Personal tax filing season is just around the corner and it is time to start organizing your receipts and keeping track of tax forms that you will receive from your financial institution.  With proper planning and organization of your documentation, you can be sure to meet the filing deadline of April 30, 2018.

Here is a summary of changes introduced by our Government that may impact your tax return for 2017.

If you need assistance in determining the impact it will have on your personal return, please contact our office and speak to one of our tax professionals today.

Public transit tax credit

Budget 2017 proposed the elimination of the public transit credit after June 2017. This means that even if you paid an amount before July 1, 2017 for a public transit annual pass, which is valid after June 30, 2017, you will have to prorate your cost to determine the amount paid that is for the period from January 1 to June 30, 2017.  No amounts paid for transit after June 2017 is eligible for a credit.

Ride-sharing drivers

Effective January 1, 2017, all the self-employed commercial ride-sharing drivers (i.e. Uber) have been required to register, collect, report and remit GST/HST, regardless of their total annual revenues from ride-sharing.

New Back-to-School Tax Credit for BC

Subject to the approval of the Legislature, the B.C. Back-to-School Tax Credit is a new, non-refundable tax credit of $250 per child providing a benefit of up to $12.65 per child.   Eligible BC resident parents must have a child turning an age from five to 17 in the tax year.

Consolidation of caregiver credits

Effective January 1, 2017, the budget proposes to consolidate the infirm dependant credit, the caregiver credit and the family caregiver credit into the new Canada Caregiver Credit (CCC). In most cases, the proposed changes will not restrict your credits. The main changes will be that the caregiver amount for in-home care of your parent or grand-parent who is not infirm will no longer be available and you are no longer required to live with the dependant to claim the new CCC.

Medical Expenses Tax credit (METC) – Reproductive Technologies

The Budget 2017 proposed changes in the application of the METC for reproductive technologies. The costs incurred for a medical intervention required in order to conceive a child that were previously not allowed as a medical expense are now eligible for a tax credit. The expenses incurred in the previous 10 years may be claimed. Amounts incurred in 2007 must be claimed by the end of 2017.

If you believe that you have incurred these amounts between 2007 and 2016 and need assistance in filing an adjustment, please contact our office to see how we can help you.

Elimination of various tax credits

In addition to the elimination of the public transit tax credit, the proposed changes will eliminate other credits, including the children’s arts amount and children’s fitness tax credit, along with the investment tax credit for child care spaces and the deduction for eligible home relocation loans.

Please note that the provincial counterpart of those credits may still be there even though they have been eliminated on the federal level.