Capital loss write off question.
Moderator: Mark T Serbinski CA CPA
Capital loss write off question.
I am an American living and working in Canada. I am about to sell a commercial building in the U.S. and it's going to sell at a $20,000 loss. Can I write this loss off on my Canadian taxes and if so, how much per year?
You can only write off cap losses against cap gains, either 3 years back or anytime in future.
Since the write off in US will save you no tax, best to keep the loss until you can match it with Cdn gains. In any event it is not going to be much use until you have some gains.
btw, if this property was owned before coming to canada, your cap gain/loss calculation for Cdn purposes is NOT thesame as for US, since your property was deemed to have been sold and bought on the day you moved to canada, so keep that in mind as well.
Since the write off in US will save you no tax, best to keep the loss until you can match it with Cdn gains. In any event it is not going to be much use until you have some gains.
btw, if this property was owned before coming to canada, your cap gain/loss calculation for Cdn purposes is NOT thesame as for US, since your property was deemed to have been sold and bought on the day you moved to canada, so keep that in mind as well.
After 20 years, I am severely cutting back on responses. Do not ask specifically for my help. There are a few others on this board that can answer most questions. All the best