Spouse or Common Law Partner Amount

The spouse or common-law partner amount is a non-refundable tax credit intended to assist families who live together, and one spouse is financially responsible for the other.

If your spouse or common-law partner is eligible for the Canada caregiver amount, you can claim a maximum of $14,716 or $16,103 or $12,421 or $13,808 (depending on your income) for the tax year 2021.

Who is Eligible to Make a Claim?

If you supported your spouse or common-law partner throughout the year and (line 236 of their return, or the amount it would be if they filed a return) their net income was less than $11,809, you can claim this amount.

On line 5812 of your provincial or territorial Form 428, make sure to claim the applicable non-refundable tax credit to which you are eligible.

However, there are exceptions, like—

• If you supported your spouse or common-law partner during the year, their income was less than the basic personal amount.
• if your spouse or common-law partner is a dependent due to a mental or physical impairment

You can claim this amount for the entire year, even if you only met the eligibility requirements for part of the year.

However, if you’re claiming this credit for a qualified dependent, you won’t be able to take advantage of it.

Apart from that, some special rules include:

• If you emigrated from or immigrated to Canada
• filed for bankruptcy
• If your spouse or common-law partner’s net income exceeds the threshold due to dividends received from taxable Canadian corporations during the tax year.

Read More: Common Law Separation in Canada

Before You Claim This Amount

If you were married or living common-law on December 31, 2018, enter your spouse or common-law partner information in the “Step 1: Information about your spouse or common-law partner” field on page 1 of your return.

Even if your marital status has changed, you need to report your spouse’s or common-law partner’s net income in certain circumstances.

If you immigrated to or emigrated from Canada during the tax year or were bankrupt during the tax year, special rules apply to your claim for this amount. Contact the CRA for further information on these guidelines.

Tip on Taxes

You may be able to lower your tax.

• if you disclose all of your spouse’s or common-law partner’s dividends
• if you can’t claim the amount on line 303 (or need to lower your claim) due to the dividends earned by your spouse or common-law partner from taxable Canadian firms

For reference, Line 120 – Taxable amount of dividends (non-eligible and eligible) from taxable Canadian corporations for further details.

Net Income: Yours and Your Spouse/Common-law Partner’s

This would be the amount on line 236 of your spouse’s or common-law partner’s return, or the amount if they filed one.

Use your spouse’s or common-law partner’s annual net income if you were married or in a common-law relationship on December 31, 2018. This is true even if you married or remarried in 2018, went into a common-law partnership, or remarried in 2018.

Lower your claim by only your spouse or common-law partner’s net income before the separation if you split in 2018 because of a relationship breakdown and were not back together by December 31, 2018.

Even if the amount you used to calculate your claim is 0 in all situations, enter it in the “Step 1: Information about your spouse or common-law partner” field on page 1 of your return.

How Do I Claim the Amount?

To calculate your claim:

Fill out the necessary sections of Schedule 5, Amounts for Spouse or Common-Law Partner and Dependents, and attach a copy to your return. Both of you cannot claim this sum in the same year.

What If You Paid Spouse Support?

You have an option if you were separated for only part of 2018 due to a breakdown in your relationship and made support payments to your former or current spouse or common-law partner. You can claim the deductible support amounts paid to your spouse or common-law partner on line 220 of your return or an amount on line 303 of your Schedule 1, Federal Tax, whichever is better for you.

You could claim an amount on line 303 of your Schedule 1 and any permissible sums on line 326 if you reconciled with your spouse or common-law partner before 2018.

Making a Claim for the Canada Caregiver Amount

If your spouse or common-law partner has a physical or mental impairment, you may be able to claim an amount of $2,182 in the calculation of line 303.

The net income of your spouse or common-law partner must be less than $13,991 to claim the Canada caregiver amount.

To calculate your claim for line 303, fill out the appropriate section of Schedule 5, Amounts for Spouse or Common-Law Partner and Dependents.

On line 304, you can claim up to $6,986 in additional expenses.

Conclusion

The spouse or common-law partner amount is an amazing benefit provided by the government. From the discussion above, you hopefully have a much better understanding of how it works and can make rightful claims.

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