Estimate capital gains and the principal-residence exemption

Get a "what if I sell" estimate of the capital gain on a property and how the principal-residence exemption could lower it.

Before you start

• The capital-gains estimator is a Pro and up feature, alongside the T776 tax pack.
• This is tooling, not tax advice. Every estimate says so. Confirm anything important with an accountant.

Steps

1. Make sure the property's purchase price and closing costs are recorded under its financials, and that any major improvements are logged. Together these set your cost base. Closing costs are the land transfer tax, legal fees, title insurance and inspection you paid to buy the place, and leaving them out makes your estimated gain look bigger than it is.
2. Mark the years the property was your principal residence.
3. Open the capital-gains estimate, enter the expected sale price and selling costs, then review the result.

What happens next

• Wealthru estimates the gain as your sale price minus your cost base minus selling costs. It then shows the taxable part using the 50% inclusion rate, and applies the principal-residence exemption using the Canada Revenue Agency "plus one year" rule. A property you designate for all, or all but one, of the years you owned it can be fully exempt.
• For the classic city home versus cottage case, a two-property helper suggests how to split the designated years to get the most exemption overall.

Notes

• The estimate saves nothing. It is a calculator you can run again with different numbers.
• It is exact for two properties over an equal ownership window. More complex cases are a planning guide, not a filing.