Tax tip

March 15, 2005

Higher learning = higher tax savings!

Did you know...

If you are a student, on your tax return you can claim the tuition fees that were paid for the year to a university or college in Canada for courses you took at the post-secondary school level. Also, you can claim the tuition fees paid for courses you took to acquire or improve skills in an occupation, if Human Resources and Skills Development Canada certified the institution you attended.

You may be eligible to claim an education amount of $400 for each whole or part month you were enrolled full-time in a qualifying program at the post secondary level. The education amount that may be claimed by students enrolled part time in a qualifying program at the post secondary level is $120. These education amounts are federal non-refundable tax credits—provincial and territorial education amounts may vary. If you do not use all of your tuition and education amounts to reduce your tax payable, you may be able to transfer up to $5,000 of your unused amounts to certain family members. Tuition fees and education amounts that are not claimed in the year can be carried forward to a future year with the carry-forward amount claimed in the earliest year possible.

If you are repaying a qualifying student loan, you may be able to claim on your tax return the interest paid on a qualifying student loan in the tax year and any of the preceding five years (if not already claimed), except in cases when your student loan has been consolidated with other personal loans.

For more information, you can visit www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/individuals/menu-e.html.

This document is also available for download in .pdf format.

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