Using the Home Buyers' Plan for your downpayment

Are you considering purchasing your first home next year?

If so, prior to March 1, 2025 could be the best time to implement this strategy if you are thinking about buying in the spring.

If you need a source for your down payment, the Home Buyers’ Plan will allow you to withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSP to use in assisting with the purchase of your first home, tax-free. If you are purchasing with someone who is also a first time home buyer, that amount can be increased to $120,000, $60,000 each.

You can use any amount up to $60,000 to add to any down payment amount you may have saved or use towards other expenses for purchasing a home.

To help Canadians maintain homeownership, individuals who experience the breakdown of a marriage or common-law partnership are also permitted to participate in the Home Buyers' Plan, even if they do not meet the first-time home buyer requirement.

The amount you have withdrawn from your RRSP must be paid back into your RRSP account in annual payments and you have 15 years to repay them. If you don’t make your annual payment, it will be added to your annual income and you will be taxed accordingly.

If you make a withdrawal from your RRSP, but do not meet the first-time homebuyer eligibility requirements, the withdrawal will be taxed and you must include it in your income tax return as taxable income.

Temporary repayment relief is available to defer the start of the 15-year repayment period by an additional three years for participants making a first withdrawal between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2025. Accordingly, the 15-year repayment period would start the fifth year following the year in which a first withdrawal was made. For example, if you made your first withdrawal in 2022, your first year of repayment will be 2027.

So what if you don’t have any RRSP savings? You can get your savings working for you in a tax free and efficient way. The strategy might be right for you. If you have room under your RRSP contribution limit, you could secure a RRSP loan and contribute those funds and then later use them towards your down payment. If you have funds sitting in unregistered savings you could also move those into a registered account. Please check with the financial institution regarding their policies for withdrawing for the HBP prior to the loan being paid in full.

Any tax refund generated by contributing to your RRSP could also be put towards your down payment funds.

If you aren’t sure whether you have room to contribute, check your Notice of Assessment for last year. Each year you are allowed a percentage of your income to contribute to a RRSP and the amount is carried forward and added to the next year’s total either partially or in full if you haven’t contributed.

It’s important to note the funds you plan to withdraw and put towards the purchase of your home, must be in your account for 90 days prior to your withdrawal.

You do not need to use the withdrawn funds for only your down payment. They can also be used for any purpose that assists with the purchase of your first home—closing costs, paying off outstanding debt, renovations, etc. You must have a written contract in place agreeing to purchase a home and the home must be owner-occupied within one year.

If you have used the Home Buyers’ Plan in the past but have not owned a home for four years, you may qualify to withdraw from your RRSP again as long as you or your common-law partner or spouse did not occupy a home that either of you owned in that four year period.

If you would like more information on the RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan, please email [email protected] and I can give you some guidance and help you decide what is right for your situation or book a time for a chat here on my calendar at www.calendly.com/april-dunn

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.