# Social Assistance from foreign country - which box to enter?



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

My mother gets Social Assistance from foreign country. It's not pension, but similar to Canadian OAS.
I couldn't understand where I should enter this amount while filling tax return on Turbotax. There are 2 boxes: Other Pension Income and Other Income (line 130).... Regardless where I enter it, I get same tax Refund = 0.00. I called CRA they were researching it for one hour (literally  ,I've overheard why waiting that CRA agents hheld meeting there) , but also couldn't tell me where to enter ... Is anyone had similar situation? 
Is ther any difference at all between entering $ Other Pension Income and Other Income (line 130).... ?


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

I would report it under Line 115. See p.15 of the Guide:
_*Pensions from a foreign country*
Report in Canadian dollars the gross amount of your foreign pension income you received in 2013. See “How do you report foreign income and other amounts?” on page 9. Attach a note to your paper return identifying the type of pension you received and the country it came from. In some cases, amounts you receive may not be considered pension income, and you may have to report them elsewhere on your return.

*Tax Tip*
You can claim a deduction on line 256 for the part of your foreign pension income that is tax-free in Canada
because of a tax treaty. If you do not know whether any part of your foreign pension is tax-free, contact us.
_
So, report it on Line 115. Attach a letter explaining what it is from, and asking if this correct. Also ask if there is a tax treaty that would permit part of it to be deducted on Line 256. Also, determine if the country of origin has withheld taxes (Canada withholds income tax from OAS payment to non-residents) If taxes have been withheld, you may be able to claim foreign tax credits as explained on page.10.

PS. another reason why you would want it in Line 115 (assuming CRA agrees) is that it would then be included in determining the Pension Income Amount in Line 314.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

Thank you.... I also was thinking to claim it on Line 115. The official translantion from Hebrew my mom's social assisstance is "The basic old-age pension".
I found Canada-Israel treaty
http://www.fin.gc.ca/treaties-conventions/Israel_-eng.asp
but didn't understand anything  , so have no idea if something exempt or not.... in any case I played with turbotax sift, made all exempt, nothing exempt ... in all cases I got refund = 0 (as my mom't taxable income less than 9K), thus , not sure if it (exemption or not) matters....


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## bgc_fan (Apr 5, 2009)

I'm not sure why you seem fixated on a refund. Were there withholding taxes deducted from the pension? Or is this regarding GST credits?


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

_...my mom's taxable income less than 9K.._

If her taxable income is less than the Basic Personal Exemption, it should make no difference in her taxes, which are zero, at present. But you should still report it on line 115 and write to CRA asking for direction/confirmation on the points I raised, in order to have it correct for future, in case her financial circumstances change.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

bgc_fan said:


> I'm not sure why you seem fixated on a refund. Were there withholding taxes deducted from the pension? Or is this regarding GST credits?


 I'm not fixated on the refund... I just mean that CRA shouldn't really care.... Regarding taxes, neither my mom nor myself have no idea. She just gets from Israeli National Insurance Institute fixed amount every month to her bank account in Israel. If something is deducted , it deducted before she gets it... in Israel no one GST filling any taxes, everything is done automatically by government.
Didn't get your question regarding GST credit..... this amount doesn't change if I don't enter her pension at all or enter in any box ... I get same $272 HST/GST credit


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

OhGreatGuru said:


> _...my mom's taxable income less than 9K.._
> 
> If her taxable income is less than the Basic Personal Exemption, it should make no difference in her taxes, which are zero, at present. But you should still report it on line 115 and write to CRA asking for direction/confirmation on the points I raised, in order to have it correct for future, in case her financial circumstances change.


Yeap. I will report it on 115 and will write in box where it's from, I'm doing taxes online, so not gonna write somethin on paper...if CRA would like more data, let them send letter to my mom. 
Here financial circumstances just cannot change  more than that she can get any OAS or GIS or anything from government only in 7 years (as she is sponsored immigrant)


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## bgc_fan (Apr 5, 2009)

gibor said:


> I'm not fixated on the refund... I just mean that CRA shouldn't really care....


The reason why I said that is that you were just pointing out a refund of 0 regardless of how you report the income. The impression I was getting was that you were expecting a refund. If you just mentioned payable taxes of 0, I wouldn't have asked.


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