It depends I cannot recall ever being able to qualify as a full-time student under distance or online education. However, I am sure it is possible. If you have a course load which is equivalent to a full-time student (i.e. at least 3 courses per semester), you may be able to claim that you are a full-time student. I would recommend contacting your university or college directly about this matter, as they would be issuing your tax slip that you would use with your tax return. Please let me know if you have any questions. Michael Weedon, CA
Good Q - I took 4 credits last summer and then 5 in the fall semester - that qualifies me as a full time student @ FHSU... Not sure how that will help me with the income tax, but we'll see....
The following is applicable to Canadians taking courses outside Canada. IT-516R2 - Tuition Tax Credit (Canada Revenue Agency) However, there are some some exceptions for consideration equivalent to full-time status.
It depends, is the school in question in Canada? If yes, then you won't have a problem as you will be considered as any other regular canadian full time student. Is the school outside Canada? Then you will need to ask your school to fill up the outside of Canada tax form.
Distance courses are not considered part of the full time status according to revenue Canada: " A student is not considered to be in full-time attendance at a university outside Canada if (a) only a few subjects at evening classes are being taken, (b) courses are taken only by correspondence, or" Personally, I was not able to deduct my distance education courses taken outside Canada from my federal taxes but was able to deduct them from the provincial as the rule above only applies to federal but provincial might be different depending on your province of residence.
Here is a quotation from the aforementioned web site. This is where a good accountant earns his/her fee.
Here's the problem 1) the Income tax act section 118 is ok with the courses 2) the IT guide (both of them) mention other issues 3) P105, a phamplet says NO you can't use it! To me, an IT guide or a phamplet are nice but that and a token will get you on a Subway! Now here's my issue University of Phoenix will not issue Canadian Tax Receipts, which scares me. Personally I have taken correspondence in Canada and its not an issue but I am now going to take stuff from the US and I will fight this if I am denied (an appeal isn't that hard). I was wondering if anyone had gone through this!
You can deduct part-time educational expenses, i.e. tuition, from your Canadian taxable income. If you are self-employed you could also slip those expenses for books and software for instance into the deductible amounts under 'professional development'. However, as an employee you are limited to tuition only and a monthly amount for each month you were full-time student provided the school documents full-time status. A statement of account and a letter from the Dean should suffice. Again, you should consult with an experienced tax accountant.
Sentinal, I realize that but I was wondering if some had gotten stuck with a desk review of their return by someone who can't read beyond CRA's P105. Also isn't it scarey that UofPhoenix doesn't sign t2202s?
Personally, my school denied to sign the t2202 form on the basis that revenue Canada does not accept distance learning courses from other countries but you are still elegible to deduct the full time time student deductible. My provincial taxes were ok with the distance education courses so only the federal gave me problems.
I agree, but this means that you can only deduct the full time allowance for being a full time student but not the fees. This was sent to me by a letter from the University that I attended by distance as they consulted with revenue Canada.
I was not aware any US-based school issued T2202 statements. However, you can receive a statement of account detailing the cost of each course and/or tuition paid; submitting that evidence when claiming a deduction. For the self-employed, though, it is arguably easier since there is no need to submit evidence of "professional development" deductions, just keep such documents on-hand for the prescribed retention period. In your case, call CRA and ask them for their interpretation.
I have to say, it is quite entertaining to read all of the posts on this thread, questioning, speculating and pondering whether it is possible to claim full-time status for a DL program from a country that is NOT Canadian. I mentioned in my post that I have done such a thing and yet the guesswork continues! I claimed full-time status for my MBA program, taken in the U.K. via DL, it came back rejected, I typed up a response referencing two students, one from Athabasca University in Alberta who claimed full-time status (Athabasca will submit a receipt to this affect) and another case that had passed thru provincial court (Ontario) stating that a Canadian, taking a research PhD from Touro University was in fact eligible to claim the program as full-time because, in the judge's eyes, the CCRA needed to become more progressive with the times and accept the fact that more students will be studying via the internet. The case was won on this progressive reasoning and the Canadian student was allowed the claim. I merely referenced the two cases and CCRA approved my full-time status. So as you can see, it can be done and argued successfully utilizing current cases in the courts. My good friend is a CCRA accountant/auditor and he said the ruling will make it's way into their program but it won't happen over night. He has been rejecting these claims but added that if a claim were to come thru the system referencing the court decision to allow full-time DL status from programs taken outside of Canada, he would approve it. So, never say never, they are going thru! MP
erm.. in your first post all you stated was that you did it - and no explanation / details as to how it was done. Your 2nd posting, however, was quite informative - thanks for coming back to the table with the info
