Capital Loss

Tax

A capital loss occurs when you sell a capital property for less than its adjusted cost base, and it can be used to offset capital gains but generally not other income.

A capital loss is the shortfall when a capital property, shares, real estate, sells for less than its adjusted cost base plus selling costs. Only the taxable portion (mirroring the capital gains inclusion rate) is an allowable capital loss, and it can be applied against taxable capital gains, not against employment or business income.

Unused allowable capital losses can be carried back three years to recover tax on prior gains, or carried forward indefinitely. Watch the superficial loss rule, which denies a loss if you or an affiliated person rebuy the same property within 30 days.

Example

You sell shares for a $10,000 loss and have no gains this year. You carry the loss back to offset a capital gain you reported two years ago, recovering the tax you paid on that earlier gain.

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Capital Loss Frequently Asked Questions

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Generally no. Allowable capital losses offset taxable capital gains only, not employment or business income, with limited exceptions such as an allowable business investment loss.
Back three years against prior capital gains, or forward indefinitely. Beware the superficial loss rule if you repurchase the same property within 30 days.
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Searched Questions About Capital Loss

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HST combines the 5% federal GST with a provincial component in five participating provinces. For 2026 the combined rates are 13% in Ontario, 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island, and 14% in Nova Scotia since 1 April 2025. Elsewhere you charge the 5% GST alone, or GST plus a separate provincial tax. The rate follows the province of supply, not where your business sits.

Income up to the basic personal amount is effectively untaxed, because that credit offsets the federal tax on it, and each province and territory has its own equivalent amount. Both figures change every year with indexation, so look up the amount for the tax year in question. Other credits, such as the age amount, tuition, or the disability amount, lift the point where tax actually starts. Tax withheld at source below that point comes back as a refund.

The personal tax credit normally means the basic personal amount, a non-refundable credit every resident claims to shelter a base layer of income from federal and provincial tax. It cuts tax payable rather than taxable income, and it is applied automatically when you file. Employers use Form TD1, the Personal Tax Credits Return, to build it into your withholding. Manitoba also has a separate refundable personal tax credit for lower-income residents, claimed on the provincial part of the return.

Property tax is municipal. Your city, town or rural municipality sets the annual rate and issues the bill, inside a framework the province sets: provinces create municipalities, run the assessment bodies that value properties, and add the education or school-support levy that appears on the same bill. The federal government has no role in property tax at all, so neither the CRA nor your income tax return is where a property tax dispute is settled. The municipality is.

Udit Gupta, founder of Tax Filings Canada

Reviewed and fact-checked by Udit Gupta

Ex Big 4 — Ernst & Young, Deloitte · International & cross-border tax specialist · CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program) · Chartered accountant, ICAI & MIA

Udit Gupta has over 15 years of experience helping corporations and business owners with corporate structuring, corporate tax filing, bookkeeping, payroll, GST/HST, cross-border tax and CRA representation. Big 4 trained at Ernst & Young and Deloitte, and qualified as a chartered accountant in India and again in Malaysia, he founded his accounting practice in 2014 to serve entrepreneurs, startups and non-resident business owners across Canada. View full member bio.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India — member 521458 · Malaysian Institute of Accountants — member CA 44667 · Ex Big 4: Ernst & Young, Deloitte · CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program), completed 19 Dec 2023 · In-Depth GST/HST Part I, 12 Jul 2022 · Part II, 5 Jul 2023

Editorial policy. Every page is researched against primary sources — the Income Tax Act, CRA publications and CPA Canada guidance — and every rate or threshold is stated with the tax year it applies to.

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