Dashie

I did a quick search but didn't come up with anything, so thought I'd post in case it's relevant to anyone else.

We send our oldest to a nursery school 2 mornings a week, and we've been told that we claim this back on our tax return, but I'm not sure where to put it.

The receipt we have doesn't have all of the tax-type info that you would get for say university fees, and it looks like we can only claim it as child care expenses if both of us are working. I did see that some people put it in as a charitable donation as the organisation is non-profit.

I hate this tax system.

Any ideas? JonboyE?

iaink

You can claim it as child care expenses, but only if BOTH of you are working. If thats not the case then the charitable donation route isnt unreasonable... wish Id thought of that back in the day...

For that though the receipt would have to be in the correct charitable format to count.

JonboyE

You can deduct child care expenses if they are incurred so that you can work or attended a post-secondary school. For a couple they are always deducted from the income of the lower earner. If the lower earner has no income then there is nothing you can claim.

A not-for-profit is not the same as a charity. Charities that can give you a receipt that qualifies for a tax credit are listed here http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/.../menu-eng.html

Also, the tax credit is for a charitable donation - effectively a gift. If you get something back for your money - such as childcare - the money is not a gift and so does not qualify for the tax credit.

Dashie

That's fair enough, thanks for clarifying.

What about the arts credit - that lists 'developmental activities'?