Public Transit Tax Credit

Federal Budget 2017: end of public transit tax credit brings mixed emotions in Ontario
https://globalnews.ca/news/3328953/publ ... liminated/

amal1595 wrote: ↑ Federal Budget 2017: end of public transit tax credit brings mixed emotions in Ontario
https://globalnews.ca/news/3328953/publ ... liminated/

Does not answer @jojochiu questions

By the looks of it, you now need to pull either the PDF or CSV file for the year, and yes, calculate it manually. CSV is easier for this of course, and I guess the PDF serves as the official documentation should the CRA request anything....

That said, does anyone know if the CRA really just needs the total dollar amount spent? I use UFile, and for some reason it wants it broken down into money spent on bus, train, streetcar, etc...all separately. I doubt the CRA cares really if I paid $3 on a bus vs a subway station...

Conundrum1911 wrote: ↑ That said, does anyone know if the CRA really just needs the total dollar amount spent? I use UFile, and for some reason it wants it broken down into money spent on bus, train, streetcar, etc...all separately. I doubt the CRA cares really if I paid $3 on a bus vs a subway station...

The breakdown appears to be there strictly for the convenience of a user who has several types of public transit receipts. So you can enter one amount in either of those boxes. UFile will simply add up the amounts of each box and report the total on the appropriate line of your Schedule 1. Some tax software don't even offer a breakdown and simply ask you for a total amount.

so us Ontarians can not submit presto transit expenses on our 2017 tax returns is that correct?

npistone wrote: ↑ so us Ontarians can not submit presto transit expenses on our 2017 tax returns is that correct?

Did you make at least 32 one-way trips over a maximum of 31 consecutive days?

You can only claim the cost of monthly public transit passes or passes of longer duration for travel on public transit for the period of January 1, 2017 to June 30, 2017.

from https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency ... mount.html

tk1000 wrote: ↑ Did you make at least 32 one-way trips over a maximum of 31 consecutive days?

You can only claim the cost of monthly public transit passes or passes of longer duration for travel on public transit for the period of January 1, 2017 to June 30, 2017.

from https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency ... mount.html

Yes you can still claim for first 6 months of 2017, and it was a federal credit, so ends for the whole country, not just ontario

airodyssey wrote: ↑ The breakdown appears to be there strictly for the convenience of a user who has several types of public transit receipts. So you can enter one amount in either of those boxes. UFile will simply add up the amounts of each box and report the total on the appropriate line of your Schedule 1. Some tax software don't even offer a breakdown and simply ask you for a total amount.

Perfect -- I guestimated the breakdown but good to know I don't actually need to itemize it and essentially just count the rows (up to July 1st) x $3 for the amount. I use the TTC every day for work, so at 10 trips a week hitting the 32 in a month is a non-issue for me.

Conundrum1911 wrote: ↑ Perfect -- I guestimated the breakdown but good to know I don't actually need to itemize it and essentially just count the rows (up to July 1st) x $3 for the amount. I use the TTC every day for work, so at 10 trips a week hitting the 32 in a month is a non-issue for me.

It sounds like you're using Presto and not a Metropass. They generate a usage report. You should store that file in case the CRA asks for it. I presume the report gives you a breakdown. (I've had a Presto card for less than a year, so I haven't seen my report yet.)

FoFai2015 wrote: ↑ It sounds like you're using Presto and not a Metropass. They generate a usage report.

They used to. They say they still do, but for 2017 they just give you per-trip info in a CSV and expect you to do the calculation yourself.

If you're using your card enough to qualify, it should just be:
(Card balance on 2016-12-31) - (Card balance on 2017-06-31) + (All loads between 2016-12-31 and 2017-06-31)

Just as an FYI, if you are a senior in the province of Ontario, the Provincial Government allows you to deduct transit passes for July to December 2017.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontario-sen ... tax-credit

Conundrum1911 wrote: ↑ Perfect -- I guestimated the breakdown but good to know I don't actually need to itemize it and essentially just count the rows (up to July 1st) x $3 for the amount. I use the TTC every day for work, so at 10 trips a week hitting the 32 in a month is a non-issue for me.

I use Ufile as well as other family members, we just try to fill in bus, train, streetcar sections as accurately as we can (it can be hard when you use Go Transit and Ttc daily on the same card), Cra even asked for documentation recently and it was sent with all clear given a couple of months later.

So you should be fine.