• Low-ome Tax Credit | GST Tax Credit | Health Tax Credit |

  Tuition Tax Credit | Education Tax Credit |Home Renovation Tax Credit | Public Transit Tax Credit | Child Fitness Tax Credit | Property and Sales Tax Credit |Medical Tax Credit | Family Tax Credit |Child Care Tax Credit and Benefit Programs

   

 

Low-ome Tax Credit | Working-ome Tax Benefit (WITP)


Working-ome Tax Benefit for Low-ome Tax Credit:

The working-ome Tax Benefit (WITB) is a refundable low-ome tax credit intended to provide tax relief for eligible working low-ome individuals and families who are already in the workforce and to encourage other Canadians to enter the workforce. You can claim the WITB on line 453 of your-ome Tax and Benefit Return.

You can receive the working-ome Tax Benefit (WITB) if you are:

1. 19 years of age or older on December 31, 2007
2. a resident of Canada throughout the year
3. a single individual without dependants who earns $3,000 to $12,833 per year, or a family (including couples with or without children, and single parents) that earns $3,000 to $21,167 per year

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Working-ome Tax Benefit (WITB) Payments Dates:

1. April 3, 2009
2. July 3, 2009
3. October 5, 2009
4. January 5, 2010

Please note that The 2009 Federal Budget will-rease funding for the WITB. However, advance payments for 2009 will be based on the 2008 rates

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GST Tax Credit | Canada GST (Goods and Services Tax) Credit

The GST Tax credit is a tax-free quarterly payment that helps individuals and families with low and modest-omes offset all or part of the GST or HST that they pay.

2009 and 2010 GST Credit Payment Dates: (if you qualify based on the information on your 2008-ome tax return.)

1. July 3, 2009
2. October 5, 2009
3. January 5, 201
4. April5, 2010

Please note that GST Tax Credit payments are generally issued on the 5th day of each quarter.

To be eligible for GST Tax Credit benefits:

1. GST/HST credits are calculated based on the recipient’s net-ome added to the net-ome of his or her spouse or common-law partner, if applicable, minus any amount the recipient, his or her spouse or common-law partner reported for the Universal Child Care Benefit on your tax return.
2. The applicant must be 19 years of age or older, have (or previously had) a spouse or common-law partner, or be (or previously was) a parent and live (or previously lived) with their child.
3. To apply for the GST Tax credit, you must file a personal-ome tax return. Simply tick the GST/HST credit check box on the first page of your return. If you have a spouse, your tax return must provide information on your spouse's social insurance number, first name, and net-ome amount (even if it is zero).

 

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Health Tax Credit | Healthy Living Tax-entive

Health Tax Credit (also known as Healthy Living Tax-entive) is a tax credit of up to $500 per child. It is intended to help with the cost of registering children and youth in sport or recreation activities that offer health benefits.

Young people aged 17 and under who are registered in an approved organized sport, physical recreation, or physical activity program qualify for the tax credit.

However, as part of the newly expanded program for 2009, the Health Tax Credit or Healthy Living Tax-entive will be extended to include all ages, encouraging adults and children to participate in a healthier lifestyle through fitness.

 

Adults and children enrolling with an eligible sport and recreation organization in 2009 must keep registration tax receipts to claim the health tax credit on their 2009 tax return. Only receipts from those sport and recreation groups who have registered with the Department of Health Promotion and Protection are eligible.

Receipts for health tax credit submitted with your 2009 taxes must be dated on or after January 1, 2009 for an adult to benefit from the newly expanded program and receive the credit.

Parents can still submit receipts for their children for the 2008 tax year

Please note that This is a tax credit not a tax rebate. A tax credit is a reduction against-ome tax. A person who claims the maximum of $500.00 can expect a tax reduction of $43.95. This amount will be deducted from your provincial-ome tax, much the same way your charitable donations are deducted.

 

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Tuition Tax Credit Canada

 

The Tuition Tax Credit for tuition, education amounts and textbooks are non-refundable tax credits. There is a Federal tax credit as well as a provincial or territorial tax credit for tuition, education and textbook amounts. For this reason, to claim these amounts, or to transfer them to another person, you must complete both the Federal Schedule 11 of your tax return, and the provincial S(11) schedule. Québec uses Schedule T for tuition or examination fees being claimed or carried forward.

 

To claim the tuition tax credit, you must have received from the educational institution either an official tax receipt or a completed form T2202A, Tuition, Education and Textbook Amounts Certificate. If you paid less than $100 for the year to any particular educational institution, that amount is not claimable. Otherwise, the total tuition fees paid in the year are claimable. The costs of books, room and board, or student association fees cannot be claimed. If the fees were paid by your employer or the employer of one of your parents, then the costs are not deductible unless the reimbursed amount is-luded in your-ome or your parent's-ome. Private school tuition fees for elementary and secondary students are generally not tax deductible.

