RENOVATIONS: Are you eligible?

The new temporary federal Home Renovation Tax Credit allows taxpayers a one-time claim of a maximum $1,350 for certain home-renovation work completed before Feb. 1, 2010. The non-refundable credit can be claimed on eligible expenses of $1,000 to a maximum of $10,000 for work and materials used for improvements -- not routine repairs and maintenance -- to a homeowner's principal residence.

Here are some examples of eligible expenses:

- Kitchen or bathroom renovations.
- New carpet or hardwood floors.
- Building a new garden shed or fence.
- New furnace or hot water heater.
- Landscaping work, including plant material, but not for annual bedding plants.
- Resurfacing a driveway.
- Painting, inside and out.
- Swimming pools -- the permanent in-ground or above ground types.
- Laying new sod.
- Building a new garage or deck.

Here are some examples of what isn't eligible:
- New furniture, appliances and electronic equipment.
- Tools.
- Carpet cleaning.
- Lawn care, furnace cleaning and snow removal.

For more information on the tax credit, check the Revenue Canada website, www.cra-arc.gc.ca/hrtc

(Source: Revenue Canada/'Vancouver Province)