27 February 2003 External T.I. 2003-0002065 - HBP, SUPPLEMENTAL ELIGIBLE AMOUNT

Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the CRA.
Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle de l'ARC.

Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the CCRA.

Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle de l'ADRC.

Principal Issues:

Where all of the other conditions are satisfied, is a taxpayer that has a spouse and a son that are disabled for purposes of the Act eligible to withdraw amounts under the Home Buyers' Plan in respect to a move to another home?

Position: Yes.

Reasons:

Where all of the conditions under the Home Buyers' Plan are satisfied, the individual would qualify to withdraw a supplemental eligible amount for the benefit of ensuring that accessibility to the new home is adequate for the disabled wife and son.

XXXXXXXXXX 2003-000206

February 27, 2003

Dear XXXXXXXXXX:

Re: Home Buyers' Plan and Supplemental Eligible Amount

This is in response to your letter of September 3, 2002, which was forwarded to us on February 7, 2003, wherein you requested information regarding your eligibility to withdraw amounts under the Home Buyers' Plan ("HBP") in respect of your move from XXXXXXXXXX to XXXXXXXXXX.

You state that your wife has XXXXXXXXXX and your XXXXXXXXXX year old son has XXXXXXXXXX and that both are entitled to claim the disability amount under the Income Tax Act.

Comments

The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency's ("CCRA") general views regarding the Home Buyers' Plan are found in the Home Buyers' Plan Guide (RC4135) (the "Guide") which is available from your local tax services office or on the CCRA internet site at http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/rc4135/rc4135eq.html.

You will note that under the heading "What is the HBP?" in Chapter 1 of the Guide we state very clearly that the HBP allows a person to withdraw up to $20,000 from his or her registered retirement savings plan ("RRSP") to buy or build a qualifying home. To qualify, the home has to be more accessible to the disabled person than his or her current home and/or the home has to be better suited to the disabled person's needs. In our view, where a move results from an employment transfer to a new home in a different city and the new home needs modification to allow better accessibility for the disabled persons, the new home will be considered a qualifying home.

Your letter indicates that you may have moved to XXXXXXXXXX in XXXXXXXXXX 2002. If this is the case and you acquired a home at that time, you will not satisfy one of the conditions if you did not withdraw the amount under the HBP within 30 days of acquiring the new home.

The determination of whether all of the other conditions would be met in your particular situation is a question of fact. Since we have no information pertaining to your particular situation, we are unable to provide any general comments. In any case, you may want to refer to the information provided under the heading "What are the conditions for participating in the HBP?" in Chapter 1 to determine whether or not you satisfy all of the other conditions. Your situation is described in Situation 3 in the chart listing the conditions.

We note that there may be irregular situations where some form of administrative relief may be granted. If you do not qualify for the HBP and you would like to determine whether or not you qualify for some form of administrative relief, you may want to contact Mr. Edwin Williams at 613-954-0556.

We trust that the above comments will be of assistance to you.

Yours truly,

Mickey Sarazin, CA
for Director
Financial Industries Division
Income Tax Rulings Directorate