claiming legal fees when sale does not go through

selewis

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i have some small legal fees incurred for a private sale that we ended up walking away from in the end. can these fees be claimed in any way? normally i would deduct them from the purchase price of the property for claiming when the property is sold down the road. but if i never bought the particular property in the end, can i claim these legal fees any other way?
 

jackiechandc

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QUOTE (selewis @ Apr 17 2009, 11:42 PM) i have some small legal fees incurred for a private sale that we ended up walking away from in the end. can these fees be claimed in any way? normally i would deduct them from the purchase price of the property for claiming when the property is sold down the road. but if i never bought the particular property in the end, can i claim these legal fees any other way?

I`m not an accountant, but I`m self employed and I would use this as a professional expense which is 100% deductible. I don`t see why you can`t claim this as an investment expense as well as you incurred this fee for investment purposes. You probably have to claim this in the year that it occurred and can`t carry forward for later years though. Is there an accountant that can verify this?
 

Thomas Beyer

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QUOTE (selewis @ Apr 17 2009, 09:42 PM) i have some small legal fees incurred for a private sale that we ended up walking away from in the end. can these fees be claimed in any way? normally i would deduct them from the purchase price of the property for claiming when the property is sold down the road. but if i never bought the particular property in the end, can i claim these legal fees any other way?
you claim it as an expense, just like driving around, restaurant bills, ads in the newspaper, your office etc. Claim what is actual and reasonable .. and you`ll be OK with CRA most of the times !!
 

navaz

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It is a funny one- most people claim it and are ok as long as they do not get audited. If they do- then they become a capital loss! go figure!
 

selewis

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my wife and i own all our properties in our own names, so each property is recorded separately on income tax. if these legal fees are not attached to any property that i actually own, then to which property do i expense these fees? and navaz, that is about what i figured would likely be the case (i.e. capital loss) - thus the question. but i would love to claim these fees if possible!
 

Thomas Beyer

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REIN Member
QUOTE (selewis @ Apr 18 2009, 09:32 PM) my wife and i own all our properties in our own names, so each property is recorded separately on income tax. if these legal fees are not attached to any property that i actually own, then to which property do i expense these fees?
to you personally ..
 
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