For information about Ontario investment and employee ownership tax credits, see Form T1C (ONT.) TC, Ontario Tax.

NEW FOR 1998

The Ontario child care tax credit has been combined with funds made available by the National Child Benefit initiative to create a new Ontario child care supplement for working families. The new supplement program provides monthly payments to low- and middle-income families with children under age seven. The child care supplement is administered by the Ontario Ministry of Finance, Tax Credits and Grants Branch. For more information, contact the Ontario Ministry of Finance at the address or numbers listed on the Information Sheet for Residents of Ontario.

A new workplace child care tax credit is available for self-employed individuals (other than those in the business of providing child care) who create additional licensed child care facilities or improve existing facilities. For details, see page 5 of this information sheet.

A new workplace accessibility tax credit is available for self-employed individuals who incur qualifying expenditures to hire an eligible person with a disability. For details, see page 5.

The co-operative education tax credit has been enhanced to include work placements starting after December 31, 1997, for students enrolled in qualifying leading-edge technology and apprenticeship programs. For details, see page 4.

The amount of the co-operative education and graduate transitions tax credits is increased to 15 % for employers with payrolls of $ 400,000 or less in the preceding tax year when hiring after December 31, 1997. For details, see page 4.

IF YOU HAVE A SPOUSE

The term spouse includes a common-law spouse as defined on page 11 of the General Income Tax and Benefit Guide. You have to include your net income and the net income of your spouse with whom you lived on December 31, 1998, when you calculate "Income for Ontario tax credits."

If you lived with your spouse on December 31, 1998, either one of you may claim the property, sales, and OHOSP tax credits for both of you. If one spouse is 65 or older, that spouse has to claim the property, sales, and OHOSP tax credits for both of you. Either spouse can claim the Ontario political contribution tax credit. The self-employed spouse has to claim the workplace child care, workplace accessibility, co-operative education, and graduate transitions tax credits.

INVOLUNTARY SEPARATION

Although you have shown your marital status on your return as married or living common law, you and your spouse may have occupied separate principal residences for part or all of the year for medical, educational, or business reasons. If this is your situation, we will consider you to be "involuntarily separated" during that period for property, sales, and OHOSP tax credit purposes.

If you and your spouse were involuntarily separated at any time in the year, but you lived together on December 31, 1998, one of you has to claim property, sales, and OHOSP tax credits for both of you based on your combined net income for the year. If one spouse is 65 or older, that spouse has to claim these tax credits for both of you.

If you and your spouse were involuntarily separated on December 31, 1998, each of you can claim property, sales, and OHOSP tax credits. Use only your net income when you calculate "Income for Ontario tax credits", and be sure to enter your spouse's address in that section of Form T1C (ONT.) or Form T1C (ONT.) Seniors.

SEPARATED OR DIVORCED

If you and your spouse were separated or divorced on December 31, 1998, each of you can claim Ontario tax credits. Use only your own net income when you calculate "Income for Ontario tax credits."

COMPLETING A RETURN FOR A DECEASED PERSON

You can claim the Ontario political contribution tax credit on the return of a person who died in 1998. If the deceased person was self- employed, you can claim on his return the workplace child care, workplace accessibility, co-operative education, and graduate transitions tax credits.

You cannot claim the Ontario property and sales tax credits, or the Ontario Home Ownership Savings Plan (OHOSP) tax credit on the deceased person's return.

If your spouse died in 1998, you can claim the Ontario tax credits on your return. However, you cannot claim an additional sales tax credit for your deceased spouse. In this situation, use only your net income when you calculate "Income for Ontario tax credits."

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

If you are a student from another country (visa student) who attended an Ontario educational institution in 1998, you should contact Revenue Canada's International Tax Services Office at 1-800-267-5177 or (613) 952-3741 to find out your residency status. If it is determined that you were a resident of Ontario on December 31, 1998, for tax purposes, you may be eligible for Ontario tax credits if you otherwise qualify.

PROPERTY TAX CREDIT

You can claim this credit if you were a resident of Ontario on December 31, 1998, and;

• rent or property tax on a principal residence in Ontario was paid by or for you in 1998; and
• you were 16 or older on December 31, 1998.

