Path: utzoo!telly!ziebmef!ncrcan!lsuc!dave
From: dave@lsuc.uucp (David Sherman)
Newsgroups: can.general
Subject: Re: Income Tax:  A Student's View
Message-ID: <1989Apr4.092607.2093@lsuc.uucp>
Date: 5 Apr 89 03:50:02 GMT
References: <2294@maccs.McMaster.CA> <1589@ubc-cs.UUCP> <1603@ubc-cs.UUCP>
Distribution: can
Organization: Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto
Lines: 43

In article <1603@ubc-cs.UUCP>, manderso@ugly.cs.ubc.ca (mark c anderson) writes:
> In article <1589@ubc-cs.UUCP> morrison@grads.cs.ubc.ca (Rick Morrison) writes:
> >I second that emotion. Anyone know when the education expenses deduction
> >was last increased? I know it's been $50/month since at least 1973.
> >Seems to me expenses have gone up since then.

It's rather unclear what the education deduction/credit is supposed
to be there for, aside from a general vague "don't tax students too
much" feeling.  Perhaps it's perceived as offsetting the cost of books.
There's no inherent reason why, if a student earns income which is
subject to taxation, the student should not pay tax.  Far more appropriate
would be to exempt scholarship income from taxation, or at least
provide a more meaningful exemption than the long-standing $500.

> Actually, it has been increased to $60 per month this year.  Of course,
> it's now a "non-refundable credit" rather than a deduction now, whatever
> that means.

I guess you didn't read my tax tips #20 posting.  The credit is
actually about 25% of the $60 (it varies by province).  The $60
reflects a deduction off the bottom rather than the top.  If your
taxable income is under $27,500 it comes to the same thing.

> I do agree that it was rather unpleasant of RevCan to switch the tuition
> deduction calculation on us... especially since I was on a work term for
> the first term this year, and so the only tution fees I could claim were
> the $133 co-op fee.  Had I known about this a year ago, I would have claimed
> on the "calendar-year" basis.

You can go back and change your prior year's return.  Just write
a letter to your District Taxation Office explaining what you want
to do and why.  As long as the reassessment can be issued within
3 years of the date of the original assessment (which for 1987 is
likely summer 1988), Revenue Canada's administrative policy is to allow
you to amend your return.  This policy is set out in Information
Circular 75-7R3.  (As a question of law, your right to have the
return changed expires 90 days after the mailing of the original
assessment.)

David Sherman
-- 
Moderator, mail.yiddish
{ uunet!attcan  att  utzoo }!lsuc!dave          dave%lsuc@ai.toronto.edu