 

The textbooks tax credit is an additional tax credit starting in 2006, similar to the education tax credit, for textbooks. This non-refundable tax credit is based on $65/month for full-time attendance or $20/month for part-time attendance.

 

If you do not have enough-ome to utilize your total tuition costs, education amount or textbooks amount, you can either carry forward these amounts to future years (no limit to carry-forward period), or you can transfer the costs to your spouse, common law partner, or to a parent or grandparent of you or your spouse or common law partner. The maximum amount that can be transferred to a parent or grandparent is $5,000, less the costs claimed by the student. This may still result in costs remaining that can be carried forward. The transfer of costs to another person should not be more than can be utilized on their tax return. Then any excess costs can still be carried forward.

 

Once unused costs have been carried forward, they cannot be transferred to anyone in a future year.

 

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Education Tax Credit Canada

 

Starting with the 2006 taxation year, scholarship, bursary and fellowship-ome is fully exempt from tax when the-ome is received in connection with a program for which the student will get an Education Tax Credit. The-ome is not reported on the tax return.

 

If you are not eligible to claim the education tax credit, then only the first $500 of awards is tax free. Amounts received in excess of $500 are reported on line 130 of your tax return.

 

Prior to 2006, if you were eligible to claim the education amount, then the first $3,000 of scholarships, fellowships, bursaries, study grants and artists' project grants were not taxable. Your T4A slips reported the total scholarships or awards. You totalled the T4A slips, then reported this total less $3,000 (or zero if your awards total less than $3,000) on the tax return.

 

The education amount tax credit can be claimed for each whole or part month in which you were enrolled in a qualifying program at a designated educational institution. The educational institution must provide either a T2202 Education and Textbook Amounts Certificate, or a T2202A Tuition, Education and Textbook Amounts Certificate. The certificate will show the number of months you were enrolled in a qualifying educational program or a specified educational program. The amount that can be claimed is $400 per month for full time enrollment, or $120 per month for part time enrollment.

 

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Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC) Canada

The Home Renovation Tax Credit is a temporary non-refundable tax credit that will only be avaliable for the 2009 tax year regarding home renovation expenditures between January 27, 2009, and before February 1, 2010.

 

The credit will only be available for the 2009 tax year and applies to eligible expenditures of more than $1,000, but not more than $10,000, resulting in a maximum credit of $1,350.

1. Tax credit 15% of eligible expenditures on home renovations made in respect of eligible buildings
2. Maximum credit amount of $1,350 per family and a family will generally be considered to consist of an individual or an individual and his or her spouse or common-law partner,-luding children who will be under 18 years of age, at the end of 2009.
3. The credit will only be available for the 2009 tax year and applies to eligible home renovation expenditures of more than $1,000, but not more than $10,000, resulting in a maximum credit of $1,350 ($9,000 x 15%)

 

Please note what eligible home renovation expenditures-urred in relation to a renovation or alteration to an eligible dwelling (or the land that forms part of the eligible dwelling) must be of an enduring nature and integral to the dwelling, and-ludes the cost of labour and professional services, building materials, fixtures, rentals, and permits. Eligible expenditures must be supported by acceptable documentation.

 

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Public Transit Passes Tax Credit

 

Public Transit Tax Credit is a non-refundable tax credit to help individuals cover their cost of public transit. The tax credit for public transit passes is a non-refundable tax credit for the cost of buying a monthly (or longer duration) pass for commuting on buses, streetcars, subways, commuter trains and local ferries.

 

The 2006 federal budget introduced a non-refundable public transit tax credit based on the cost of monthly public transit passes for travel that occurred after June 2006. The March 19, 2007 federal budget expanded the eligibility criteria for the public transit tax credit beginning January 1, 2007.

 

Starting January 1, 2007, in addition to monthly public transit passes, the public transit tax credit has been expanded to-lude costs for:

1. Shorter duration passes if each pass entitles you to unlimited travel for an uninterrupted period of at least 5 days and enough of these passes are purchased so that you are entitled to unlimited travel for at least 20 days in any 28-day period.
2. Cost-per-trip electronic payment cards if the card is used for at least 32 one-way trips during an uninterrupted period not more than 31 days and if the card is issued by a public transit authority that records and provides a receipt for the cost and usage of the card.

 

For example, if your monthly transit pass costs $100, the amount you can claim in 2007 would be $1,200, resulting in a tax credit of $180.00 (twelve months multiplied by 15%).

 

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Child Fitness Tax Credit Canada

 

Starting with the 2007 tax year, the Government of Canada allows a non-refundable tax credit based on eligible child fitness expenses paid up to $500 per child by parents to register a child in a prescribed program of physical activity.

 

The children's fitness tax credit lets parents claim up to $500 per year for eligible fitness expenses paid for each child who is under 16 years of age at the beginning of the year in which the expenses are paid.

