Hello,
I've seen conflicting info on the forum - one comment indicating that RESP withdrawals are not to reported on the income tax return and then another comment stating that only the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) and income earned on grant and contribution) is to be reported.
I have received my T4A slip with the total in box 042 that includes my own contribution as well as CESG and income earned on CESG. Please advise if:
a) I need to report the RESP withdrawal in the first place?;
b) If I need to report the RESP withdrawal, then how do I differentiate between my own contributions and CESG and income earned on CESG
c) If I am also required to report tution fees on the T2200 slip (province of BC)
Direction will be much appreciated. Thanks very much
The maker of contributions into an RESP is the “subscriber” and the student recipient of payments out of the RESP is the “beneficiary.” There are two categories of funds within an RESP: contributions and "Educational Assistance Payments" or EAP. EAP consist of: the Canada education savings grant, the Canada learning bond, amounts paid under a designated provincial program and earnings on the funds in the RESP. T4A box 42 contains the EAP amount and it must be included in the beneficiary’s income in full, no differentiation is required. Amounts paid from the RESP to the beneficiary out of contributions are not reported for income tax.
The form you wish to know more about is probably the T2202A. More information is available here: Understanding Tuition Tax Credits.
Starting in 2019 the Government of B.C has eliminated its provincial Education Tax Credit. However any unused provincial tuition and education credits from prior years may be carried forward to 2019 or future years.