A principal residence is a housing unit in Ontario that you usually occupy during the year. It can be a house, apartment, condominium, hotel or motel room, mobile home, or rooming house. A principal residence does not include a residence exempt from property tax.

You cannot claim this credit if you were under 19 on December 31, 1998, and you lived with someone who received a Canada Child Tax Benefit payment for you in 1998.

RECEIPTS - Do not attach property tax or rent receipts to your return. If you are using EFILE, show your receipts to your EFILE service provider. In either case, keep them in case we ask to see them.

OCCUPANCY COST

If you were a homeowner, occupancy cost is the property tax paid on your principal residence in 1998. If you rented, occupancy cost is 20 % of the rent paid in 1998.

If you were a farmer, base your occupancy cost on the property tax or on the rent paid for your principal residence and one acre of land. If you lived in a mobile or modular home that you owned, and it was situated on leased land, base your occupancy cost on either the property tax paid (the property tax for the home and lot), or on the rent paid (20 % of the total of rent paid for the land and property tax paid for the home).

Your occupancy cost has to cover the period you lived in your principal residence.

Your occupancy cost cannot include amounts such as:

• payments to relatives or friends, unless they report the amounts as rental income on their returns;
• property tax or rent paid on part of a home you used for rental or business purposes; or
• property tax or rent paid on a second residence, such as a cottage, if you claimed property tax or rent on your principal residence for the same period.

If you and your spouse lived together on December 31, your occupancy cost is based on the total rent or property tax paid during the year, including amounts paid by each spouse during a period of separation.

If you and your spouse separated during the year and lived apart on December 31, your occupancy cost is based on your share of the rent or property tax for the part of the year before the separation, plus your own rent or property tax after the separation.

If you lived in a nursing home, hospital, charitable institution, group home, or a similar institution, and the institution paid full municipal and school taxes, your occupancy cost must not include any accommodation subsidy paid by a government agency.

If you shared a principal residence with one or more persons (other than your spouse), your occupancy cost is based on your share of the rent or property tax you paid for the year.

COLLEGE RESIDENCE - If you lived in a designated Ontario university, college, or private school residence, you can claim only $ 25 as your occupancy cost for the part of the year you lived in such a residence. To find out if your residence is designated, contact your residence administrator or the Ontario Ministry of Finance at the address or numbers listed on the Information Sheet for Residents of Ontario.

SALES TAX CREDIT

You can claim this credit if:

• you were a resident of Ontario on December 31, 1998;
• you were 16 or older on December 31, 1998; and
• no one else claimed an Ontario sales tax credit for you.

You cannot claim this credit if either of the following apply:

• you were under 19 on December 31, 1998, and you lived with someone who received Canada Child Tax Benefit payments for you in 1998; or
• you were confined to a prison or a similar institution on December 31, 1998, and you were there for a period of more than six months during 1998.

DEPENDENT CHILDREN

You can claim a sales tax credit for your dependent child if you are the parent (legal or in fact) of that child, and all of the following conditions apply:

• the child was born in 1980 or later;
• the child lived with you in 1998; and
• the child was resident in Canada in 1998.

A child for whom anyone claims an equivalent-to-spouse amount on line 305 may be a dependent child. However, a child for whom anyone claims a spousal amount on line 303 or receives an amount under the federal Children's Special Allowances Act is not a dependent child.

Only one person can claim a sales tax credit for a dependent child. Enter at box 6099 the number of dependent children you have.

ONTARIO HOME OWNERSHIP SAVINGS PLAN (OHOSP) TAX CREDIT

As a planholder, you can claim this credit if you were a resident of Ontario on December 31, 1998, and:

• you were 18 or older on December 31, 1998;
• you made contributions to a plan in 1998; and
• your net income is less than $ 40,000. If you have a spouse, or if you are claiming an equivalent-to-spouse amount, your combined net income has to be less than $ 80,000.

You cannot claim this credit if you closed your plan without buying a home.

Your claim is based on contributions made during the first five calendar years of a plan, starting with the calendar year in which you opened your plan.

