Basic information about capital cost allowance (CCA)

On this page:

• What is capital cost?
• Determining CCA
• First fiscal period is less than 365 days

What is capital cost?

This is the amount on which you first claim capital cost allowance. The capital cost of a property is usually the total of:

• the purchase price (not including the cost of land, which is not depreciable);
• the part of your legal, accounting, engineering, installation, and other fees that relates to buying or constructing the property (not including the part that applies to land);
• the cost of any additions or improvements you made to the property after you acquired it, if you did not claim these costs as a current expense (such as modifications to accommodate persons with disabilities); and
• for a building, soft costs (such as interest, legal and accounting fees, and property taxes) related to the period you are constructing, renovating, or altering the building, if these expenses have not been deducted as current expenses.

Determining CCA

There are a few other things you should know about Capital Cost Allowance (CCA):

• To decide whether an amount is a current expense or a capital expense, go to Current or capital expenses.
• Generally, use the declining balance method to calculate your CCA. This means that you claim CCA on the capital cost of the property minus the CCA you claimed in previous years, if any. The remaining balance declines over the years as you claim CCA.

• You do not have to claim the maximum amount of CCA in any given year. You can claim any amount you like, from zero to the maximum allowed for the year.
  For example, if you do not have to pay income tax for the year, you may not want to claim CCA. Claiming CCA reduces the balance of the class by the amount of CCA claimed. As a result, the CCA available for future years will be reduced.In the year you acquire a property, you can usually claim CCA only on one-half of your net additions to a class.

• You cannot claim CCA on most land or on living things such as trees, shrubs, or animals. However, you can claim CCA on timber limits, cutting rights, and wood assets.

• If you claim CCA, and you later dispose of the property, you may have to add an amount to your income as a recapture of CCA. Alternatively, you may be able to deduct an additional amount from your income as a terminal loss.

• If you receive income from a quarry, sand or gravel pit, or a woodlot, you can claim a type of allowance known as a "depletion allowance."

• If you are a partner in a partnership, you cannot claim CCA for depreciable property owned by the partnership. Instead, the partnership can deduct CCA when calculating its net income or loss for the year. The partnership’s net income or loss is then allocated between the partners and each partner’s share is shown on their respective Slip T5013, Statement of Partnership Income.

  If a partnership does not have to file a partnership information return, you will not receive aT5013 slip. In such cases, you will have to complete Area A of Form T2042 to report the CCA claim for the partnership.

First fiscal period is less than 365 days

If your fiscal period is less than 365 days, you have to prorate your CCA claim. Calculate your CCA using the rules discussed in Calculating CCA . However, base your CCA claim on the number of days in your fiscal period compared to 365 days.

Forms and publications

• Guide T4002, Business and Professional Income
• Slip T5013, Statement of Partnership Income
• Slip T5013A, Statement of Partnership Income for Tax Shelters and Renounced Resource Expenses
• Folio S3-F4-C1, General Discussion of Capital Cost Allowance
• Interpretation Bulletin IT-373, Woodlots
• Interpretation Bulletin IT-481-CONSOLID, Timber Resource Property and Timber Limits
• Interpretation Bulletin IT-492, Capital Cost Allowance - Industrial Mineral Mines
• Interpretation Bulletin IT-501, Capital Cost Allowance - Logging Assets
• Interpretation Bulletin IT-501SR, Capital Cost Allowance - Logging Assets

Related topics

• Current or capital expenses
• Calculating CCA

Date modified:

2017-01-03