As a student enrolled at a designated educational institution in a qualifying program, you are entitled to receive a T2202. A T2202 is also known as a Tuition and Enrollment Certificate. Canadian colleges issue it, universities or other educational institutions verifying that a student enrolled in a program qualifies for the federal tuition, education, and textbook amounts credit.
What is T2202a?
T2202a is an enrollment certificate slip that your academic institution generates. This slip informs the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) how much tuition you can claim on your tax return. You are eligible to receive a T2202a once you’re registered in a qualifying program and institution in Canada.
The T2202a form lists the eligible tuition fees you paid, the months you were enrolled in school – this can be part-time or full-time in the tax year. You require these details to:
- Claim your tuition, education and textbook credit amounts
- Transfer any unused tuition, education and textbook credit amounts
- Use any unused tuition, education and textbook credit amounts in future.
As a student, you must determine if you are eligible for these tax credits on a personal income tax return based on your situation.
Who is eligible to receive a T2202A tax form?
To be eligible for T2202A tax, you must:
- Be 16 years of age and above.
- Have paid the average of $100 in a taxation year for tuition fees for courses beginning and ending in a particular calendar year.
- Have attended a program for at least three consecutive weeks and an average of 12 hours per month
- Be enrolled in an educational institution to get skills or improve skills in an occupation.
Bear in mind that students cannot combine receipts from different institutions to meet or exceed the $100 minimum eligible amount. Also, in some cases, students might receive a T4A rather than or with a T2202. A T4As are funds reported on the T1 General as income; they are issued to students to report scholarships, awards, and other income provided to students.
Are International Students Eligible for T2202a?
International students must file a tax return if they owe taxes or if they intend to claim a refund or credits. Credit and benefit eligibility depends on the residency status of the student. Residency classes are used to determine a student’s tax-filing status. Currently, international students fall under four residency classes.
Residents
International students studying in Canada, who have to file an income tax return due to residency or earning income in Canada, can use form T2202 to minimize the tax amount they owe. Residency is used to evaluate if an international student is required to file a Canadian tax return or not. You must possess some ties with Canada to qualify for this status. Below are some of the requirements associated with residency:
- Owned or rented a home in Canada
- Have social ties in Canada
- Have a dependent, spouse, or common-law partner who moves to Canada to live with you
There are some other ties the CRA might consider; they include:
- Having a Canadian driver’s licence
Owning a;
- Canadian bank accounts/credit cards
- Having health insurance with a Canadian province
- Owning a car or furniture for your home
Deemed Residency
For international students who are yet to established significant residential ties with Canada, they may be deemed residents if they meet the following conditions:
- Students who live in Canada for 183 days or more in a years
- Students whose home country has a tax treaty with Canada and the student is not deemed a resident if their home country under the treaty.
Benefits of the T2202a
There are several perks attached to filing a tax return with the Canadian government. When you file a tax return, the CRA uses your details to apply for other tax benefits that you are eligible for. Some of these benefits include:
- Canada Workers Benefit
- The Lifelong Learning Plan
- GST/HST credits
- Exemption for a scholarship, fellowship, and bursary income
Receiving T2202a
Eligible students can receive and download a copy of their T2202 around the third week of February for the tuition. The eligible fees due will be paid in the following calendar year. Bear in mind that T2202 is based on tax year; whatever is taxable from January to December and not the school year. So, don’t freight when the figure on the T2202 does not match up as expected.
Transferring tuition tax credits
Institutions in Canada prepare T2202s in the name of every student enrolled in eligible programs at their institution. Students must claim the amounts paid on their tax returns until the federal tax payable has been reduced to zero. Students can continue to claim tax returns until they no longer owe any taxes to the CRA.
In a situation where a student is no longer owing, the student can transfer the remaining amount. The transferrable amount can be billed to:
- A spouse
- Common-law partner
- Parent
- Grandparent
Or it can be transferred to a future tax year.
Bear in mind that only the current year tuition amount up to $5,000 is eligible for transfer. At the same time, the previous year’s tuition credits can only be forwarded. It is advisable to keep a copy of any T2202s for at least six years. This is for documentation purpose in case the CRA request for it.
Eligible fees for T2202A
- Academic tuition fees
- Tech and infrastructure fees
- Application fees (only if the student later enrolls in the institution)
- Examination fees (some restriction applies)
Claiming T2202a
One of the first steps a student must take to claim a T2202 is to claim their current year’s tuition fees, applicable provincial and territorial tuition and education and textbook amounts on the income tax return. This is applicable even if some else paid the fees.
The overall tuition fees are equal to the amount of credit needed to reduce any student’s taxes. The necessary calculation to sum up this amount is included on the CRA form Schedule 11.
According to the CRA, it is recommended that every student file their tax return (T1) and Schedule 11. This is applicable even if they have no tax to pay or are transferring part of their current year’s federal tuition fees or applicable provincial and territorial tuition, education and textbook amounts.
This will enable the CRA to update your tax account with unused credits available to be forwarded to the future years.
However, if the unused amount is to be transferred to a designated individual, it is advisable to share the amount the person can use. This will enable you forward as many funds as possible to use in a future year when you need them to reduce the amount owed.
Completing Schedule 11
A Schedule 11 form must be filled out To complete the process of claiming your T2202a. Below is the process of filling a Schedule 11 form:
- Line 1
Fill in any unused federal tuition, education, and textbook amount in this line. You can retrieve these details from your previous year’s tax return, or a Notice of Assessment sent to you by the CRA.
- Line 2
This line is also known as field 320. Students are to input all eligible tuition fees from their T2202 in this line.
- Line 10
The total tuition, education, and textbook amounts are to be entered.
- Lines 11 to 18
These lines are for students who want to transfer or forward any unused current year amounts.
Note that Lines 11-13 and 18 must be completed for any unused current-year amount that is not being transferred to another individual. Students who share any amount with an individual must complete all their tax certificate areas at the bottom of the T2202.
