17 September 1997 External T.I. 9709995 - TUITION FEES

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.

Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the Department.

Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle du ministère.

Principal Issues:

Eligibility for the tuition tax credit

Position:

Not eligible

Reasons:

Courses are not at the postsecondary school level

XXXXXXXXXX 970999

Attention: XXXXXXXXXX

September 17, 1997

Dear Sirs:

Re: Tuition Fees

This is in reply to your letter of January 29, 1997, wherein you requested our views as to whether tuition fees paid to the XXXXXXXXXX for pre-university courses would be eligible for the tuition tax credit.

Subsection 118.5(1) of the Income Tax Act (the "Act") sets out the circumstances under which a student may determine a tuition tax credit for tuition fees paid to educational institutions in and outside Canada. Furthermore, subparagraph 118.5(1)(a) (ii.1) of the Act requires that the courses for which the fees are paid must actually be at the post-secondary school level. The Department provides the comments concerning the tuition tax credit in Interpretation Bulletin 516R2 (attached). In particular, paragraph 8 thereof provides that, if an educational institution in Canada provides courses at the post-secondary school level as well as other courses, even though the educational institution can qualify for purposes of subparagraph 118.5(1)(a)(i), tuition fees paid to the institution for any of the other courses cannot qualify for a tuition tax credit under paragraph 118.5(1)(a) of the Act. The Bulletin further states as follows:

"Generally, for a course to be considered to be at the "post-secondary school level",

• the course should provide credit towards a degree, diploma or certificate; and
• a prerequisite for taking the course should be completion of secondary school.

It is generally assumed that a course is at the post-secondary school level if the education ministry for the province in which the course is given considers it to be at that level."

We have reviewed the description of the "Pre University Courses" that you have appended to your letter and note that they are non-credit courses and that there are no prerequisite requirements to taking the course. Further, the Pre-University Mathematics ad Physics course descriptions provide that these courses cover material from the OAC mathematics and physics courses. We have taken the position that tuition paid to obtain OAC credits are not considered to be at a post-secondary school level whether the OAC courses are attended at a secondary school or at a university. Consistent with the foregoing comments, in our view, tuition fees paid for the Pre-University Courses will not qualify for the tuition credit under section 118.5 of the Act.

We trust our comments will be of assistance to you.

Yours truly,

for Director
Financial Industries Division
Income Tax Rulings and
Interpretations Directorate
Policy and Legislation Branch