Child Tax Benefit - presumed caregiver

[dadtotheend]

To be sure, it is Parliament that makes the rules. The Canada Revenue Agency applies and enforces them.

The CTB is only rotated b/w parents when there is shared parenting i.e. inside the 60/40 split either way. It is not automatic on separation as one poster says below.

There is a deeming provision in the legislation that, in the case of a man and woman who live together, presumes the woman (even if she is not the bio Mom, as in a case where the Dad remarries or is common law) to be the person in whose name the CTB is paid.

I have a couple where the man is a house-husband and does most of the caregiving. His wife is not the bio mom, but the CRA has applied the deeming provision above and the cheques are made out to her. That certainly caught their attention. As gender-biased as the deeming provision is, it is only there to estabish in whose name the payments are made. Another rule requires that the lower income spouse reports the CTB on their tax return, so there are many cases where the woman receives it but the man reports it on his taxes.

That doesn't change the eligibility rule that requires both spouses income to be included for the purpose of establishing the amount, if any, that will be paid.

[momof3]

I'm not sure why people are having such difficulties getting the cheques in there name. All we did was apply with dad as the applicant because he was the stay at home with the kids at the time and explained that to CRA and it was never a problem.

As for it just being for the purposes of putting the cheque in someones name, that's not really true from my experience. If any overpayments are assessed for CTB, they are assessed to the individual, and not to the family unit. As in my case, we had an overpayment that ended up in court and the whole debt ended up mine as at the time CTB was in my name and my husband had no debt with him.

[dadtotheend]

Originally Posted by momof3

As for it just being for the purposes of putting the cheque in someones name, that's not really true from my experience. If any overpayments are assessed for CTB, they are assessed to the individual, and not to the family unit.

That's true, but if the indvidual was overpaid, it's the individual that has to repay. That's fair.

If the individual was married or common when the overpayments were made and remains so when required to repay, well it's still marital resources that benefited when the payments were received and it's marital resources that will be later used to make the repayment, so it doesn't matter.

If the individual received the overpayments while outside a relationship and is later required to repay, well again, that person got the money. They should be the one to repay.

If the individual received the overpayments while in a relationship and is later required to repay after the relationship is over, then those amounts were a liablility at separation date (even if the individual didn't know it) and that person should be remedied by way of equaliztion of family property.

[NBDad]

Couple misconceptions here that I see....

I was reading the CTB application forms and it appears that they combine the income of both spouses to calculate the CTB payments. Why would they add step parent's income when he/she is not even responsible for the care of my child?

It's already been said, but it's calculated based on household income. It's assumed that in the case of a step parent, that they are helping with the care and upbringing of the child and contributing to the household, thus the child benefits from the increased income/involvement.

In the event that you were to split, the step parent can be held accountable for support for the child as well. (It's called acting "in loco parentis").

A little known fact to most is that CRA can split the CTB if you apply.

Actually it's not that they CAN...in a shared parenting arrangements...it's the ONLY option...it's the individuals responsibility to tell them of a change in custody/access. Technically you can be charged for NOT changing the status in order to collect a greater amount...it's fraud. (It never happens...but it's "supposed" to)

Now if my ex was decent and would spend that money on our child - bring items for her at supervised visits, I would allow him to claim it.

Horrible idea. Especially if your ex has < 40% access. 1. It's fraud and therefore illegal to do that.... 2. If the ex ever wanted to try to get 40% or even go after full custody...having a binding government document proving them the primary caregiver just makes it easier for them.

With a shared custody and reasonable parties it can be transfered or even divided. But one would have to ask this be done.

Incorrect. With a shared custody arrangement (hell the situation doesn't even have to be amicable between the parents) the ONLY option available is 6month-6month split. Once that decision is made, the ONLY thing that can change it is a change in custody/access. Most of the time this means a court order needs to be provided showing the change.

[dadtotheend]

Good post NBDad. There are indeed many misconceptions surrounding the CTB.