Common adjustments

Here are some tips from our review programs. Following these tips should help reduce the number of adjustments we make to returns each year. For more information, including how to get forms, guides, and other publications relating to the common adjustments listed below; select the link for the topic.

Topics

• No reply received
• Change of address
• What if you don't have all your information slips or receipts?
• Documents in a foreign language
• Other deductions - Line 232
• Northern residents deductions - Line 255
• Tuition fees - Line 320 of Schedule 11
• Education and textbook amounts - Lines 321-322 of Schedule 11
• Tuition, education, and textbook amounts transferred from a child - Line 324 of Schedule 1
• Medical expenses - Lines 330 and 331 of Schedule 1
• Public transit amount - Line 364 of Schedule 1
• Non-business income tax paid to a foreign country Federal foreign tax credit - Line 431 of Form T2209
• Property tax or rent paid in Ontario - Part A - Amount paid for principal residence - Form ON-BEN

No reply received

If you do not provide the information requested within the timeframe indicated on the letter, we will deny or modify your claim based on the information available to us.

For more information, see Responding to us

Change of address

You may also authorize someone to act on your behalf that we can contact if additional information is needed.

How to authorize or change your representative

What if you don't have all your information slips?

Do not delay filing an income tax return because of missing T4s or other information slips. If you cannot get the missing slip(s) by the filing due date, use your pay stubs or statements to estimate your income and any related deductions and credits you may be eligible to claim.

If your return is selected for review, all requested receipts and supporting documents have to be provided at that time. If they are not provided within the set timeframe, your claim may be reduced or disallowed.

Missing slips

Documents in a foreign language

If you are submitting documents in a foreign language, you will need to provide a copy of the original documents and a certified English or French translation to the CRA.

Other deductions - Line 232

Use this line to claim allowable amounts not deducted anywhere else on this return. Specify the type of deduction that you are claiming in the space to the left of line 232.

Various non-deductible items such as funeral expenses, wedding expenses, loans to family members, a loss on the sale of a home, and other similar amounts are sometimes claimed in error at this line and then disallowed. If you would like additional information on whether a particular expense is deductible at this line or not, contact us.

Line 232 - Legal fees

Line 221 - Carrying charges and interest expenses

Line 229 - Other employment expenses

Guide P102, Support payments

Northern residents deductions - Line 255

If you resided in a prescribed northern or intermediate zone, on a permanent basis, for a continuous period of at least six months, you may be able to claim the northern residents deductions. There are two deductions possible, a residency deduction for having lived in a prescribed zone, and a deduction for travel benefits for medical or other travel that you received from employment in a prescribed zone that was included in your income. This continuous six month period can begin or end in the tax year.

For a list of places in the prescribed northern and intermediate zones, see Places located in prescribed zones.

When completing Form T2222, Northern Residents Deductions, you have to clearly indicate the full address where you resided in a prescribed zone and not simply a post office box number.

A travel itinerary or other proof of travel, including the receipts for accommodations may be required to support the travel part of a claim.

You are not eligible to claim the additional residency amount if another person has claimed the basic residency amount for the same period and dwelling.

Line 255 - Northern residents deductions

Tuition fees - Line 320 of Schedule 11

Schedule 11, Tuition, Education, and Textbook Amounts, has to be filed with the student's income tax return and not with the income tax and benefit return of any individual designated by the student to claim the transfer of tuition, education, and textbook amounts.

Fees for non-credit courses or courses that are below the post-secondary level are not deductible. This includes courses such as driver's education, academic upgrading, or English or French as a second language. The tuition receipt provided by the educational institution has to clearly identify the name and academic level of the course or program, otherwise your claim may be disallowed.

Fees for courses that provide or improve skills in an occupation are deductible if taken at an educational institution certified by Employment and Social Development Canada.

Claims have to be based on fees for a period during the calendar year, not the academic year. Fees that were reimbursed to you or to a parent or spouse on your behalf cannot be claimed unless the reimbursed amount is included in income. Only the eligible tuition fees minus the amount received as a tuition reimbursement can be deducted.

If supporting documents are requested, ensure that the official receipt is issued by the educational institution is submitted.

Line 323 - Eligible tuition fees

Pamphlet P105, Students and Income Tax

Income Tax Folio S1-F2-C2: Tuition Tax Credit

Education and textbook amounts - Lines 321 and 322 of Schedule 11

You can claim only one education and textbook amount for each eligible month, either the full-time amount or the part-time amount.

Claims have to be based on the calendar year, not the academic year. You cannot claim the education and textbook amounts if the tuition fees paid for the course were reimbursed to you or to another person on your behalf. This applies whether or not the reimbursed tuition was added into income.

If supporting documents are requested, ensure the official receipt issued by the educational institution is submitted. The number of months claimed has to agree with the number of months indicated on the T2202A, TL11A, TL11B, or TL11C.

Line 323 - Education amount

Line 323 - Textbook amount

Pamphlet P105, Students and Income Tax

Folio S1-F2-C1, Education and Textbook Tax Credits

Tuition, education, and textbook amounts transferred from a child - Line 324 of Schedule 1

The maximum amount that can be transferred from each child is $5,000 minus the amounts the student uses, even if there is still an unclaimed part. Tuition, education, and textbook amounts that the student carried forward from a previous year cannot be transferred.

