Are You Entitled to Universal Child Care Benefit?
The Universal Child Care Benefit is administered under the Canada Child Tax Benefit program and is paid to all families with eligible children, regardless of the family’s income level, to help cover the cost of child care.
Who can receive the Universal Child Care Benefit?
The applicant must be the primary caregiver of a child and a resident of Canada.
Enhanced benefit effective January 1, 2015
Effective from January 1, 2015, the Universal Child Care Benefit payment will be extended to children age 6 to 17 (currently only for children under age 6) at $60 per month and for children under age 6, the Universal Child Care Benefit payment is increased by $60 to $160 per month. The enhanced Universal Child Care Benefit will replace the existing Child Tax Credit for the 2015 and subsequent taxation years.
Eligible families will begin to receive payments under the enhanced Universal Child Care Benefit in July 2015. The July Universal Child Care Benefit payment will include up to six months of benefits to cover the period from January through June 2015.
Families will be able to apply for the Universal Child Care Benefit by submitting a completed application form to the CRA. Persons who apply late may receive up to 11 months of retroactive payments, plus a payment for the month in which the application was received.
Tax treatments of Universal Child Care Benefit
The Universal Child Care Benefit will be taxable in the hands of the spouse or common-law partner with the lower income. However, the Universal Child Care Benefit payments will not be taken into account for the purpose of calculating income-tested tax benefits.
Single parents have the option of including the total Universal Child Care Benefit in the income of the child for whom the Universal Child Care Benefit is received or, if applicable, in the income of the dependent for whom they claim the eligible dependent credit.
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The information in this article is general in nature and does not constitute professional advice. We recommend that you obtain the appropriate professional advice before acting on any of the information contained herein.
