Transferring the Tuition Amount
If there is any amount left over after your child has claimed the tuition amount, they have two choices: transfer it or carry it forward. This comes up a lot since students don’t typically earn a lot of income while going to college or university.
Your child can transfer up to $5,000 of the tax credit, less the amount used to reduce tax owing. So if they reduced their tax owing by $1,000, the most that can be transferred is $4,000. The tuition amount can be transferred to their parent, grandparent or spouse/common-law partner.
Claiming the leftover tuition amount is easy:
- Once your child has completed Schedule 11, they can transfer the leftover amount.
- Parents and grandparents can claim the leftover amount on Line 32400 of their tax return.
- If your child has a spouse or common-law partner, the spouse will claim the available credit on Schedule 2 and report it on Line 32600 of their tax return. (TurboTax recommends you prepare your spousal tax returns simultaneously so these credits will transfer automatically for you).
It is important to note that if one spouse is eligible to claim a spouse or common-law partner amount on line 30300 for the student, parents, and grandparents are not eligible to receive a tuition transfer; in this case, it must be transferred to the spouse (or carried forward).
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