Are you a parent living in British Columbia? Did you know that new tax credits in BC encourage children’s participation in arts and sports? BC families can now claim up to $500 – per child, per year – in eligible expenses for sports and arts programs outside the school system.
These tax credits go hand-in-hand with similar credits offered by the federal government, and have the same rules regarding expenses and eligibility.
The Children’s Fitness Credit is a non-refundable tax credit of 5.06 per cent of eligible expenditures up to $500 for each child, providing a benefit of up to $25 per child.
The Children’s Arts Credit is a non-refundable tax credit of 5.06 per cent of eligible expenditures up to $500 for each child, providing a benefit of up to $25 per child.
For both the Children’s Fitness Credit and the Children’s Arts Credit, eligible expenditures are those that qualify for the federal children’s fitness and arts credits.
This means a family with three children can claim up to $1,500 a year, assuming each child is involved in a sports or arts program outside the school system.
The bottom-line annual benefit, which you get when you file your income tax return, is up to $25 per child, per credit.
I didn’t know about them and I definitively claiming these new tax credits when I file my income tax return this year. I really think it’s wonderful that our government encourages active participation of children in arts and sports.
Click here to learn more about the Fitness and Arts Tax Credit and visit www.bcjobsplan.ca to learn about other tax credits and incentives from the BC Job Plan, including first time home buyer bonuses, seniors home renovation tax credits and opportunities for small businesses.
Stay connected:
www.facebook.com/bcjobsandeconomy
www.twitter.com/bcgovnews
Twitter Hashtag: #bcjobsplan
http://youtu.be/9HYwGyO2HcQ
Disclosure: This is a compensated sponsored post.
10 Comments on “Fitness and Arts Tax Credits – BC Job Plan”
That is so cool. We live in Ontario. Hopefully funding like that comes here because extracurricular activities get extremely expensive.
Nice to get anything back from the government of course, but funny how they make 5% (or 10% here in Ontario, where we’ve had a similar credit since 2010) seem like an incentive… $25 per kid is hardly going to make a year of extra-curriculars more affordable to those who need the credit.
I wish they had this when my kids were growing up. Everything helps and it does encourage participation
I didn’t realize they had a tax credit in British Columbia for this with kids. I guess every little bit helps, right?
Thanks for the information. I sort of knew this existed but did not know the details.
That’s nice that BC parent’s can claim up to $500 per child per year in eligible expenses for sports and art programs outside the school system. I wonder do they have something like this for the kids within the US. Now a days everything is so expensive and every little bit counts. Thanks for sharing.
It’s great that there is a bit of help, but it seems that more needs to be done to help out parents who really can’t afford a long-term sport or art activity. It’s a good beginning; let’s hope the gov’t keeps moving in the same direction.
This is great to hear! I will make sure to look into it more – every little bit helps!
WOW! THIS is a great thing! Here in the US, it’s gotten so that parents can’t even afford to let their kids participate in sports as so many school districts have made funding cuts to programs like sports and fine arts programs like music, so that in SOME places band and orchestra does not even exist. The rising cost of allowing one to let their child play in a school sports program is outrageous — upwards of around $300 usually…. Leave it to Canada to find a way to encourage kids to be active and better themselves! AWESOME!!
Extra activities are so expensive.