# Other deductions from income tax like RRSP



## HighFive (Mar 23, 2015)

Folks,

Let me know please what else is deductible from income tax the same way as RRSP contributions are....?
I heard about someone taking training courses related to the job he/she is doing and paying those him/herself, those are deductible the same way as RRSP. Is that true?

What about donations? 
I made some donations to different temples in GTA this year cause of my dad's health issues, would like to know about that as well. 

Many thanks for all your replies.

Cheers,
HF


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## Davis (Nov 11, 2014)

If the temples gave you receipts for your donations that indicate that the are registered charities (and most are), then you can claim the Charitable Donations Tax Credit against your federal and provincial taxes otherwise payable. If you just put money in a collection basket, you cannot claim it on your taxes. You must have a receipt.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

There are too many possible deductions and credits to deal with your question in a single post.

1. Pick up a free copy of a T1 General Return and the Guide to it from your local postal outlet; or download PDF copies from CRA
2. Read them.

There are companies that have tax planning guides on their web sites now. Here's an example: http://www.taxplanningguide.ca/tax-planning-guide/section-2-individuals/

Or look up the subject in your library or book store.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

Davis said:


> If the temples gave you receipts for your donations that indicate that the are registered charities (and most are), then you can claim the Charitable Donations Tax Credit against your federal and provincial taxes otherwise payable. If you just put money in a collection basket, you cannot claim it on your taxes. You must have a receipt.


I agree there needs to receipts (for income tax purposes) issued by the vendor/institute/charitble organization.


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## Guban (Jul 5, 2011)

Neither donations nor courses are deductible like RRSP contributions. They generally give you credits. There is a difference, and I agree with OhGreatGuru. Tax rules are far too complex to provide a brief answer.


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## CPA Candidate (Dec 15, 2013)

Items that qualify as section 3c deductions (subdivision e) are RRSP contributions, child care expenses and moving expenses (plus a couple others I probably forgot). Section 3c is for expenses related to earning income that are not directly related to, or cannot be deducted from, a source. The amount of tax savings from a deduction depends on your tax rate.

Credits are applied after taxable income and tax payable are calculated and do not depend on your tax bracket, they are a straight reduction of what you owe, dollar for dollar. There are more credits than you can shake a stick at, but few deductions.

Deductions and credits are often confused.


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## HighFive (Mar 23, 2015)

Davis said:


> If the temples gave you receipts for your donations that indicate that the are registered charities (and most are), then you can claim the Charitable Donations Tax Credit against your federal and provincial taxes otherwise payable. If you just put money in a collection basket, you cannot claim it on your taxes. You must have a receipt.


Davis, thanks. I have a receipt with my name on it and amount. Do you know how much I would get back from all those donations? I've donated around 1K$CDN in total.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

There are about 26 possible "Deductions from Income" on Page 3 of a T1 Form.

There are about 27 possible "Non-refundable Tax Credits" on the federal Schedule 1. And there are several more on Page 2.


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## lb71 (Apr 3, 2009)

HighFive said:


> Do you know how much I would get back from all those donations? I've donated around 1K$CDN in total.


In Ontario you get about 20% credit for first $200 and about 40% above that. There are limits based on income. So $1000 would get you about $360 in credits. There is also a federal first time donor credit for up to $1000 worth 25%. That would be an additional $250. 

You can maximize the benefit by accumulating your receipts up to five years. For example, if you made $1000 donations in 2014 and 2015, you could get credits of $360+$400 by claiming them in your 2015 return instead of $360+$360 by claiming them each year. (However, there is an opportunity cost to delaying the credits if you are making large donations. This works better for individuals who make smaller donations.) You and your spouse can also claim all your donations on one return to maximize the benefit further.

You will also need to owe the appropriate amount of taxes to benefit from these credits.


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## HighFive (Mar 23, 2015)

lb71 said:


> In Ontario you get about 20% credit for first $200 and about 40% above that. There are limits based on income. So $1000 would get you about $360 in credits. There is also a federal first time donor credit for up to $1000 worth 25%. That would be an additional $250.
> 
> You can maximize the benefit by accumulating your receipts up to five years. For example, if you made $1000 donations in 2014 and 2015, you could get credits of $360+$400 by claiming them in your 2015 return instead of $360+$360 by claiming them each year. (However, there is an opportunity cost to delaying the credits if you are making large donations. This works better for individuals who make smaller donations.) You and your spouse can also claim all your donations on one return to maximize the benefit further.
> 
> You will also need to owe the appropriate amount of taxes to benefit from these credits.


thanks lb71, that clarifies it all.


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## HighFive (Mar 23, 2015)

OhGreatGuru said:


> There are about 26 possible "Deductions from Income" on Page 3 of a T1 Form.
> 
> There are about 27 possible "Non-refundable Tax Credits" on the federal Schedule 1. And there are several more on Page 2.


OhGreatGuru, thanks. Can you please guide me to the PDF version of that file (Guide for T1 General Return) on CRA website cause I looked thru website just now and there are a lot of different documents that is quite confusing for me. Thanks again for your help.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

This link http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/formspubs/t1gnrl/menu-eng.html, provides the ability to drill down by province (simplifies a lot).

With the way OhGreatGuru has written about the T1 form, I suspect he means the Return link "T1 General 201# - Income Tax and Benefit Return - {Province}". 

If you want the writeup as opposed to return itself, then use the "General Income Tax and Benefit Guide - 201x" link. It seems both PDF and html versions are available.


Or if you check with your post office, they did have paper copies but now that the deadline has passed, they might have disposed of them already.


Cheers


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