiming this brings it to $500. If you're getting a refund, it increases the refund by up to $1,500.
Who Qualifies
You're eligible if you (or your spouse) acquired a home and neither of you lived in another property you owned in the preceding four years. The "first-time" rule is waived for buyers with disabilities if the home provides a more accessible living environment. The property must be intended as your principal residence, rental properties don't count.
How to Claim It (And When People Forget)
You claim it by filling Line 31270 on your T1 return. No separate application. No documents to submit unless CRA audits later. The failure mode is simple: you bought in September, filed taxes in March, and forgot the purchase happened in the previous tax year.
Split the credit with your partner if one of you doesn't owe enough tax to use the full $1,500. CRA allows any division, as long as the total doesn't exceed $10,000.
Not the Same as the Land Transfer Tax Rebate
Ontario, BC, and Toronto offer land transfer tax rebates applied at closing. Those reduce what you pay your lawyer on possession day. The federal credit comes later, through your tax return. Both exist. Both reduce costs. They don't replace each other.
If you missed it in the year of purchase, file Form T1-ADJ to adjust a prior return. CRA accepts adjustments up to ten years back.
The $1,500 roughly covers a real estate lawyer and a home inspection. Free recovery of costs you already paid.
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