If you sell, or considered to be sold, a capital property for the amount more than what you paid for it, less any legitimate expense, you will have a capital gain.
How is it taxed?
Good news is that only half of the capital gain is taxable. Meaning, only half of the money you made from the sale of your property will be multiplied by your marginal tax rate (varies by province and depends on many factors included and not limited to your income).
What happens if you have a capital loss?
If you have a capital loss, you can use it to reduce any capital gains you had in the year, to a balance of zero. If your capital losses are more than your capital gains, you may have a net capital loss for the year. Generally, you can apply your net capital losses to taxable capital gains of the three preceding years and to taxable capital gains of any future years.
I have a loss in selling my personal laptop, can I claim it against capital gain?
When you dispose of personal-use property that has an Adjusted Cost Base or proceeds of disposition of more than $1,000, you may have a capital gain or loss. You have to report any capital gain from disposing of personal-use property. However, if you have a capital loss, you usually cannot deduct that loss when you calculate your income for the year. In addition, you cannot use the loss to decrease capital gains on other personal-use property. This is because if a property depreciates through personal use, the resulting loss on its disposition is a personal expense.
What if I receive a property as a gift or I inherit it?
If you receive property as a gift, you are generally considered to have acquired the property at its fair market value (FMV) on the date you received it. Similarly, if you win property in a lottery, you are considered to have acquired this prize at its FMV at the time you won it. Generally, when you inherit property, the property’s cost to you is equal to the deemed proceeds of disposition for the deceased. Usually, this amount is the FMV of the property right before the person’s death. However, there are exceptions to this rule.