20 September 1988 Income Tax Severed Letter 5-6508 - [Multiple-Unit Residential Buildings (MURB's)]

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.

XXXX
M. Eisner 
                        (613) 957-2142
XXXX

SEP 20, 1988

Dear Sir:

Re: Multiple-Unit Residential Buildings (MURB's)

This is in reply to your letter of August 10, 1988 wherein you requested a list of MURBs situated in Canada.

We regret that we are unable to comply with your request as section 241 of the Income Tax Act precludes the communication to any person of any information.obtained by or on behalf of the Minister of National Revenue for the purposes of the Income Tax Act. The only circumstances in which information concerning a MURB certificate could be provided would be where a current owner of a MURB made the request or provided the Department with a signed authorization permitting the communication of such information to a designated party. Evidence of ownership of the subject property would also be required.

For your further information, we are also mentioning that clause 21 of the Draft Income Tax Regulations - Capital Cost Allowance which were released by the Minister of Finance on December 16, 1987 proposes that the exemption from rental loss restrictions for MURBs will be discontinued immediately for investors who acquired a MURB after June 17, 1987, other than those eligible for transitional relief.

Such transitional relief will be available only to taxpayers who acquire a MURB after June 17, 1987 pursuant to either an agreement in writing entered into before June 18, 1987, or to the terms of a prospectus, preliminary prospectus, registration statement, offering memorandum or notice filed before June 18, 1987 with a public authority in Canada pursuant to and in accordance with the securities legislation of any province.

Taxpayers who acquired a MURB before June 17, 1987 and those who are eligible for the aforementioned transitional relief will continue to be entitled to apply against other income MURB losses generated after claiming capital cost allowance ("CCA") only for taxation years ending before 1994. Following this transitional period, these MURBs would be treated in the same way as other rental properties for the purposes of the general rules that deny the deduction of CCA to the extent that the claim gives rise to a rental loss.

We trust that these comments will be of assistance to you.

Yours truly,

Original Signed by Original signé par

T. HARRIS

for Director Small Business and General Division Specialty Rulings Directorate Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs Branch