Before you begin entering amounts for student loans or lines of credit into your tax return, it's important to understand that these amounts aren't considered income. As such, you can't claim these amounts in total.
However, you can claim the interest paid on a student loan as a deduction to help lower your tax balance owing. Once your tax owing is reduced to zero, any leftover interest you paid can be carried forward to future tax years (for up to five years). Only you can claim the interest paid on your student loans, even if someone else paid the fees. Any interest paid on a student line of credit can't be claimed.
Effective April 1st, 2023, the Government of Canada has permanently eliminated the accumulation of interest on all Canada Student Loans including loans currently being repaid. See National Student Loans Service Centre.
To claim interest paid on a student loan:
- Select Find (or the magnifying glass icon) from the TurboTax menu.
- In the Find window, type Students and choose it from the list of populated results, then click Go.
- On the Your Student Profile step, select the box for Student loan interest paid in 202x or not claimed in a previous year, then click Continue.
- On the next screen, answer Yes to the question, Do you have eligible student loan interest to claim?, then click Continue.
- Enter your amounts on the next page, then click Continue.
- Verify your amounts are accurate and visible on the Student Summary page, then click Continue.
