Income Tax Act

Marginal note:Definitions

• 122.8 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.

  cohabiting spouse or common-law partner

  cohabiting spouse or common-law partner, of an individual at any time, has the same meaning as in section 122.6. (époux ou conjoint de fait visé)

  eligible individual

  eligible individual, for a taxation year, means an individual (other than a trust) who is, at the end of the taxation year,

  • (a) 18 years of age or older;

  • (b) a parent who resides with their child; or

  • (c) married or in a common-law partnership. (particulier admissible)

  qualified dependant

  qualified dependant, of an individual for a taxation year, means a person who, at the end of the taxation year,

  • (a) is the individual’s child or is dependent for support on the individual or on the individual’s cohabiting spouse or common-law partner;

  • (b) resides with the individual;

  • (c) is under the age of 18 years;

  • (d) is not an eligible individual for the taxation year; and

  • (e) is not a qualified relation of any individual for the taxation year. (personne à charge admissible)

  qualified relation

  qualified relation, of an individual for a taxation year, means the person, if any, who, at the end of the taxation year, is the individual’s cohabiting spouse or common-law partner. (proche admissible)

  return of income

  return of income, in respect of a person for a taxation year, means the person’s return of income (other than a return of income under subsection 70(2) or 104(23), paragraph 128(2)(e) or subsection 150(4)) that is required to be filed for the taxation year or that would be required to be filed if the person had tax payable under this Part for the taxation year. (déclaration de revenu)

• Marginal note:Persons not eligible individuals, qualified relations or qualified dependants

  (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a person is not an eligible individual, is not a qualified relation and is not a qualified dependant, for a taxation year, if the person

  • (a) died before April of the year following the taxation year;

  • (b) is confined to a prison or similar institution for a period of at least 90 days during the taxation year;

  • (c) is a non-resident person at any time in the taxation year;

  • (d) is a person described in paragraph 149(1)(a) or (b) at any time in the taxation year; or

  • (e) is a person in respect of whom a special allowance under the Children’s Special Allowances Act is payable at any time in the taxation year.

• Marginal note:Residence

  (3) For the purposes of this section, an individual is considered to reside at any time only at their principal place of residence.

• Marginal note:Deemed overpayment

  (4) An eligible individual who files a return of income for a taxation year and who makes a claim under this subsection is deemed to have paid, at the end of the taxation year, on account of tax payable under this Part for the taxation year, an amount equal to the amount determined by the formula

  (A + B + C × D) × E

  where

  A

  is the amount specified by the Minister of Finance for an eligible individual for the taxation year for the province (in this subsection and subsection (6) referred to as the “relevant province”) in which the eligible individual resides at the end of the taxation year;

  B

  is

  • (a) the amount specified by the Minister of Finance for a qualified relation for the taxation year for the relevant province, if

    • (i) the eligible individual has a qualified relation at the end of the taxation year, or

    • (ii) subparagraph (i) does not apply and the eligible individual has a qualified dependant at the end of the taxation year, and

  • (b) in any other case, nil;

  C

  is the amount specified by the Minister of Finance for a qualified dependant for the taxation year for the relevant province;

  D

  is the number of qualified dependants of the eligible individual at the end of the taxation year, other than a qualified dependant in respect of whom an amount is included because of subparagraph (a)(ii) of the description of B for the taxation year; and

  E

  is

  • (a) 1.1, if there is a census metropolitan area, as determined in the last census published by Statistics Canada before the taxation year, in the relevant province and the individual does not reside in a census metropolitan area at the end of the taxation year, and

  • (b) 1, in any other case.

• Marginal note:Authority to specify amounts

  (5) The Minister of Finance may specify amounts for a province for a taxation year for the purposes of this section. If the Minister of Finance does not specify a particular amount that is relevant for the purposes of this section, that particular amount is deemed to be nil for the purpose of applying this section.

• Marginal note:Deemed rebate in respect of fuel charges

  (6) The amount deemed by this section to have been paid on account of tax payable for a taxation year is deemed to have been paid in the year following the taxation year as a rebate in respect of charges levied under Part 1 of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act in respect of the relevant province.

• Marginal note:Only one eligible individual

  (7) If an individual is a qualified relation of another individual for a taxation year and both those individuals would be, but for this subsection, eligible individuals for the taxation year, only the individual that the Minister designates is the eligible individual for the taxation year.

• Marginal note:Exception — qualified dependant

  (8) If a person would, if this Act were read without reference to this subsection, be the qualified dependant of two or more individuals, for a taxation year,

  • (a) the person is deemed to be a qualified dependant, for the taxation year, of the one of those individuals on whom those individuals agree; and

  • (b) in any other case, the person is deemed to be, for the taxation year, a qualified dependant only of the individual that the Minister designates.

• Marginal note:Effect of bankruptcy

  (9) For the purposes of this section, if an individual becomes bankrupt in a particular calendar year, notwithstanding subsection 128(2), any reference to the taxation year of the individual (other than in this subsection) is deemed to be a reference to the particular calendar year.