If you lived with your spouse on December 31, 1998, only one of you can claim the OHOSP tax credit for both of you based on contributions made to your and/or your spouse's plan. If you bought a home in 1998, you can claim a tax credit for contributions you made to your plan up to the date of the home purchase.

Calculate your claim on Form T1C (ONT.) or Form T1C (ONT.) Seniors, whichever applies. Use the OHOSP tax credit factor table on page 6 of this information sheet to determine the tax credit factor for your OHOSP credit.

RECEIPTS - Attach to your return the official T1C-OHOSP receipts for qualifying contributions, issued by the financial institution where you have your plan. If you are using EFILE, show your receipts to your EFILE service provider.

POLITICAL CONTRIBUTION TAX CREDIT

You can claim this credit if you were a resident of Ontario on December 31, 1998, and:

• you contributed to a registered Ontario political party or constituency association, or to a candidate in an Ontario provincial election; and
• your Ontario tax payable is more than your property and sales tax credits.

Only claim contributions you made during 1998. You or your spouse can claim the credit, but a contribution cannot be divided between both of you if only one receipt was issued.

Use the chart below to calculate your credit. Enter the result on line 20 of Form T1C (ONT.) or Form T1C (ONT.) Seniors, whichever applies. If your contributions are $ 1,700 or more, enter $ 750 on line 20.

RECEIPTS - Attach official receipts to your return. If you are using EFILE, show your receipts to your EFILE service provider.

ARE YOU SELF-EMPLOYED?

The credits that follow apply only to self-employed individuals. Include the amount of credits claimed for 1998 as income on your 1998 return.

CO-OPERATIVE EDUCATION TAX CREDIT

If, before January 1, 1998, you hired co-op students enrolled in an Ontario university or college, you may be able to claim a tax credit equal to 10 % of eligible expenditures.

If, after December 31, 1997, you hired co-op students enrolled in an Ontario university or college, or students or apprentices enrolled in qualifying leading-edge technology programs in an educational institution in Ontario, you may be able to claim a tax credit from 10 % to 15 % of eligible expenditures incurred.

ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURES are salaries, wages, and other remuneration you paid to a student in a qualifying work placement, or payments made to an eligible educational institution or a placement agency for a qualifying work placement. The student must work at a permanent establishment of the eligible employer in Ontario.

CLAIM - The credit must be claimed in the year in which the qualifying work placement ends, to a maximum of $ 1,000 for each qualifying work placement.

For qualifying work placements that started before January 1, 1998, claim 10 % of eligible expenditures.

For qualifying work placements that started after December 31, 1997, if the total of salaries and wages paid in the previous taxation year was:

• $ 600,000 or greater, claim 10 % of eligible expenditures for the qualifying employment.
• not greater than $ 400,000, claim 15 % of eligible expenditures for the qualifying employment.
• greater than $ 400,000 but less than $ 600,000, calculate your claim using the chart on page 5.

Enter your claim on line 32 of Form T1C (ONT.) or Form T1C (ONT.) Seniors, whichever applies.

DOCUMENTS - The educational institution will provide you with:

• a certificate for each qualifying co-op educational work placement;
• a completed voucher; or
• a copy of the Contract of Apprenticeship for each qualifying leading-edge technology or apprenticeship work placement.

Do not attach the documents to your return. If you are using EFILE, show them to your EFILE service provider. In either case, keep the documents in case we ask to see them.

GRADUATE TRANSITIONS TAX CREDIT

If you hired an unemployed Ontario post-secondary graduate for a minimum of six months, you may be able to claim a tax credit:

• equal to 10 % of eligible expenditures for graduates hired after May 6, 1997, and before January 1, 1998; or
• from 10 % to 15 % of eligible expenditures for graduates hired after December 31, 1997.

ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURES are salaries, wages, and other remuneration you paid to the post-secondary graduate in the first 12 months to work at a permanent establishment in Ontario.

CLAIM - The maximum credit is $ 4,000 for each new graduate hired, and you must claim the credit on your 1998 return if either of the following applies:

• the qualifying employment ends in 1998; or
• the first 12-month placement period ends in 1998.

For qualifying employment that started after May 6, 1997, and before January 1, 1998, claim 10 % of eligible expenditures.

