How much will I get for a refund?

Question

I live in Ontario.

Last year I made $28,940.67 and I paid:
Income tax $4084.94
CPP $1260.91
EI $541.19

I paid $13,337.50 in rent last year. Is there a difference if I claim single or common law? If my girlfriend lives with me and I claim commn law, does she have to claim the rent expense if she made more than me?

Thanks in advance for any help...

Answer 1

Your gross income for the year appears to be $34,827.71. Your taxes payable on this amount would be $3521.76 Federally, and $1757.88 Provincially, for a total of $5279.64.

Since you only paid $4084, you owe another $1195 or so.

Your common law question leads to more questions. If you check out http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/individuals/topics/income-tax/return/completing/deductions/lines300-350/303/menu-e.html it clearly identifies whether or not you would be able to claim an amount for a common-law.

Be sure to claim the GST rebate for next year, unless your girlfriend has a significant income. Try anyway, as she might leave you :)

As for your rent, you get a 20% deduction up to $250, so subtract this $250 from your taxes payable (still owe $950 or so). Since it's a 20% deduction, you need only pay $5,000 in rent to get it.

According to http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/5006-n/5006-n-06e.html#P104_11510: "If you and your spouse or common-law partner were involuntarily separated on December 31, 2006, each of you can claim property and sales tax credits. In this situation, do not enter your spouse or common-law partner's net income on line 2, but enter your spouse or common-law partner's address beside box 6089 in that section of the form. In addition, do not complete line 4 unless you reported Universal Child Care Benefit income on line 117 of your return."

If you were separated then the extra rent can be used by her to claim the property tax credit. If not, then only the higher income partner can claim it.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

If you and your girlfriend have been living together for 12 consecutive months, you are common law - you can't file single. If you have been living together for less than a year, go ahead and file single - unless either one of you has a child that lives with you - then you are automatically common law.

They use both of your incomes to calculate the credits, so the rent really doesn't make much of a difference. If YOU paid the rent and the receipts are in YOUR name, then YOU would claim it. Even if you are claiming single, your income is high enough that you don't get much of a property credit.

I plugged your numbers in to my tax software. Claiming single and using your rent receipts, you can expect a refund of a whopping $16.51. If you claim common law, no matter how much your girlfriend makes, rent doesn't make a difference at all and you would owe $101.43.

I hope this answers your question. =)

Answer 3

u can claim rent in ontario?!? ain't that something...in alberta, we can't claim rent or mortgage payments....

it depends on how much ur gf/common law spouse makes...if she didn't earn very much, u will get more of a refund and u get the credit for that....again, u both have to file common law if u have been living together for 12 months (may be 6 months - check the governmen website for ontario)

Answer 4

eh, i have no idea about canadian taxes eh, but windsor rocks, eh .

Answer 5

figure it out