Wednesday, August 16, 1995 — North Shore News ~ 33

AREAS REED Be Sie

im search of
tax-free cas

Mike —
Grenby

PUT YOUR home to work
‘for you, and ‘carn some tax-
-free dollars. ee

ae Let's say you rent out a room
__ Or Suite in your home. (Even if
“you are a tenant yourself, a two-
"|. bedroom‘apartment might accom-
“modate’ a roommate or. boarder.)’:
2 .If the room(s) rented out make
Up, say,'25% of the space in the .
“home, you may deduct 25% of
expenses like the rent or mortgage
interest, property taxes, property
insurance, hydro bill and,so on,
You may also claim a portion ‘of. «
general household maintenance
“and repairy as well. as many costs
“that relate. directly to the rented
. : part.” B ‘
Let's say you don’ t spend any
money on the rental space ‘itself *:
nd'simply deduct the 25% por.
on of the total'expenses, *,
/ oo Hithat comes to $500 a month:
and you are‘collecting $500 a .
“month rent, you end up with no
‘taxable. income. from the rental,
That means ‘you have an extra
$6, 000 ‘a year ircyour, pocket —.

“The key is this: Having rental
income enables ‘you to claim a’
: deduction for a portion of basic .
* household expenses you are incur-
: ring anyway. These expenses are

p wit
‘A'tsp. dried tarragon
Ltsp. lemon pepper
Wisp. salt.»
Lb. beef ‘roun i
steak”

3 cups ‘spiral or shell pasta.

12 cherry tamatoes.

1 kiwi, pecied and sliced
vs *)-Combine first 10 ingredients j in

a strong plastic bag. *

=. Add steak’ and marinade for 30

to'45 minutes. |":

2 ‘Remove meat from’ marinade
“and brail or barbecue for 10 min-
G . utes (for:3/4 inch thick steak),

or ‘sirloin tip

otherwise non-deductible because
they are strictly for personal —~ as
opposed to income-earning —
use, ;

Note Revenue Canada expects
you to show you have that all-
important “reasonable expectation
of profit” from the rental income.

., Otherwise, your claim for expens-

es could be disallowed. As long as
you can demonstrate the rent is |
likely to go up faster than the
expenses, you should be fine even
if you start out with one balancing
the other, For more details, ask

_ your local tax office for its Rental
income tax guide.

The same principles apply to
running a sideline — or even full-
time — business out of your
home.

As long as you meet the guide-
lines for a home “office,” again
you may deduct a percentage of
. your home expenses — expenses
you pay anyway which are other- |

_ wise non-deductible. For more
: details, see page 22 of the book-

let, Business and Professional
Income, available from your tax
office.

.- You can also pay family mem-’
» bers in a lower tax bracket to

_ work for you, whether in your
* home business or rental venture.

Let's say you have $5,060
income from your business/rental.

Deduct $3,000 as a portion of the |

total home expenses plus another
$2,000 you pay-your partner or
youngster. ;

Once again you end up with
tax-free income: $5,000 in this

~ case.

And again, the money you
spend stay's right at home.

Mike Grenby is a North Shore:
based columnist and independent
financial adviser; he will answer
your questions in this column as
“space allows — write hint c/o
“2444 Haywood Avenue, West

- Vancouver, B.C. V7V LYT.

Remove beef from’ marinade,
strain marinade and re-serve.

Heat re-served marinade to boil-
ing and simmer between 5 and 10
minutes.
~" Cook pasta according te pack-
age directions.

Drain pasta and toss with hot
marinade mixture and cherry toma-

» LOES.

Slice steak i in thin strips and.

“serve over pasta salad.’

Garnish with kiwi slices.
“Makes 4 servings.

.. Kasey Wilson is a food, wine and
‘dvavel writer, “restaurant. reviewer
and contributor. to. Pacific
Nortlnvest The Beautiful Cookbook,

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