International students and tuition tax credits

[nuksyed]

Hi,
So I have been a student in Alberta since 2008. I did internship from May 2012 to August 2013 and worked part time till the end of 2013.
I went to file taxes for the first time at H&R block and I was told to submit all my T2202A since 2008. So I did that for every year to carry forward the tuition credits and filed my T4 for 2013. I was told to pay CRA a certain amount because there was a cap on how much tuition credits I could use in one year.
I went again this year with my new T4 and T2202A and apparantly, I am not able to use up the tution credits from 2008-2011 because I was a "non resident without canadian income until 2012". So basically, I owe the government again this year.

I was under the impression that because I was an international student, I was considered a resident and my tax tuition credits should be valid for use??
My friends claim they can use up all their credits from when they started.

Can anyone enlighten my on what I am missing here? and what to do next?

Thanks!

 

[itstime]

Did you work during your studies?

 

[nuksyed]

Did you work during your studies?

Worked from 2012 may to 2013 December only. Did part time studying from 2012 Sept to 2013 May and full time from 2013 Sept till 2014 May.

 

[itstime]

From my understanding your not a resident until you start filing taxes and/or have a SIN. You should have a chat with an accountant or maybe even a tax attorney. There is also a section on this forum regarding taxes. Maybe you could get some advice there.