Thousands of eligible Canadians may be missing out on a tax break by failing to file all of their child-care expenses on their tax returns.

“It’s very possible that a lot of people aren’t maximizing the expenses they’re able to claim,” says Christine Van Cauwenberghe, director of tax and estate planning, advanced financial planning, at Winnipeg-based Investors Group Inc. “Advisors need to speak to their clients about these issues to make sure they’ve covered their bases and maximized their deductions.”

Under the provisions in the federal Income Tax Act, eligible taxpayers can deduct up to $7,000 per child under the age of seven and $4,000 per child between the ages of seven and 16. A limit of $10,000 applies to children with disabilities, regardless of age.

As a general rule, the expenses must be claimed by the lower income-earning spouse or common-law partner, and then up to only two-thirds of his or her income. (The higher-earning spouse may claim the expenses only if the other spouse or common-law partner is in school or prison, or earning a low income due to mental or physical infirmity.)

In May, in its most recent bulletin on child-care expenses, Canada Revenue Agency extended eligibility to same-sex spouses or partners who have been living together in a conjugal relationship for 12 months, or for a shorter period of time if they are raising a child together. (See http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tp/it495r3/it495r3-e.html)

The expenses must be incurred for the purpose of going to work, running a business or attending school. “In other words, those who are able to care for their children and simply choose not to cannot claim child-care expenses on their income tax return,” says Van Cauwenberghe.

She offers these guidelines:

> Know what qualifies. A typical mistake taxpayers make is not knowing what
expenses are eligible for deduction. The CRA defines child-care expenses as those that are “incurred for services rendered in a taxation year for the purpose of providing child-care services for any eligible child.” The most common among these are nursery school and daycare, but this also generally includes day camp or day sports school; a boarding school or camp; and an educational institution for the purpose of providing child-care services.

Although the CRA permits several types of day camps, Van Cauwenberghe warns there is a blurry line between education and child care. A sports program, for instance, includes both components. The CRA will consider factors such as the duration of the program, the age of the child and the nature of the activity to determine if it qualifies as a child-care expense. Shorter programs for younger children are more likely to qualify, Van Cauwenberghe says. A 15-year-old’s Saturday gymnastic classes probably won’t qualify.

The CRA decides what is tax-deductible on a case-by-case basis. It won’t make a blanket statement on what qualifies as child care and what qualifies as education until the situation is presented in a tax return.

Be warned that educational expenses do not qualify as child-care expenses, although they may qualify for federal and/or provincial tax credits. For example, private school tuition cannot be claimed as an expense unless it offers a component of child care. In such cases, the claimant must receive an itemized receipt from the school to indicate which expenses are related to child care and which are educational.

Lesser-known expenses such as mandatory registration fees and advertising expenses
incurred to locate a child-care provider qualify as child-care expenses. However, medical and/or hospital care, clothing and transportation costs cannot be claimed as child-care expenses.

> Claim all of the children. The CRA doesn’t attribute specific expenses to specific
children, which allows claimants to make a maximum claim even if all of the expenses are related to one child.

Supplement reduced

For instance, a claimant with a six-year-old and a 14-year-old can claim $11,000 in child-care expenses, even if the entire $11,000 was incurred by the six-year-old.

Bear in mind there is a supplement to the basic Canada child tax benefit for each eligible child under the age of seven. The child-care expenses claimed by the taxpayer can reduce this supplement by 25%. If the full amount of child-care expenses is not needed to reduce federal taxes to zero, it may be wise for the taxpayer to claim only what is needed.

@page_break@Unclaimed child-care expenses cannot be carried through to another year and must be claimed in the year in which they are incurred.

“If a client is going to have child-care expenses late in the year, make sure they pay for
them by Dec. 31 and get a receipt,” Van Cauwenberghe says.

> Keep receipts. Although the CRA doesn’t require receipts upon filing an income tax return, Van Cauwenberghe urges clients to hold on to any and all receipts relating to child-care expenses in case of an audit. IE