Tips for Students – Save money at tax time

Were you a student in 2021? Here are some benefits and credits you may be entitled to that could save you money at tax time in 2022:

• Tuition tax credit – You could reduce the tax you may owe if you paid tuition fees to a post-secondary school or to an educational institution certified by the federal Minister of Employment and Social Development to develop or improve skills in an occupation. You may be able to transfer your unused tuition to your spouse or common-law partner or your or your spouse or common-law partner’s parents or grandparent.
  • You can transfer all or some of your unused tuition amount to:
    • your spouse or common-law partner (who would claim it in field 36000 of their Schedule 2)
    • your parent or grandparent, or your spouse’s or common-law partner’s parent or grandparent (who would claim it on line 32400 of their income tax and benefit return)
• Carrying forward past amounts – You can carry forward your current year’s unused tuition fees (that you did not transfer) to claim in a future year. You can no longer claim federal education and textbook amounts on your return. But, you may still be able to carry forward any education, and textbook amounts from previous years. If you carry forward an unused amount, you must claim it when you file your return for the first year you owe income tax.
• Canada training credit – You may be able to claim this refundable credit for eligible tuition and other fees paid to an eligible educational institution in Canada for courses you took in 2021 or for fees paid to certain bodies related to an occupational, trade, or professional examination taken in 2021.
• Interest paid on your student loans – You may be able to claim part of the interest you’ve paid on your student loans for post-secondary education.
• Eligible moving expenses – If you moved for school and are a student in full-time attendance, you may be able to claim your moving expenses. However, you can only deduct those expenses from the parts of the following amounts that you’re required to include in your income:
  • scholarships
  • fellowships
  • bursaries
  • certain prizes
  • research grants

  You may also be able to claim the cost of moving for work. This includes a summer job or running a business. You can then deduct eligible moving expenses from the employment or self-employment income you earned at your new work location. You can claim moving expenses if you moved at least 40 kilometres closer to your work or school.

• Canada workers benefit – This benefit is a refundable tax credit. It’s available to eligible individuals and families who work, but earn a low or modest income. If you were enrolled as a full-time student at a designated educational institution for a total of more than 13 weeks in the taxation year, you must have an eligible dependant to receive this credit.
• Goods and services tax / harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) credit – You may be eligible to get a tax-free credit payment four times a year. This payment is for people with low or modest incomes. You may be eligible if any of the following conditions apply:
  • You turn 19 before April 1, 2022
  • You have a spouse or common-law partner
  • You are a parent and live with your child

  To keep getting GST/HST credit payments, file your return every year.

• Canada child benefit – If you have a child, you may be able to get tax-free monthly payments. These payments made to eligible families help with the cost of raising children under 18. To keep getting the payments, file your return every year.
• Provincial and territorial benefits – You may qualify for provincial or territorial benefits, depending on where you live.
• Climate action incentive (CAI) – The Government of Canada has announced its intention to deliver the CAI payment as a quarterly benefit. If you are a resident of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, or Ontario, and you are eligible, you will automatically receive your CAI payments four times a year, starting in July 2022. To receive your payments, you have to file a tax return even if you have not received income in the year. You may qualify for the supplement for residents of small and rural communities if you currently reside outside of a census metropolitan area (CMA) and expect to continue to reside outside of a CMA on April 1, 2022.
• Child care expenses – If you paid someone to look after your child so you could go to school, do paid work, or do research, you may be able to deduct your child care fees. For 2020 and 2021, you do not need to go to school, do paid work, or do research to be able to deduct your child care fees. You may be able to deduct your child care fees if you were entitled to receive, in the year, any federal, provincial, or territorial government COVID-19 payments for which you have received a T4A or T4E slip, employment insurance benefits, employment insurance special benefits, or Quebec parental insurance plan benefits.