Hello.
I understand that generally a lower-income spouse is the one to claim the childcare expenses. I also understand that these can be claimed only against the employment income. So I don't really understand how this can be combined in the following scenario:
1) My wife have worked during Jan-Feb 2017 and earned, say $5000 from employment
2) The rest of the year she was on maternity leave and received, say, $30000 from EI
3) I was working full year and earned, say $100000
4) My older, 4yo child was attending a daycare fro Jan 2017 through Aug 2017 and we paid $8000 for that.
So for these $8000, who is supposed to claim these? Me or my wife? Or we should be dividing it?
The spouse with the lower net income is the one who makes the claim, except for certain exceptions. They are:
a) the lower income spouse was in school
b) the lower income spouse was in hospital or bedridden for 2 weeks or more
c) the lower income spouse was in prison.
The amount that can be claimed is limited to 2/3 of the working income. In the scenario you painted, that means your wife will have a claim of $3333.33 as a deduction.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-re...