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New Member
posted Oct 30, 2019 10:54:07 AM

How does a higher income spouse claim a lower income spouses dividend income?

Is another form needed?

0 16 4403
16 Replies
New Member
Oct 30, 2019 10:54:09 AM

Use the split with spouse option at the top of the slip. You must claim all of the Dividends on your return. If there are other amounts reported on the slip you will need to create a new T5 for only the dividends. The outcome will depend on your particular tax circumstances and the software is making a general recommendation. You must be able to increase a "spousal amount" at Line 303 to allow for the transfer.

New Member
Oct 30, 2019 10:54:10 AM

I have tried to do that multiple times and in various ways, including using the F2 over-ride or entering a new T-slip!  The software will not let me enter a number  for a % to spouse.  The F2 over-ride changes the % number on the T-slip input form but does not change the numbers on the T1 General or schedules!  What is going on?!

New Member
Oct 30, 2019 10:54:12 AM

In some cases, it may be better for you to report all the taxable dividends your spouse or common-law partner received from taxable Canadian corporations. You can do this only if, by including the dividends in your income, you will be able to claim or increase your claim for the spouse or common-law partner amount (line 303 on Schedule 1).

If you use this option, you may be able to take better advantage of the dividend tax credit. Do not include these dividends in your spouse's or common-lawpartner's income when you calculate claims such as the spouse or common-law partner amount on line 303 or amounts transferred from your spouse or common-law partner on Schedule 2.

Change the percentage reported by spouse on the applicable reporting slip once you have created the original information under your spouses name.

New Member
Oct 30, 2019 10:54:13 AM

How do you actually input the transfer?! The % to spouse box on that T-slip input form won’t allow a change unless you do a F2 override.  When I tried that, it didn’t reduce my spouse’s income showing on my return, but it increased mine and showed I owed tax!  When I had ran the review process, it said I should transfer my spouse’s dividends so I could claim the spousal amount.  But there doesn't seem to be a way to do it.....  Also, does it apply to dividends on both the T5s and the T3s or just to T5s?

New Member
Oct 30, 2019 10:54:15 AM

Use the % box above the "Blue 0.00"

New Member
Oct 30, 2019 10:54:16 AM

Tried that - doesn’t work!  Nothing works!!

New Member
Oct 30, 2019 10:54:17 AM

If the software is not taking a value of "0", enter the original slip under the recipient spouse's tax return. Attach a letter (or mail under separate cover) for the transferring spouse that all of the dividends have been claimed by their partner.

New Member
Oct 30, 2019 10:54:19 AM

Your other option is to simply over ride the % in Blue by using the "Edit" > "Forms Override" and changing the amount. Either choice will work.

New Member
Oct 30, 2019 10:54:20 AM

I tried the over-ride option days ago but found that the effect doesn’t ripple through to where it should...!  I give up!  I doubt that the benefit would be worth the hassle of getting the software to do it right.  The taxable amount of the dividends exceeds the spousal deduction so it would come down to whether the dividend tax credit would be enough to balance additional tax owing vs. tax saved by increasing the spousal amount.  It’s not worth the effort and frustration at this point to try to sort it out!

New Member
Oct 30, 2019 10:54:21 AM

Simple comparison for tax theory is to enter the T5 in the name of one spouse take note of combined result, then delete and enter in the name of the other spouse and compare, Decide which result is more favorable and choose who should claim the T5.

Level 2
Apr 14, 2024 12:29:54 PM

Hi, the responses here are all unsatisfactory. Why is transferring dividends to a higher income spouse so complicated? It should be possible with one press of a button. Is it available with TurboTax Premier?

 

My concerns are

-I am filing a return where the lower income spouse has 8 T3s and all include capital gains and interest income, in addition to the ELIGIBLE DIVIDENDS I want to transfer. So I can't just change the % allocation of the entire slip. I have to sum all 8 T3 slips' Boxes 49, 50, and 51, "zero" them out for lower income spouse, and create a new T3 for the higher income spouse with the sums above.

 

-However, the proposed transfer is only allowed if it increases the spousal amount that can be claimed. So it's not enough to simply move the T3s over - you would also have to check the spousal tax credit, which 99% of TurboTax users are going to get lost by this point, because the whole point of buying the software is to have it guide you along

 

-Is the above altering of slips even going to fly with CRA? Don't they match up slips based on recipient SIN number?

 

-is the dividend transfer allowed at the provincial level too? Or is this just a federal rule? Because if I move the slip 100% to the high-income spouse, then this could incorrectly give a provincial transfer if it's not allowed

 

Can someone please get real on this and provide an actual solution? Do I have to file with another software if I want to do a spousal dividend transfer, or pay a public accountant to do my taxes? This is ridiculous!

 

Intuit Alumni
Apr 16, 2024 10:16:52 AM

Because we are limited to what can be shared here in a public forum, we believe your best option is to contact our telephone support team for further assistance, as they have the option to view your screen to help resolve the issue. To contact them, please follow this link: Contact Us. When asked if you wish to receive an email say NO then say "speak to a representative" then hold the line. If a resolution is not found please ask for an escalation.

​​​​​​​Thank you for choosing TurboTax.

Level 2
Apr 16, 2024 7:49:08 PM

I tried calling but they didn't understand my question, and told me to pay for Assist & Review. Instead, I would consider upgrading to TurboTax Premier; can you please tell me whether spousal dividend transfers are handled by Premier?

Moderator
Apr 17, 2024 5:35:51 PM

@cranelift 

TurboTax Premier CD/Download has the same tax forms as the other versions of TurboTax CD/Download, it just has an enhanced interview. But I don't think that will change much for your situation. You will still need to enter & remove numbers to compare results and see what works best.

 

 

New Member
Apr 29, 2024 6:36:25 PM

The previous comments have a fair point. It is unclear why Turbo Tax refuses to help with the optimization of the spousal dividend transfer. The explanations and excuses given so far are entirely unsatisfactory. The reason that we all use tax software such as this is to have someone guide us through the process. 

Moderator
May 2, 2024 9:41:51 AM

You can only transfer if this will result in a higher spousal amount.