Requirements for Claiming the Tax Credit for Childcare Expenses
You may be entitled to the refundable tax credit for childcare expenses for the current taxation year if all of the following requirements are met:
- You were resident in Québec on December 31, or you were resident in Canada, outside Québec, on December 31, and carried on a business in Québec during the year.
- The childcare expenses were incurred while you or your spouse on December 31, was in any of the following situations:
- carrying out the duties of an office or employment
- actively carrying on a business
- practising a profession
- carrying out research under a grant
- actively seeking employment
- attending a secondary school or taking a course at a qualifying educational institution full time (that is, you or your spouse was enrolled in an educational program of at least three consecutive weeks, in which students must devote at least 10 hours per week to courses or assignments related to the program)
- attending a secondary school or taking a course at a qualifying educational institution part time (that is, you or your spouse was enrolled in an educational program of at least three consecutive weeks, in which students must devote at least 12 hours per month to courses related to the program)
- receiving benefits under the Québec parental insurance plan (QPIP) or benefits related to a birth or adoption under the Employment Insurance plan
- You or your spouse on December 31 paid the expenses for the care of an eligible child to an individual, a daycare centre, a holiday and recreation centre, a camp or a boarding school, and the child was living with you (or with your spouse on December 31) at the time the expenses were incurred.
- The childcare services were provided in Canada by a person resident in Canada, unless you were living outside Canada temporarily.
Online and correspondence courses (by mail or Internet)
You can take courses offered by a qualified educational institution at a distance without any virtual presence at a fixed time or interaction with the professor or the class being required. However, presence (either physical or virtual) will remain mandatory for courses offered by a secondary school.
Eligible child
To be recognized as an eligible child for the current taxation year, the child must meet one of the following conditions:
- He or she was 16 or under at some point in the year.
- He or she had an infirmity and was your or your spouse's dependant (regardless of his or her age).
An eligible child can be:
- your or your spouse's child; or
- a child who was your or your spouse's dependant and whose income for the year was not more than $11,081.
The child's income is the amount on line 275 of his or her return (or the amount that he or she would have entered on line 275 if he or she had filed a return).