TaxTips.ca - BC personal tax credits

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British Columbia -> Personal tax credits

Non-refundable personal tax credits

For information on the amounts of most non-refundable tax credits available to BC residents, see the non-refundable personal tax credits tables.

BC tax reduction:

	available to low income individuals based on net income
	cannot exceed basic provincial tax (not a refundable credit)

See BC Tax Reduction Credit on the BC Small Business and Revenue website.

See Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) form BC428 from the BC General Income Tax and Benefit Package page for detailed calculation.

Refundable tax credits

These are refundable to the taxpayer even if no income tax was paid.

Sales tax credit - replaced in 2010 by the BC HST credit

for low income individuals, $75 credit each for taxpayer and spouse

amount received depends on individual or family net income

see Sales Tax Credit on BC Small Business and Revenue website

Venture capital tax credit from Certificate SBVC10

Mining exploration tax credit from Form T88

See CRA form BC479 from the BC General Income Tax and Benefit Package page for detailed calculations.

Low income climate action tax credit (BCLICATC)

This credit is a tax-free payment.

Low-income individuals and families started receiving a climate action tax credit, which is paid together with the federal GST/HST credit, effective July 1, 2008. The first payments were actually made in October 2008, but included the amounts for July 2008.

About the credit:

	Jul 1/11 and later	Jul 1/10 to Jun 30/11	Jul 1/09 to Jun 30/10	Jul 1/08 to Jun 30/09
Maximum annual credit:
per adult	$115	$105	$105	$100
plus, per child	$34.50	$31.50	$31.50	$30
Maximum credit is reduced by 2% of net family income in excess of:
for single individuals	$30,968	$30,722	$30,600	$30,000
for families	$36,130	$35,843	$30,722	$35,000

The above information can be found on the BC Government Low Income Climate Action Tax Credit page.

BC HST Credit (BCHSTC)

A non-taxable BC HST credit is now paid quarterly with the GST/HST and low income climate action tax credits, to offset the impact of the HST on those with low incomes.

The first BCHSTC payment was first issued in July 2010. The maximum annual credit is $230 per family member. The maximum amount is received by

	single individuals with no children whose adjusted net income is $20,000 or less, and
	families whose adjusted family net income is $25,000 or less.

The BCHSTC is reduced by 4% of adjusted family net income over $20,000 for single people, and over $25,000 for families.