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  • 2 kids equivalent to spouse

    Hi everybody
    It's that time of year again when I rip my hair out doing tax...I am a masochist and still do it on paper.
    We have 50/50 no support payments and we understand about the CCTB that it is 6 months each.
    What I want to know is, can we each claim one child as equivalent-to-spouse?
    And the GST/HST - can only one person claim for the entire family, or does it work the same way as CCTB? It is hard to find answers on CRA for 50/50 split.

    Thanks in advance - I can't wait to get this filed it is driving me nuts - esp. the Ontario form - a lot of calculations to find out I have to pay the stupid health-care levy. Like arithmetic gymnastics.

  • #2
    I don't know about the equivalent to spouse but I think the GST/HST is individual and you can each apply for it. You may not get it dependant on your income but you can apply.

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    • #3
      But would they pay 2 people all year based on them having kids? Surely they would want to do either 6 month rotation or only 1 of you gets it...otherwise they are overpaying you ?
      This is what I am not sure about as cra doesn't usually credit for the same kids twice

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      • #4
        You can each claim one child for what is now called an eligible dependant.

        The GST/HST credit is claimed by one person in each household.

        As for that paper filing nonsense:

        Google

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        • #5
          Time unfortunately to revisit this again as I have had 3 love-letters on it from CRA.
          First we filed our taxes. I sent in my RC-65 with mine. Then we sent a letter signed by both that we wanted to each get the CCTB six months of the year. All good.
          They started paying the CCTB to both of us the same month. Not what we asked for in the letter but it's ok as we are getting the payments.
          Then I started getting letters about my Ontario credits -that I had to pay them all back. I called them and told them I had filled in the rc-65 form and sent it in my tax form and the guy said, get this, "Oh they just throw that stuff out in Shawinigan. You'll have to send it in a again with a letter." So I sent the stuff in (after an hour on the phone sorting out the mess) and he assured me it would be fixed.
          Now I have got a letter about equivalent to spouse (I claimed one child, I don't even think he claimed the other) wanting my sep. agreement (we haven't signed one yet) or a letter from both of us or a witness to the custody schedule or they will disallow the claim. Neither of us pays support.
          Will my claim stand ?

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          • #6
            You should be fine.
            If you do not pay support, you will be able to claim an eligible dependent.
            You will have to provide proof of living arrangements, via court order, separation agreement or signed letter.
            I have shared 50/50 for the past 9 years and we just changed the agreement to say that the minimal offset support that I pay, is for child A so I can claim child B as an eligible dependent.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Rico View Post
              ...
              I have shared 50/50 for the past 9 years and we just changed the agreement to say that the minimal offset support that I pay, is for child A so I can claim child B as an eligible dependent.
              Why did you word it that way - advice from CRA, lawyer, online??

              Silly that you have to 'lie' about the payments and pretend that they are for A, and not B (which is obviously not true).

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              • #8
                Wow thanks for the tip Rico. If we ever get to the point of settling I will remember that because the deduction is substantial. I don't understand why they are sending this letter because there are 2 kids and you can't claim both of them so I don't know why they would care.
                Billm rev canada is a big bureaucracy so it is easier just to keep things simple with them than have to explain a complicated situation to them. And the different branches don't seem to share info. I estimate it has taken 2 days out of my time, 3 letters, and 3 or 4 phone calls to communicate a simple situation to them. And that's not counting the actual tax form. Also there are actual fraudsters out there and lots of them. So the rest of us poor suckers have to pay for that. I agree it seems absurd but it doesn't seem to help if you tell the truth either. In fact, we are punished.....

                Comment


                • #9
                  It was advice from my local MP...who thought at the time that it was ridiculous that you couldn't claim an eligible dependent because you were paying any type of support for that child (when the child lived with you 50 percent of the time). When that tax law was created, there was minimal, if any people at the time who had shared custody, week on week off.

                  I don't feel guilty about it in any way.


                  Originally posted by billm View Post
                  Why did you word it that way - advice from CRA, lawyer, online??

                  Silly that you have to 'lie' about the payments and pretend that they are for A, and not B (which is obviously not true).

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                  • #10
                    you claim your child as equivalant to spouse/dependant. Its a 7k deduction (something like that). I take it every year and makes big difference. If there are two children and no custodial arrangement each parent can claim one child in that box. Always take the deduction, income tax will never tell you if you forgot either.

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                    • #11
                      I keep getting rejected for the dependent claim - my 3 kids live with me 50 %, I pay via offset method, and I claim a child that my ex does not

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                      • #12
                        You should ideally claim the kids every other year in a 50-50 shared arrangement. Less crap that way.

                        If you really have issues with CRA, you file a service complaint (they HATE THOSE as it starts at the director level and goes down from there) AND contact your MP. They have a MP Resolution Agent that can expedite cases where the CRA is taking an undue amount of time to complete.

                        I JUST went through another situation where I had to involve the MP...14 WEEKS to complete an RC65 form. The CCTB department hadn't processed it by that time, and was short changing us close to 1000/month because of it.

                        CRA's front line phone support tends to be a bunch of window licking drooling retards..I've literally called 4 times in a single day and gotten 4 COMPLETELY different answers (based on the SAME info). I've asked for a supervisor callback (and they're mandated to do so within 24 hours)...2 weeks later...still no call.

                        They have at best a 25% resolution score with me...of the last 4 items I've sent them, only ONE has been processed properly. They outright LOST two COMPLETE sets of documents (I can track it as far as their mail room, and they have NO CLUE where it went after that), took over 100 days to resolve my RC65 form, and I had to sick the MP on them to even get it done THAT fast.

                        I need to start charging them for my time

                        Comment

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