Already 10 years since the maple spring, triggered by the project of a salty increase in tuition fees.
We know the conclusion. The Charest government ended up giving in to the persistence and intensity of this student strike. That of the Parti Québécois recovered the following year by reducing the tax credit for tuition fees, which fell from 20% to 8% in 2013.
Fee, tax and tax hikes never fail to fuel outrage, but cuts in tax credits, which affect our wallets no less, are generally met with utter indifference. So much so that many Quebecers neglect this credit for tuition fees which entitles you to a few hundred dollars.
A nice gift to the government…
Tens of thousands of dollars
It was an accountant from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu who tipped me off. Éric Brazeau contacted me following the publication of a column in which I dealt with RRSP contributions that taxpayers neglected to declare. He noticed the same kind of omission with the Quebec tuition credit.
Three years ago, Éric Brazeau decided to check 4274 client files. He recovered $171,000 in tuition for which the 20% credit had not been claimed, disbursements that date back to the pre-red square era. That’s over $34,000 in tax refunds.
In the same transaction, the accountant landed $176,000 in tuition for which an 8% credit had been carried over. And it’s not over. Add to that the “tax credit for interest paid on a student loan” (20%), also forgotten.
“If I was able to find so much money sleeping with 4,000 people, imagine all that is left on the table across Quebec,” exclaims the CPA.
The origin of oblivion
The tuition credit is “non-refundable”, meaning that you have to pay tax to take advantage of it. As students generally earn little money, this credit does not bring them anything immediately. They can, however, transfer it to their parents or grandparents, or keep it for themselves for the years when they begin to participate in the public treasury.
The federal government offers a similar 15% credit. If it is not used by the parents, it is applied automatically as soon as the young taxpayer begins to pay tax.
In Quebec, the tax authorities complicate the processing of the credit in question. First, it does not appear anywhere except on the provincial notice of assessment. “The world doesn’t pay much attention to it since tax refunds are made by direct deposit,” observes Mr. Brazeau.
Above all, when tax preparers connect to their clients’ electronic file at Revenu Québec, the information relating to this credit cannot be downloaded from their accounting software, unlike the federal credit. “If they don’t have the client’s notice of assessment in front of them, they miss out, that’s for sure,” says Éric Brazeau.
Simon Elliott, this CPA who digs up forgotten RRSP contributions and whom I told you regarding two weeks ago, also deplores the situation: “My $7,000 accounting software can’t download this information. »
So, a homework for you: check to see if there are any carryover credits on your provincial notice of assessment.
And a duty for Revenu Québec: make this information more accessible for tax preparers.
