Home Repairs or Home Improvements

Usually home repairs or home improvements are not deducted on your tax return in the current tax year. Home improvements and new installations add further to the value of your home, extend its useful life thus making it last longer, or adapt it to new uses, features and comforts for the user. Usually we add the cost of home improvements to the tax basis of your property.

Examples of home improvements include putting a recreation room in your unfinished basement, adding another bathroom to any area of the house, or bedroom, putting up a fence with enough security, putting in new plumbing or wiring that is needed, putting on a new roof to improve style maybe or to make the roof better resistant against water, or paving your driveway, or installing security cameras and devices.

Home repairs maintain your home in good condition. They do not usually add to its value or lengthen its life, and you do not need to add their cost to the tax basis of your property. So obviously you cannot deduct home repairs on your tax return. Examples of home repairs include repainting your house inside or outside, fixing your floors, repairing leaks or plastering and replacing broken window panes. The entire job is considered a home improvement if items that would otherwise be considered home repairs are done as part of extensive remodelling or restoration of your home.