 

If a child qualifies for the disability tax credit, parents can claim up to $500 per year in eligible fitness expenses paid for the child who is under 18 years of age at the beginning of the year. Also, if at least $100 in eligible fitness expenses has been paid for the child, an additional amount of $500 can be added to the eligible fitness expenses actually-urred.

 

Please note that the child fitness tax credit will be calculated using the lowest tax rate (15% for 2008), so the maximum tax credit per child for 2008 will be $75.

 

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Property Tax Credit Ontario Canada

 

The refundable property tax credit provides assistance for people with low to moderate-omes who own or rent a principal residence in Ontario.

 

Property Tax Credit:

1. Based on occupancy cost - property tax paid, or 20% of rent paid.
2. The basic property tax credit for individuals under age 65 is $250.
3. The basic property tax credit for individuals age 65 or older is $625.
4. Credit would not exceed occupancy cost, and would be subject to a maximum of $900 for non-seniors and $1,025 for seniors.
5. Adjusted by 2% of adjusted family net-ome over $20,000 for single people and over $25,000 for families.
6. Refundable, and claimed on the personal-ome tax return, beginning with the 2010 return.

 

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Sales Tax Credit Ontario Canada

 

Sales Tax Credit:

1. The basic sales tax credit is $100.
2. The additional credit for your spouse or common-law partner is $100.
3. Reduced by 4% of adjusted family net-ome over $20,000 for single people, and over $25,000 for families.
4. Refundable and paid quarterly, starting July 2010.

 

You cannot claim a Property Tax Credit for more than one Ontario residence, such as a house and a cottage, for the same period. However, you can claim more than one principal residence if you have lived in more than one at different times in the year, and your total period of principal residence occupancy does not exceed 12 months. If you rent out part or all of your principal residence, you can claim a property tax credit only for the part of the residence in which you live and for the time you actually lived in the residence.

 

The Sales Tax Credit for each dependent child under age 19 on December 31 is $50. Only one person can claim a sales tax credit for a dependent child. In cases of separation or divorce, the credit must be claimed by the primary caregiver (generally the recipient of the Canada Child Tax Benefit).

 

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Medical Expenses Tax Credit Canada

The medical expense tax credit applies to individuals who have sustained significant medical expenses for themselves or certain of their dependants.

 

To qualify for the medical expense tax credit, the medical expenses must have been paid or deemed to have been paid by either the individual or his or her legal representative for qualifying medical expenses as provided for in subsection 118.2(2) Furthermore, the medical expenses used in calculating a medical expense tax credit for a particular taxation year:

1. Must have been paid within any 12-month period ending in the calendar year, unless the individual died in the year; in which case, the medical expenses must have been paid within any 24-month period that-ludes the date of death
2. Must be proven by filing supporting receipts (except for certain vehicle and meal expenses)
3. Must not have been used in calculating a previous year's medical expense tax credit and must not have been reimbursed or be reimbursable

 

Please note that you should claim the total medical expenses for both you and your spouse or common-law partner on one tax return. You can claim the medical expenses on either spouse's tax return. If both spouses have taxable-ome, it is usually better to claim the medical expenses on the return with the lower net-ome. This is because the lesser of $1,925 (federal, for 2007 - see the tables of non-refundable tax credits for provincial/territorial amounts) or 3% of net-ome is deducted from the medical expenses to determine the amount to be used for the tax credit. However, if the lower-ome spouse does not have enough tax payable to offset the medical expense tax credit, it may be beneficial to move the expenses to the higher-ome spouse.

 

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Family Tax Credit and Family Tax Benefit Canada

 

The federal and provincial governments have family tax credit and benefit programs which provide additional-ome for families, and for low-income individuals. These programs-lude

1. Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB)
2. Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB)
3. National child Benefit (NCB)
4. Child Disability Benefit (CDB)
5. GST/HST credit

 

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Child Care Tax Credit | Child Care Tax Benefit Canada

 

Child care costs are not claimed as a non-refundable tax credit, but as a deduction from-ome on line 214 of the personal tax return. A non-refundable tax credit is always at the lowest tax rate (except in Québec), but a reduction of-ome would save tax at the taxpayer's marginal tax rate.

 

Eligible Child Care Expenses-lude day-care centres and day nursery schools, some individuals providing child care services, day camps and day sports schools, educational institutions such as private schools (the portion of tuition costs relating to child care services), boarding schools, and overnight sports schools and camps.

 

Other Child Care Tax Credit and Benefit Programs:

1. Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB): The Canada Child Tax Benefit is a tax-free monthly payment made to eligible families to help them with the cost of raising children under age 18.
2. National Child Benefit Supplement (NCBS): The National Child Benefit is a joint initiative of the federal, provincial, and territorial governments.
3. Child Disability Benefit (CDB): a tax-free benefit for families who care for a child under age 18 who qualifies for the disability amount.
4. Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB): The UCCB is designed to help Canadian families, as they try to balance work and family life, by supporting their child care choices through direct financial support. The UCCB is for children under the age of 6 years and is paid in instalments of $100 per month per child.

 

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