Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the CRA.
Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle de l'ARC.
Principal Issues: Whether a swimming course held for more than 8 weeks in total but not 8 consecutive weeks because of an intervening statutory holiday, is eligible for the children's fitness tax Credit.
Position: Yes, assuming all other requirements are met
Reasons: If a particular swimming program takes place several times during the year and lessons are normally held for 8 consecutive weeks (or more), then assuming that all the other criteria are met, CRA will consider the consecutive week requirement to be met in a situation in which 8 or more sessions are held, but a statutory holiday interrupts the consecutive week requirement during one particular session of the program.
XXXXXXXXXX 2008-030171
Anne Dagenais
March 25, 2009
Dear XXXXXXXXXX :
Re: Children's Fitness Tax Credit
This is in response to your correspondence of November 2008 concerning the eligibility of a swimming course for the children's fitness tax credit (the "Credit") under section 118.03 of the Income Tax Act (the "Act") and Section 9400 of the Income Tax Regulations (the "Regulations").
We understand that your child was registered for a nine-lesson swimming course. The same course is offered at other times throughout the year and runs for nine consecutive weeks. In your situation, the nine consecutive weeks were interrupted by the Thanksgiving holiday. This resulted in the course being completed over 10 weeks, but not over eight consecutive weeks.
Written confirmation of the tax implications inherent in particular transactions is given by this Directorate only where the transactions are proposed and are the subject matter of a request for an advance income tax ruling submitted in the manner set out in Information Circular 70-6R5, "Advanced Income Tax Rulings", dated May 17, 2002. This Information Circular and other Canada Revenue Agency ("CRA") publications can be accessed on the internet at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca. Where the particular transactions are complete, the inquiry should be addressed to the relevant tax services office, a list of which is available on the "Contact Us" page of the CRA website. Although we cannot comment on your specific situation, we are prepared to provide the following comments in respect of the issues that you raised. Please note, however, that these comments are of a general nature only and are not binding on the CRA.
In general terms, the Credit is based on the amount paid in the year, up to a maximum of $500, by an individual as an eligible fitness expense for his or her child under the age of 16 at the beginning of the year. The phrase "eligible fitness expense" is defined in the Act as a fee attributable to the cost of the child's registration in a prescribed program of physical activity. The Regulations define a "prescribed program of physical activity" for purposes of the Credit as an activity that is supervised, suitable for children, and ongoing. To be considered ongoing, the Regulations specify that a weekly program must be a minimum duration of eight or more consecutive weeks in which all or substantially all of the activities include a significant amount of physical activity.
The CRA will consider that the consecutive week requirement has been met where a qualifying program would normally run for eight (or more) consecutive weeks, but a statutory holiday occurs during the schedule, thereby extending the program by a week and interrupting the consecutive nature of the lessons.
We trust that our comments are of assistance to you.
Yours truly,
Renée Shields
for Director
Business and Partnerships Division
Income Tax Rulings Directorate
Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch
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