6 Of The Weirdest Things You Can Claim On Your Canada Federal Tax Return This Year
If you're a volunteer firefighter who smokes medical weed, there's good news ahead!
Montreal firefighters stand in front of a truck. Right: A sign at the National Headquarters of the Canada Revenue Agency.
Claiming anything and everything on your federal taxes used to be the turf of the elite only, but thanks to some weird, technical and very specific rules, you too can claim some extra stuff on your return this year — if you're lucky. For those of you with medical cannabis or vitamin B12 prescriptions, a little tax relief is coming your way.
If none of these apply to you (lol sucks to suck), just check out the most common benefits and see what windfalls may be coming your way this April.
Vitamin B12...
...but only if your doctor prescribed it. Yes, specifically B12. No other vitamins or supplements are eligible to be claimed, even if they're prescribed to you directly, which is quite mysterious. For those with pernicious anemia, it's quite useful!
Cannabis...
...but only if it's medical. Medical cannabis, if properly prescribed and purchased according to Canada's Cannabis Regulations, is eligible to be deducted from your taxes! Your weeknight toke is definitely not, though, so don't even think about it.
Housing costs...
...for members of the clergy. It's somewhat complicated, but if you were in charge of or ministering to a diocese, parish or congregation, you're allowed to claim your housing costs on your taxes.
Digital news subscriptions...
...but only if they are for qualified Canadian journalism organizations (QCJO). You can claim up to $500 in qualifying subscription expenses, and the maximum credit is calculated by multiplying the amount you paid by 15%. If you split a subscription with someone else, you can split the total credit between you. Netflix could never.
Firefighting or search-and-rescuing...
...but only if it's volunteering. You can claim a total of $3,000 for either the volunteer firefighters' amount (VFA) or the search and rescue volunteers' amount (SRVA), but not both. You also have to have completed at least 200 hours of eligible volunteering at either service, so if you haven't done any yet but you want to claim the credit, you'd best get moving!
Your labour...
...but only if you're an eligible journalist at a qualified media organization. Sorry guys, this one's for me.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
