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Financial Information 		Student Loan Interest

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Filing Your Return - Students -> Student loan interest
Income Tax Act s. 118.62

A non-refundable tax credit for student loan interest can only be claimed by the student, even if it was paid by another person.  Unused interest amounts can be carried forward for 5 years.

In order for the interest to be eligible, the loan must have been obtained under
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the Canada Student Loans Act,

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the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act, or

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a similar provincial or territorial government law for post-secondary education

If an eligible loan is refinanced, it will lose its eligibility for the tax credit, unless the refinancing is done under the above-mentioned legislation.

There are both federal and provincial non-refundable tax credits for student loan interest.  The tax credit is calculated by multiplying the lowest federal/provincial/territorial tax rate by the amount of the loan interest, except in Québec, where the rate of 20% is used.

Tax tip:  If you do not need to claim the student loan interest because your taxes are already zero, save it to claim in a future year.

Revised: December 12, 2011

 

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