The student has to complete Schedule 11, Tuition, Education, and Textbook Amounts, to calculate the transfer amount.

The student also has to complete the designation area on one of the following forms:

• T2202A, Tuition, Education, and Textbook Amounts Certificate;
• TL11A, Tuition, Education, and Textbook Amounts Certificate - University Outside Canada;
• TL11B, Tuition, Education, and Textbook Amounts Certificate - Flying School or Club; or
• TL11C, Tuition, Education, and Textbook Amounts Certificate - Commuter to the United States.

If supporting documents are requested, ensure you submit the official receipts issued by the educational institution for all amounts transferred.

If you are the student's spouse or common-law partner, the transferred amount would be entered on line 360 of Schedule 2, Federal Amounts Transferred From Your Spouse or Common-Law Partner.

Medical expenses - Lines 330 and 331 of Schedule 1

Prescription drugs

Amounts paid for vitamins, supplements, or similar medicaments are not deductible even if prescribed by a medical practitioner and recorded by a pharmacist.

Ensure that receipts are dated, indicate "paid", and that the type of goods or services received is clearly identified. It can also be helpful to provide a list or summary of your expenses, including a clear indication of whether any part of certain expenses were reimbursed to you (for example, through an insurance plan).

Attendant care or care in an establishment

Generally, you can claim the entire amount paid in a nursing home (full-time). In all other cases, the fees claimed have to be for salaries and wages paid for attendant care services.

Attendant care expenses may be eligible as medical expenses (line 330 and line 331) and for the disability supports deduction (line 215). The total you claim cannot be more than the total amount paid. Special rules apply when claiming medical expenses as well as the disability tax credit or the attendant care expenses.

To claim attendant care expenses paid to an establishment, you have to send us a detailed breakdown from the establishment that clearly shows the amounts paid for staff salaries that apply to the attendant care services listed under What can you claim as medical expenses?

Lines 330 and 331 - Eligible medical expenses you can claim on your return

Guide RC4064 - Medical and disability related information

Income Tax Folio S1-F1-C1, Medical Expense Tax Credit

Line 215 - Disability supports deduction

Form T2201 - Disability tax credit certificate

What documents do you need to support your attendant care expenses?

Public transit amount - Line 364 of Schedule 1

Daily passes or tickets are not eligible for this amount.

Passes of less than a month in duration are only eligible if:

• they entitled you to unlimited travel for an uninterrupted period of at least 5 days; and
• you purchased enough of these passes to entitle you to unlimited travel for at least 20 days in any 28-day period.

To support your claim for the public transit amount, you will need to provide a copy of the transit pass(es), electronic payment card, smart card, as well as the usage report, if available.

The transit pass or usage report has to contain the following information:

• the date or period for which the pass is valid;
• the name of the transit authority/organization issuing the pass or card;
• the cost of each trip or pass; and
• the rider's name or unique identifier (the unique identifier has to be linked to the rider).

If the pass, card, or usage report does not contain all of the information mentioned above, you will also need copies of all receipts, cancelled cheques and/or debit/credit card statements.

If using 'smart' cards or similar electronic passes, it will be necessary to submit documents from the transit authority indicating the name of the rider, the number of separate 31-day periods during which at least 32 one-way trips were taken and the amount paid with respect to transit services used during those periods of time.

Line 364 - Public transit amount

Non-business income tax paid to a foreign country - Line 431 of Form T2209

You may be asked to provide a copy of various documents to support your claim. The following are some examples of the documents you may be asked to provide:

• a completed Form T2209 - Federal foreign tax credits;
• a notice of assessment or equivalent document from the foreign tax authority;
• an account transcript from the IRS (U.S.);
• a statement from the applicable foreign tax authority indicating foreign income and final tax liability;
• foreign income slips;
• a statement from the employer (if a pay as you earn (PAYE) tax system) indicating foreign income and final tax liability;
• a foreign tax return and all attachments.

If you are unable to provide documents from the applicable foreign tax authority indicating your foreign income and final tax liability, we will accept proof of a refund received or payment made to them.

This may be in the form of bank statements, cancelled cheques, or official receipts. The following information has to be clearly indicated:

• that the payment was made to or received from the applicable foreign tax authority;
• the amount of the payment or refund;
• the tax year to which the payment or refund applies; and
• the date that the amount was paid or received.

What are the average exchange rates?

Documents in a foreign language

Line 405 - Federal foreign tax credit

Income Tax Folio S5-F2-C1: Foreign Tax Credit

Form T2209 - Federal foreign tax credits

Property tax or rent paid in Ontario - Part A - Amount paid for principal residence (Form ON-BEN)

If supporting documents are requested, ensure the official receipts indicate "paid".

Copies of lease agreements are not acceptable as rent receipts.

Rent does not include condominium fees that you paid, charges that you paid for board (for example meals, cleaning, laundry), or utility charges (for example water, electricity, parking) unless these charges are included as part of rent in your rental agreement.

Property tax does not include amounts billed to you by the municipality in the form of user charges (for example water); common expenses incurred by you if you were a condominium owner; or any property tax interest and/or penalty charges that you paid in the year.

If you shared a principal residence with one or more persons (other than your spouse or common-law partner), enter your share of the rent or property tax you paid for the year.

Information for Residents of Ontario

Forms and publications

• General income tax and benefit package

Related topics

• Taxpayer Bill of Rights

Date modified:

2016-06-09