International students and tuition tax credits

[nuksyed]

Hi, I was told to post in this section for tax advice. Below is my question:

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!


Also I will add that I was checking my TD1 form that I submitted when I started work. I checked "Non-Resident" box thinking that since I am an international student, I would be a non-resident. I later realised I was wrong and filled out a new TD1 form for my company. Could this have affected my tax return and is it a really big problem that I filled out the tax return form wrong? I will call up CRA tomorrow.

 

[Rosie1957]

None of what you're saying Block told you sounds correct to me. First off, there is a cap on how much of your tuitiona and education credits you can *transfer* to a parent, grandparent or spouse each year, but there is no pre-set cap on how much you can apply to your own return. In fact, you're *required* to apply enough credits to your return to bring your taxes to zero, assuming that you had sufficient credits to do so in the first place, which it certainly sounds as if you did.

Re: using the credits from 2008-2011, did you have a different SIN for those years? People who are in Canada on student or work visas and who then become permanent residents are usually assigned a new SIN to go with their PR status. Call the CRA and ask them what your tuition and education carry-forward figures are. If the figures sound low, ask them to check your old SIN and then ask if the carry forward can be transferred from your old SIN to your new SIN.

Your TD1 is *not* submitted to the CRA. It's used by your employer to calculate how much they should be withholding in federal and provincial taxes. Filling it out incorrectly may result in a nasty surprise for you come tax time (if the amount withheld was grossly insufficient), but it wouldn't affect the situation with your tuition/education carry forward.

 

[nuksyed]

None of what you're saying Block told you sounds correct to me. First off, there is a cap on how much of your tuitiona and education credits you can *transfer* to a parent, grandparent or spouse each year, but there is no pre-set cap on how much you can apply to your own return. In fact, you're *required* to apply enough credits to your return to bring your taxes to zero, assuming that you had sufficient credits to do so in the first place, which it certainly sounds as if you did.

Re: using the credits from 2008-2011, did you have a different SIN for those years? People who are in Canada on student or work visas and who then become permanent residents are usually assigned a new SIN to go with their PR status. Call the CRA and ask them what your tuition and education carry-forward figures are. If the figures sound low, ask them to check your old SIN and then ask if the carry forward can be transferred from your old SIN to your new SIN.

Your TD1 is *not* submitted to the CRA. It's used by your employer to calculate how much they should be withholding in federal and provincial taxes. Filling it out incorrectly may result in a nasty surprise for you come tax time (if the amount withheld was grossly insufficient), but it wouldn't affect the situation with your tuition/education carry forward.

Haha, I did get a nasty surprise, twice, however I was able to pay those surprises off.

I am still an international student, so my SIN has been the same even though I renewed it once since May 2012. I don't know how HR Block cant figure out what's going on.

 

[jes_ON]

... 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 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??
Thanks!

Sorry, this may be a silly question, but did you actually file returns for 2008-2011? It's not clear that you did, from what you wrote. To be able to use those credits, you'd have had to submit returns for those years (even if you didn't have any income).