Doesn't make sense. The only way I could claim the loss of the $800 I originally paid for that CD player is if I am running a business, not if I'm selling my personal gear. If I'm selling personal gear, I paid income tax on the money I used to buy it, I don't have to pay income tax again when I sell it. If I buy a house and re-sell for the same price, there is no tax payable because there is no capital cost gain with the transaction. It's only if I sell it for, say, $100K more than I paid, that $100K appreciation is taxable unless it falls under the personal exemption for my primary residence.
If they ever come after me and force me to register for GST/PST (Quebec), I am allowed to claim those taxes on everything I have in inventory (because I'm assumed to have paid them when I bought everything), which would add up to +$100K worth of gear, so they would mail me a check for $15K. Which they actually did when I first registered for sales taxes in the '90s.
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