For qualifying employment that started after December 31, 1997, if the total of salaries and wages paid in the previous taxation year was:

• $ 600,000 or greater, claim 10 % of eligible expenditures for the qualifying employment.
• not greater than $ 400,000, claim 15 % of eligible expenditures for the qualifying employment.
• greater than $ 400,000 but less than $ 600,000, calculate your claim using the chart on page 5.

Enter your claim on line 33 of Form T1C (ONT.) or Form T1C (ONT.) Seniors, whichever applies.

DOCUMENTS - You will need:

• the social insurance number (SIN) of the post-secondary graduate;
• the post-secondary graduate's application for employment
• a copy of the post-secondary degree, diploma, or certificate verifying the type of degree conferred and the date of graduation; and
• a statement signed by the post-secondary graduate attesting to the fact that he or she meets the eligibility criteria for the credit.

Do not attach the documents to your return. If you are using EFILE, show them to your EFILE service provider. In either case, keep the documents in case we ask to see them.

CO-OPERATIVE EDUCATION AND GRADUATE TRANSITIONS TAX CREDITS

Use this chart to calculate either of these credits if:

• the qualifying work placements or employment started after December 31, 1997; and
• the total of salaries and wages paid in the previous taxation year was greater than $ 400,000 but less than $ 600,000.

If you are claiming amounts for both of these credits, reproduce this chart to do separate calculations.

(SEE PRINTED COPY FOR CHART)

Enter your claim for the co-operative education tax credit on line 32 of Form T1C (ONT.) or Form T1C (ONT.) Seniors, whichever applies. Enter your claim for the graduate transitions tax credit on line 33 of Form T1C (ONT.) or Form T1C (ONT.) Seniors, whichever applies.

NOTE: For the co-operative education tax credit, the maximum credit is $ 1,000 for each qualifying work placement. For the graduate transitions tax credit, the maximum credit is $ 4,000 for each qualifying employment.

WORKPLACE CHILD CARE TAX CREDIT

If you created additional licensed child care facilities or improved existing facilities (and are not in the business of providing child care), you may be eligible to claim a credit of 5 % of qualifying expenditures incurred after May 5, 1998.

Qualifying expenditures are:

• capital costs of the construction of new on-site licensed child care facilities in Ontario, or capital renovations of existing child care facilities in Ontario;
• capital costs of the purchase of certain equipment fixed to the child care facility; or
• contributions made by a business to an unrelated entity that are used to fund the capital cost of new licensed child care facilities in Ontario, or capital renovations of existing child care facilities in Ontario.

Calculate your claim on Form T1C (ONT.) or Form T1C (ONT.) Seniors, whichever applies.

WORKPLACE ACCESSIBILITY TAX CREDIT

If you hired an eligible person with a disability, you may claim a credit of 15 % of qualifying expenditures incurred after July 1, 1998, to accommodate that person.

These expenditures are limited to a maximum of $ 50,000 per eligible employee.

Qualifying expenditures incurred in Ontario during the first year of employment of the eligible employee include those allowed as deductions under paragraphs 20(1)(qq) (disability-related modifications) and 20(1)(rr) (disability-related equipment) of the Income Tax Act.

Other qualifying expenditures include:

• expenditures incurred during the first year of employment of the eligible employee to acquire certain devices or equipment required by the employee to work;
• fees paid to a sign language interpreter or intervener who assists in the job interview of the prospective eligible employee;
• expenditures incurred during the first six months of employment of an eligible employee to provide a job coach, a note taker, a sign language interpreter, or an intervener; and
• other expenditures to be prescribed.

Calculate your claim on Form T1C (ONT.) or Form T1C (ONT.) Seniors, whichever applies.

For more information, contact the Ontario Ministry of Finance at the address or numbers listed on the Information Sheet for Residents of Ontario.

OHOSP TAX CREDIT FACTOR TABLE

To determine your tax credit factor, use the amount from line 25 of Form T1C (ONT.), Ontario Tax Credits, or Form T1C (ONT.) Seniors, Ontario Tax Credits for Seniors, whichever applies.

(SEE PRINTED COPY FOR OHOSP TAX CREDIT FACTOR TABLE)