Real estate agent expenses in Canada: the complete guide

A Canadian real estate agent’s largest deductible cost is usually the vehicle, and the CRA only allows the business-use share, supported by a logbook. The good news is that you don’t need a full logbook every year: one complete base year, then a three-month sample, as long as the numbers stay close. Parking is the exception, fully deductible on top. After the vehicle come meals and entertainment at 50%, marketing and listing costs, the home office with its income cap, and GST/HST on your commissions once you pass $30,000. This guide walks through the whole ledger with a verdict before the detail. Every figure is sourced to the CRA in the Sources section, retrieved 10 October 2026.

What this guide covers: the vehicle, logbooks, parking, meals and entertainment, marketing, the home office, capital cost allowance, GST/HST, and records.

The agent’s ledger at a glance

The rest of this guide walks through each row, and every section opens with its verdict.

Where ExpenseFlow fits

An agent’s purchase ledger is fuel receipts, repair and tyre invoices, parking, listing photography, staging, signage and client coffees. ExpenseFlow captures each document (email forward, upload or phone), reads the line items and the GST/HST, codes each line with a written reason, and routes anything uncertain to a person before it posts. Its vehicle check comes from the rules on this page: a line that reads as fuel, servicing, tyres, car insurance, roadside assistance, a car wash or parking is flagged to deduct only the business-use share, supported by a logbook of total and business kilometres, with running costs on line 9281 at that percentage. After approval the bill syncs to Xero with the source document attached, or to QuickBooks Online as a coded bill.

What it does not do: it never keeps the logbook, never computes capital cost allowance and never files your return.

The ExpenseFlow for real estate agents page covers these checks across all five countries.

The vehicle and the business-use share

You can deduct the costs of running a motor vehicle you use to earn business income: licence and registration, fuel and oil, electricity for zero-emission vehicles, insurance, interest on a vehicle loan, maintenance and repairs, and leasing costs, plus capital cost allowance ^[1] . If the vehicle is also used personally, you deduct only the business portion, worked out as business kilometres divided by total kilometres times total expenses; the CRA’s example is 27,000 of 30,000 kilometres on $7,000 of expenses, giving $6,300 ^[1] . Business-related parking and supplementary business insurance are fully deductible ^[1] . Passenger vehicles have ceilings on capital cost, interest and leasing, so check the current limits before buying ^[1] .

Logbooks: base year and sample

For each trip, record the date, destination, purpose and kilometres, plus odometer readings at the start and end of the fiscal period ^[1] . A full logbook for one complete year sets a base year; after that, a three-month sample logbook can be used, scaling the sample’s business percentage by the base year’s ^[1] . If the calculated figure moves more than 10% from the base year, the base year is no longer reliable ^[1] . Keep the base-year logbook for six years after the last year you use it ^[1] .

Meals and entertainment

The maximum deduction for meals and entertainment is 50% of the lesser of the amount incurred and a reasonable amount, and entertainment includes tickets to sporting and other events ^[2] . The limit doesn’t apply when you bill the client and show the cost on the bill, or to up to six events a year for all employees at one location ^[2] . Input tax credits follow the allowable part ^[3] .

Marketing, the home office and equipment

Advertising and other reasonable current expenses incurred to earn income are deductible ^[4] . A self-employed agent deducts business-use-of-home expenses if the workspace is the principal place of business, or is used only for business and regularly for meeting clients; the claim can’t exceed net business income before it, and the unused part carries forward ^[5] . Computers and systems software go in Class 50 at 55%, and furniture in Class 8 at 20% ^[6] . The vehicle guide and home office guide cover the detail.

GST/HST and records

You must register for GST/HST once taxable supplies exceed $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive quarters ^[7] . Input tax credits are claimed to the extent purchases are used in commercial activities ^[3] . The GST/HST guide, record-keeping guide and year-end checklist cover the rest.

Common mistakes

• Deducting all vehicle costs with no logbook ^[1] .
• Applying the business-use percentage to parking, which is deductible in full ^[1] .
• Relying on an old base year after driving patterns changed by more than 10% ^[1] .
• Deducting client meals in full ^[2] .
• Claiming a full input tax credit on meals ^[3] .
• Using the home office to create a loss ^[5] .