When you don’t know your spouse’s income and can’t find out through reasonable means, the CRA recommends that you enter your best estimate.
- The CRA will assess you and your spouse’s (or former spouse’s) returns together to ensure that the credits and deductions were correctly applied between you. If there’s any inaccuracy or mismatch, they’ll reassess your returns
- Tip: You may want to save your tax refund (if any) until you receive your Notice of Assessment or Reassessment in case some or all of it needs to be repaid
Important: If you don’t enter your spouse’s income (or an estimate), it’s important that you don't claim the Spousal Amount. For more information, read the Spouse or common-law partner amount page on the CRA website.
To avoid claiming the Spousal Amount, complete the following steps:
Instructions for TurboTax Online
- Select Find (or the magnifying glass icon)
- Type information in the Find window
- Select Information About Your Spouse or Common-Law Partner from the list of results, and then select Go. The Now, let’s get your spouse's information step appears
- Fill out the form in TurboTax
- Select Continue. The Tell us more about [Name] step appears
- Complete the following instructions that match your situation:
- If your spouse’s net income is more than $1, select No for Was [Name’s] net income for 20XX zero? Then enter $25,000 for Net income from [Name]’s 20XX federal tax return.
- If your spouse’s net income is $1 or less, select Yes for Was [Name’s] net income for 20XX zero?
Note: Entering $25,000 won’t affect the outcome of your return; it simply makes you ineligible for the Spousal Amount - Select No for Are you claiming the spousal amount?
- Fill out the rest of the form in TurboTax
- Select Continue
Instructions for TurboTax CD/Download
- From the menu, select Introduction and then [Name], Info about your spouse or partner. The Information about your spouse or common-law partner step appears
- Enter $25,000 for Their net income for 20XX
- Select Check this box if you don’t know your spouse/partner’s net income
- Select No, I know that I am not eligible to claim the spousal amount for Do you want TurboTax to calculate whether you are eligible for a full or partial spousal amount credit?
- Fill out the rest of the form in TurboTax
- Select Continue
Note: Whether you enter an amount for your spouse’s income or not, you should complete the rest of the information on your spouse to the best of your ability, especially if you have dependants. The CRA relies on this information to ensure that both you and your spouse are compliant in claiming dependant credits.
