OWNER-BUILT HOMES

You built the house. The tax on it is recoverable

Q: I've lost some of my receipts. Is the claim dead?

No, but it's weaker. The claim is built from documented tax paid, so gaps reduce what's recoverable. Suppliers and trades can often reissue invoices, and bank or credit card records help establish what was spent. Start by gathering what you have.

If you built or substantially renovated your own home — or hired a contractor to build it on land you own — you paid GST/HST on materials and labour all the way through.

A large part of that is claimable. But owner-built claims work nothing like buying from a builder: no one credits you at closing, the amount is built from your receipts, and the filing window turns on when the house was finished rather than when you signed anything.

2,500 claims filed · $65 million recovered · 15+ years in Excise Tax · Never a percentage of your rebate.

Who this applies to

You built a new home on land you own or lease
You hired a general contractor to build it for you, but you were the owner throughout
You substantially renovated an existing home — see substantial renovation →
You converted a non-residential building into a home
You built a major addition that, together with renovation, effectively created a new home

The common thread is that you were never a purchaser. There was no builder selling you a finished house, so there was no one to credit a rebate against a purchase price. Which means nothing happens unless you file.

What the claim is built from

Two things drive the number.

The GST/HST you actually paid. Materials, contractor invoices, subtrades, architectural and engineering fees, equipment rental, professional services. Every taxable input that went into the build.

The fair market value of the finished home. The rebate is calculated against FMV at the point construction was substantially completed — not what you spent, and not what you’d list it for today.

Those two figures do different jobs, and both have to be defensible. This is the practical difference between an owner-built claim and a purchase claim: a purchase claim runs off one number on one document. An owner-built claim is assembled.

The single most common problem we see is incomplete records. Receipts spread across two years, some in a shoebox, some in email, a few missing entirely. It’s recoverable, but it’s easier if you start from a complete file — and much easier if you’re still building.

The forms

Three of them, and they work together.

GST191-WS — the construction summary worksheet. This is where your invoices get itemised. It’s the labour-intensive part and it’s the part the CRA reads most closely.

GST191 — the rebate application itself, which draws on the worksheet.

RC7191-ON — the Ontario schedule for the provincial portion.

The worksheet has to be completed and filed with the application. Claims arrive incomplete more often than any other kind we see, and an incomplete owner-built claim is a slow claim.

The enhanced rebate, and why your start date matters

Owner-built homes can access the same enhanced Ontario rebate as purchased ones — but the eligibility test is different.

For a purchase, everything turns on the agreement of purchase and sale date. For an owner-built home, there is no agreement. So the test is when construction began, and when it was substantially completed.

And “began” doesn’t mean what most people assume. The CRA looks for physical work on the house, not the paperwork that preceded it. In its own published example, a buyer who acquired bare land in October 2024 and received a building permit in February 2025 was treated as having begun construction on June 1, 2025 — the day excavation started.

Buying the lot doesn’t start the clock. Neither does the permit. The excavator does.

Why this cuts both ways

If you assumed your project started when you bought the land, you may have written off an enhanced rebate you actually qualify for. If you assumed it started when you broke ground but your contractor did site preparation earlier, the opposite could be true.

The date is a question of fact, evidenced by your own records — invoices, site photographs, contractor schedules. It’s worth establishing properly rather than estimating, because the difference between qualifying and not is measured in tens of thousands.

See the enhanced rebate →
First-time buyer? →

The deadline runs on completion, not purchase

There’s no closing date to count from, so the filing window is tied to the life of the build — when the house was substantially completed, when it was first occupied, and whether ownership was transferred.

Two things are true regardless:

The window is finite, and the CRA grants late filing only in genuinely extraordinary circumstances — serious illness, disaster, service disruption, or where the CRA itself misinformed you. Not knowing is not on the list.

People misjudge their own completion date. “Substantially completed” is a defined concept, not the day you felt finished. Owner-builders often move in before the work is done and date the project from the wrong event.

If you finished a build in the last couple of years and never filed, it costs nothing to find out where you stand. Talk to us →

What we do

We’ve filed more than 2,500 GST/HST rebate applications and recovered over $65 million. The Excise Tax Act is the whole of this firm’s practice — not a service line within a general accounting business.

We tell you where you stand. Free. Bring your build dates and a sense of your records and we’ll tell you what’s recoverable — including when the answer is no.
We build the claim. We work through the invoices, complete the GST191-WS properly, support the FMV figure, and file the whole package with the CRA. If your records have gaps, we’ll tell you what’s needed to close them.
We deal with the CRA. Owner-built claims are reviewed more often than purchase claims, because there’s more to verify. If yours is reviewed, we respond. If it’s denied, we file the Notice of Objection and represent you through it — same engagement, not a separate bill. How objections work →

A flat fee. Not a percentage.

Most firms in this business take a cut of what you recover. We charge a flat professional fee, quoted before you commit and charged when we file. Your recovery is yours.

Owner-built claims are more document-intensive than purchase claims, so we’ll quote yours on the scope of the work. Your initial assessment is free either way, and if we don’t believe you have a claim we’ll tell you at that stage and you pay nothing.

If the CRA ultimately denies your application and all appeals or opportunities for reconsideration have been exhausted or are no longer available, our engagement agreement provides for a refund of our fee, less any out-of-pocket expenses, itemised in writing.

Michael Sproule has spent 15+ years dealing with the CRA on GST/HST matters specifically — not general accounting practice. Excise Tax is the whole of what this firm does.

Common Questions

I hired a contractor to build it. Is that still owner-built?

Usually yes, provided you owned the land and the contractor was working for you rather than selling you a finished house. The distinction is whether you were an owner throughout or a purchaser at the end. If your arrangement sits somewhere between the two, bring us the contract — the wording decides it.

I've lost some of my receipts. Is the claim dead?

No, but it maybe weaker. The claim is built from documented tax paid, so gaps reduce what’s recoverable. Suppliers and trades can often reissue invoices, and bank or credit card records help establish what was spent. Start by gathering what you have.

When did my construction actually begin?

For the CRA’s purposes, when physical work started on the house — not when you bought the land and not when the permit issued. In the CRA’s own example, a permit in February and excavation in June meant construction began in June.

How is fair market value determined?

It’s the value of the finished home at substantial completion. On larger or unusual builds this may need professional valuation support, and it’s an area where the CRA can and does disagree with a taxpayer’s figure.

Do owner-built claims get reviewed more often?

Yes. There’s simply more to verify — the invoices, the valuation, the dates. We assemble these expecting review rather than hoping to avoid it.

What does it cost?

A flat professional fee rather than a percentage of your rebate, quoted on your first call. Owner-built claims are quoted on scope because they take more work. Your initial assessment is free.

Still building? Even better.

The easiest owner-built claim is the one where the records were kept properly from the start. If your project is underway, a conversation now will save you a great deal of reconstruction later.

Free assessment. Flat fee, quoted upfront and charged at filing. If you don’t have a claim, we’ll tell you.

This page describes the GST/HST new housing rebate for owner-built homes in general terms as of August 2026 and is not tax advice. Eligibility and filing deadlines depend on your specific circumstances. For CRA source material see Guide RC4028 and Form GST191-WS.