Renovation Tax Credit may be extended into 2010

If you follow the political news, you may have heard Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, say in November that the government's plan was to end the popular renovation tax credit in December 2009. Under the program, Canadians were eligible for a maximum $1,350 federal tax credit if they spend up to $10,000 on home renovations. Unfortunately for us, we have not yet started any home renovations, so it looked like we were going to miss out on the credit.

However, in a recent blog post, Globe and Mail columnist Jane Taber ruminated that the credit could be extended into next year. If so yeah for us.

On a related note, one commenter on Taber's blog noted that if the tax credit is extended, make sure you take photocopies of your receipts. Many stores still use thermal paper to print receipts, and these fade after a short while. If you simply stick the receipts in an envelope until you do your taxes next year, there may be no printing left on the receipt to read or submit to the taxman!