Children’s Fitness & Arts Tax Credits Almost Gone!

Do you have a child who participates in hockey, soccer, baseball, music lessons or some other fitness or arts activity?   Don’t forget to save those receipts for tax time because this is the last year that Canadians will be able to claim a refundable tax credit for registration fees and memberships for these types of activities.

The 2016 Federal Budget reduced the amount that families can claim for each child from $1,000 down to $500 for fitness and from $500 down to $250 for arts programs for the 2016 tax year, then has eliminated the program entirely effective the 2017 tax year.   If your child is eligible for the disability tax credit, you are eligible to claim a supplemental amount of $500 for each program in 2016.   This is also being eliminated in 2017.

So be sure to take advantage of these programs in 2016 while you still can!   And keep those receipts because you need them to be able to claim the tax credit!