O1
Returning Member

Why is my tuition credit being claimed?

I used the CRA autofill for the past 2 years and it worked great this year however i'm unsure. According to my student summary I'm claiming around $9600 from my federal and $12000 from my provincial tuition credit this year. I graduated last year and did 4 months of university and then began a part time job.

My total income is around $23,000 and I was already taxed on my biweekly pay. So i am confused on how this makes any sense. They are basically taking 90% of all my income in the year from my tuition credit.

 

Any help would be great, Thank you.

Seniors and students

Tuition is a Non-Refundable Tax Credit that must first be used to reduce the tax payable or liability of the student.  Tax payable is what is calculated on your income entries, not the bottom line of a refund or balance due.

 

Unfortunately, you cannot choose to carry forward your tuition amounts. You must report your tuition, education, and textbook amounts in the year they are incurred and you must claim and apply this amount in the first year you have a tax payable.

 

This means if you have to use any of the tuition amounts this year to reduce your tax payable, they will be applied to your return automatically by CRA, even if you attempt to carry them forward. 

 

TurboTax will apply the needed amount to reduce your tax payable to zero this year and carry forward any excess to future years. If you need to use all your credits in a particular tax year, you are required to do so. You cannot spread them out over a number of years or wait to claim them.