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Tax
Credit for Public Transit Passes:
Currently a non-refundable public transit tax credit can be claimed
based on the cost of monthly public transit passes. The March
19, 2007 federal budget proposes to expand the eligibility criteria
for the transit tax credit beginning January 1, 2007.
Starting
January 1, 2007, the public transit tax credit has been expanded
to include costs for:
- Weekly
passes:
- You
have at least 4 consecutive weekly passes, and each weekly
pass provides unlimited public transit use for an uninterrupted
period of between 5 and 7 days.
- Cost-per-trip
electronic payment card:
- The
card is used for at least 32 one-way trips during an uninterrupted
period not more than 31 days, and
- The
card is issued by a public transit authority that records
and provides a receipt for the cost and usage of the card
In order to
make this claim at a minimum, you will need to keep your expired
monthly transit passes for months after June 2006 to support your
claim.
- If your
transit pass displays all of the following information, the
pass itself will be sufficient to support a claim for the tax
credit:
- an indication
that it is a monthly (or longer duration) pass;
- the date
or period for which the pass is valid;
- the name
of the transit authority or organization issuing the pass;
- the amount
paid for the pass; and,
- the identity
of the rider, either by name or unique identifier.
If the pass
does not have all of this information, you will also need to keep
receipts, cancelled cheques or credit card statements, along with
your pass(es), to support your claim. The credit will be available
for the portion of the pass that is used on or after July 1st,
even if the pass is purchased before that date.
The CRA will
accept receipts (letters) generated by employers or Employer Pass
Program Coordinators for employer transit pass programs. The receipt
should note the purpose, exact amount received, date of payment,
and name of the payee.
Generally,
the CRA does not consider a bank statement a valid receipt. However,
if the statement clearly indicates the purpose of the debit (for
example, Employee FareCard), we will accept this as support for
the claim.
You will not
need to submit any documentation when you file your return, but
you must keep it in case the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) asks
for it in verifying your claim.
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