Canada parents can benefit immensely by paying for professional and licensed child care services. They can have peace of mind because they will know that they have their children with a caring organization. They can feel secure that their children will receive food, education, the proper rest, and protection at all times. Another child care advantage is the tax credit that such parents can receive. The following is some information on the daycare credit and some instructions on how parents who pay for daycare can claim it.
The Details About the Tax
To obtain the credit, a filer must meet certain criteria. For one, the filer must have taken care of an eligible child who was 16 years old or younger in the previous tax year. This child had to be either the filer’s child, the child of that person’s common-law partner, or someone else who earned less than $11,474 during the tax year.
Eligible Expenses
To qualify for the tax credit, the filer or requester must have also paid for eligible expenses. Many payments qualify for this special tax credit. Any monies that went to a daycare facility can be deducted for the credit. Some additional types of payments that can qualify for the credit are payments for nursery schools, boarding schools, day camps and the like. A taxpayer can claim many additional modes of care. A long list exists, and taxpayers are urged to see if their expenses are on such a list.
Ineligible Expenses
Just as eligible expenses exist, some expenses do not qualify. Educational expenses do not qualify for the credit. Thus simply paying for the child to go to school does not constitute a tax credit.
The cost of clothing does not count for this special tax credit. The caretaker also cannot claim the credit for transportation expenses or hospital care for the child. However, caretakers who spend money on those items may be able to receive tax credits under a different program.
The Way to Claim the Tax
The person who is requesting the credit must have specific information to report when doing so. The individual must ask the care provider for a document that shows its social insurance number and the total of the monies that the claimant paid during the tax year. If the person who paid for the care was an individual such as a common law partner, then that person can be counted for the special credit.
The claim for the tax credit goes on line 214 of the tax return. The amount of tax that one can claim for the credit depends on the amount that he or she spent on childcare during the tax year. The program is highly generous.
