2020 Personal Income Tax updates

T185 - Electronic Filing of a Pre-Authorized Debit Agreement

This new form is to be completed and signed by taxpayers who wish to electronically file a pre-authorized request for the Canada Revenue Agency to withdraw a one-time payment for their Income Tax and Benefit Return.

The electronic filer must retain a signed copy of this form for their records before filing the pre-authorized debit request. The T185 populates from information that is entered on form T1PAD, Pre-Authorized Debits.

T4 Slip

The T4 slip contains new codes relating to the employment income in Box 14. However, these new codes are for information purposes only. These codes are not required to be reported on the T1 return:

• Code 57: Employment income – March 15 to May 9
• Code 58: Employment income – May 10 to July 4
• Code 59: Employment income – July 5 to August 29
• Code 60: Employment income – August 30 to September 26

T4A Slip

For the tax year 2020, the T4A slip contains new input boxes to report COVID-19 related benefits, which are included at Line 13000:

• Box 197, Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)
• Box 198, Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB)
• Box 199, Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) for eligible students with disabilities or those with children or other dependents
• Box 200, Provincial/Territorial COVID-19 financial assistance payments
• Box 202, Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB)
• Box 203, Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB)
• Box 204, Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB)

For taxpayers who are Status Indians, boxes 197, 200, 202, 203 and 204 may be tax-exempt, and should be reported on the form T90.

Box 202 Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) is included in the calculation of the social benefits repayment at Line 23500.

T1 Income Tax and Benefit Return

The order of the form has been modified so that the federal tax brackets now appear before the section for non-refundable credits.

Basic Personal Amount, line 30000

The basic personal amount for 2020 is a calculated amount based on net income (including split income). The maximum basic personal amount is increased from $12,298 to $13,229 for individuals with a net income of $150,473 or less. The increase is gradually reduced for individuals with net income between $150,473 and $214,368.

Digital news subscription tax credit, line 31350

The digital news subscription tax credit is a non-refundable tax credit for amounts paid to a Qualified Canadian Journalism Organization (QCJO)  that is primarily engaged in the production of original written news content. The maximum amount of qualifying subscription expenses that can be claimed in the year is $500.

Canada Training Credit (CTC), line 45350

 Individuals who are aged 26 to 65 and resident throughout the year may be able to claim this refundable tax credit for eligible tuition and other fees paid for courses taken in 2020. The credit is the lesser of the individual’s Canada training credit limit for the taxation year, and 50% of the eligible tuition and fees paid to an eligible educational institution.

To claim this credit, enter the eligible tuition fees on T2202 and complete Schedule 11.

Canadian journalism labour tax credit, line 47555

The Canadian journalism labour tax credit is a refundable tax credit that is available at a rate of 25% of the total qualifying labour expenditure for a taxation year, in respect of an eligible newsroom employee of a qualifying journalism organization, less any amount received from the Aid to Publishers component of the Canada Periodical Fund (Aid to Publishers) in the year. The  amount of this credit is entered from box 236 of the T5013 slip.

Schedule 5

The spouse or common-law partner amount (line 30300) and the amount for an eligible dependant (line 30400) have been increased from $12,298 to $13,229 for taxpayers with net income of $150,473 or less. Similar to the basic personal amount, the increase is gradually reduced for individuals with net income between $150,473 and $214,368.

Schedule 11 - Canada training credit (CTC)

The CTC will be calculated for individuals who are aged 26 to 65, who are residents of Canada throughout 2020. On Schedule 11, enter the taxpayer’s Canada training credit limit from the taxpayer’s 2019 notice of assessment. The credit will be calculated as the lesser of 50% of the eligible tuition fees from T2202 and the training credit limit. For 2020, the maximum training credit limit is $250.

 Provincial 428 Forms

The order of the form has been modified so that the provincial tax brackets now appear before the section for non-refundable credits.

MB479 - Seniors Economic Recovery Tax Credit, line 61271 and 61272

Taxpayers would have already received a $200 advance payment of this credit by mail in May or June 2020, if they were at least 63 years old in 2018, resident of Manitoba and filed a 2018 income tax return.

Manitoba residents aged 65 or older in 2020, who did not receive an advance payment, can claim the $200 credit at line 61271 of their 2020 income tax return.

The taxpayer can claim the spouse’s credit at line 61272 if they have a qualifying spouse who did not receive the advance payment.

Why is a ProFile form displaying a "Draft" watermark?

ProFile users may encounter forms that are in “Draft” mode and displaying a watermark.

The watermark means that the form has not yet been approved by CRA for the upcoming tax year and cannot be filed (via paper or electronically).

Why isn’t the form approved yet?

Tax software providers receive staged CRA approvals throughout the year for the various T1 module forms.

For example, multi-jurisdictional forms typically come out of draft in later tax year releases, where other forms typically come out of draft earlier in tax year releases.

How will I know when the form is approved?

Intuit includes any approved forms in a software release as soon as possible following CRA approval. The What’s New notes for each release details a list of any CRA-approved forms included.

We recommend clicking Online > Check for Updates... in the top ProFile menu bar regularly throughout the tax season to ensure that you are using the latest ProFile version.