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Among the non-refundable credits individuals can claim on their personal tax return is the “amount for an eligible dependant,” formerly known as the “equivalent-to-spouse” amount. The credit is available to a taxpayer who does not have a spouse or partner, but who lives with a dependent parent or grandparent, child, grandchild, brother or sister who is either under the age of 18 or is wholly dependent on the taxpayer due to a physical or mental disability.

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For 2026, the dependant amount is $16,452, which at the federal 14 per cent non-refundable tax credit rate is worth $2,303. A parallel provincial credit is also available and its value depends on which province you live in. The credit amount is reduced dollar-for-dollar by the net income of the dependant, and may only be claimed once per household each year, by one individual. About one million taxpayers claimed this credit in 2021, the last year for which statistics are publicly available.

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For parents who are separated or divorced and still have minor children living at home, the entitlement to the credit can be complex, as it will depend on whether child support is being paid and to whom. Under the Income Tax Act, the credit cannot be claimed by a taxpayer who pays child support to their former spouse or partner. A recent case decided by the Tax Court in late August dealt specifically with this issue.

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A British Columbia couple had a son who was born in 2019. In 2022, their marriage broke down and they got a divorce, at which point the mother moved from the family home to Russia, along with her son. By May 2024, however, both the mother and her son had returned to Canada, and were back living “separate and apart” in the father’s home.

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According to a 2022 consent order issued by the Supreme Court of British Columbia, the father had agreed to pay child support and spousal support to his ex-wife. Based on his income of $120,000 and her income of zero, and on the basis that their son primarily resided with the mother, the father was required to pay child support of $1,113, and spousal support of $2,632, each month from November 1, 2022, onwards, with no set end date.

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On the father’s 2024 tax return, he claimed $15,705 (the 2024 amount) as an amount for an eligible dependant. This was denied by the Canada Revenue Agency since, under the Income Tax Act, no credit is available to a parent who is required to pay support to the other parent.

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The father testified in court and claimed that in consideration for his ex-wife and their son returning to Canada, he would provide them with their material needs “in kind” and would, therefore, stop paying the child support and spousal support as required by the consent order.

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According to the father, this new arrangement “superseded and replaced his obligation to pay child support and spousal support as set out in the Consent Order.” He argued that one of the stated premises underlying the support provisions of the order, namely that the child was primarily residing with his mother, no longer held true as of mid-2024. Although technically still in effect, the support provisions of the order were therefore “obsolete and irrelevant by mid-2024,” and thus the court should conclude that he was no longer “required to pay a support amount” to his ex-wife in respect of the child.