Selling or donating certified Canadian cultural property

You do not have to report a capital gain when you sell or donate certified Canadian cultural property (national treasures) to an institution or public authority designated by the Minister of Canadian Heritage. The Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board certifies this property as cultural property and will give you a certificate for tax purposes. Cultural property can include paintings, sculptures, books, manuscripts, or other objects.

Donations of cultural property made on or after March 19, 2019, no longer require that property be of "national importance" to claim the exemption from income tax for any capital gains arising on the disposition of the property.

If you sell or donate certified cultural property to a designated institution, you may have a capital loss. The tax treatment of the loss will depend on what type of property you sold or donated. For example, the certified cultural property may be listed personal property. If this is the case, the rules for listed personal property losses will apply.

For more information on how to apply capital losses, see Capital losses and deductions.

Forms and publications

• Guide T4037, Capital Gains
• Guide P113, Gifts and Income Tax
• Archived Interpretation Bulletin IT-407R4-CONSOLID, Dispositions of Cultural Property to Designated Canadian Institutions

Related topics

• Line 34900 – Donations and gifts