As a new Ontario resident, do I lose all of the provincial carryover tuition, education, and textbook credits that I accumulated while I was an Alberta resident?

[yany]

In September 2018, I changed provincial residencies from Alberta to Ontario and as a result, I am submitting my taxes for the 2018 season as an Ontario resident. In trying to complete my tax return for the 2018 season, I noticed that because I am submitting as an Ontario resident and I became a resident after December 31, 2017, I am unable to use any of the $40,000 in provincial tuition, education, and textbook amounts that I carried over from previous years while I was an Alberta resident. As a result, I am unable to reduce any of my provincial tax and it appears I will lose any of the benefits of accumulating these credits because I moved to Ontario. 

1.    By becoming an Ontario resident after December 31, 2017, do I lose all of the $40,000 in carryover tuition, education, and textbook amounts that I accumulated while I was an Alberta resident? Is there any option for me to reduce my taxes with these amounts?

2.    I am considering moving back to Alberta one day to be with my family. Would I be able to claim the $40,000 in carryover amounts if I became an Alberta resident in the future? Or, are the amounts lost forever?

3.    My current tax return submission for 2018 (Schedule 11) does not allow me to insert the $40,000 in carryover amounts as unused. Does this mean that in future years (e.g. 2019 tax season), my provincial carryover amounts will be reported as $0 rather than $40,000?

My apologies if this post is too long with too many questions. I would just like some advice on if I have any options other than accepting that I will lose the $40,000 in carryover amounts.

[tomtom1]

Were we able to find resolution to this? I'm dealing with the same issue between Quebec and Ontario. I'm being told by the CRA that if you move provinces you lose provincial tuition credits (even if you move back to the province where those credits were accumulated. This doesn't seem fair. Further, the CRA cannot explicitly point me to a law that confirms this is the case.

[TurboTaxJennifer]

No problem. We love questions!

Ontario and Quebec have some unique rules for transferring provincial tuition amounts. For tax year 2018 going forward, you're correct that if you move to Ontario, you can't apply the unused provincial tuition amounts you brought with you from another province.

The credits aren't lost. The amounts stay in your CRA account for use in future years if/when you leave Ontario. If you move back to Alberta for example, you'll have that $40K in provincial tuition waiting for you.

TurboTax applied the Ontario rule to your return so it will show as zero carryforward on the provincial S11. This is correct for the Ontario form and will stay at zero as long as you're filing as an Ontario resident. Should you relocate back to Alberta and use TurboTax to transfer your details next year, that $40K will be there on the Alberta S11.

[yany]

Hi Jennifer,

Thank you so much for your response. I really appreciate it! I wanted to briefly follow-up with you. I also contacted Liberty Tax Services and they appear to have a different assessment of my situation. They agree that my unused provincial tuition amounts from Alberta cannot be applied in Ontario, but they believe that by moving to Ontario, the credits are "lost forever." They stated that even If I move back to Alberta or to any other province there will be no credits available for me to claim.

Is there any way for you to confirm which scenario is correct?

Thank you so much!

[TurboTaxJennifer]

It's a new situation for Ontario and unused tuition credits in general. In some other provinces, your provincial amount reverts to your federal amount but in Ontario's case, you can't even claim that. Since you haven't claimed any of those unused provincial amount in any other province, it's going to come down to how Alberta treats these amounts once you move back. I've contacted the Finance Dept in Alberta and will update you if/when they reply. In the meantime, keep an eye out for your NOA. Your unused provincial amounts should be listed as carry-forward since you haven't used them at all in 2018.

[yany]

Hi Jennifer,

Thank you so much for your efforts. I really appreciate it. At this point, I haven't received a clear answer from my other sources so if the Finance Department in Alberta happens to get back to you please let me know.

Thank you!

[starchoice1]

I have a second question related to this exact same thing. If the student's parents are still living in Alberta while the student is living in Ontario, can a portion of the unused provincial tuition amounts from Alberta be transferred to a parent or does the same situation apply such that the parents are also out-of luck?

[starchoice1]

I have a second question related to this exact same thing. If the student's parents are still living in Alberta while the student is living in Ontario, can a portion of the unused provincial tuition amounts from Alberta be transferred to a parent or does the same situation apply such that the parents are also out-of luck?

[Dude2109]

Hi Jennifer, 

Can you confirm this? I am actually in the situation of trying to regain my Alberta credits after moving to Ontario in 2018. Based on my last return in Alberta, I should have ~30k in Alberta Provincial credits - do I enter this 2017 number into my 2019 filing as I am now filing as an Alberta resident? 

Thank-you! 

[pulkitag]

Hi,

I am in a similar situation.

I studied in Ontario and got the credits here. Then I started work in British Columbia. I used some of my credits in BC. Then, I moved back to Ontario and tried to use the remaining portion of the credit. However, the NoA states that I do not have any ontario credits left. However the credits clearly show up on the carry over amount.

This doesn't make sense to me. I called CRA and the agent told me that I lost my credits as I moved province. I asked for some documentation on this. However, it doesn't seem to explain my scenario at all.

I think I should be able to claim the credits in Ontario as I accumulated them in Ontario.

Regards,

Pulkit Agarwal