The Senior Assistance Tax Credit is a refundable tax credit paid to eligible individuals who are 70 or over.
It can be paid automatically to eligible individuals who have filed their income tax return, even if they have not claimed it.
To find out how much you are entitled to receive, calculate and claim it in your income tax return.
If both spouses are eligible, the tax credit can be split between them.
Clientele
Anyone who was 70 or older on December 31 of the tax year concerned (or, for a deceased person who died that year, 70 or older at the time of death).
Requirements
To be eligible for the tax credit, your situation must be as follows on December 31 of the tax year concerned:
- you resided in Québec
- you or your spouse on December 31 were:
- a Canadian citizen, or
- a permanent resident, or a protected person within the meaning of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, or
- a temporary resident, or the holder of a temporary resident permit, within the meaning of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, who had been living in Canada for 18 months
A deceased person who died during the tax year concerned is eligible for the tax credit if both of the above requirements were met at the time of death.
Spouse on December 31
A person is considered to be someone’s spouse on December 31 if he or she was in one of the following situations on that date:
- At the end of December 31 they were not living apart due to the breakdown of their relationship.
- They were separated on December 31, but had only been separated for less than 90 days.
- The person died that year, and at the time of death the couple had not been living apart for 90 days or more due to the breakdown of their relationship. This situation only applies if the survivor did not have a new spouse on December 31 of the year of death.
Persons Who Are Not Eligible
You are not eligible if you were in one of the following situations on December 31 of the tax year concerned:
- you were confined to a prison or similar institution, for one or more periods totalling more than 6 months of that year; or
- you or your spouse on December 31 were exempt from income tax
Maximum Family Income
You are not entitled to the tax credit if your family income was greater than or equal to:
- $44,600 if you had a spouse on December 31 and the spouse is also entitled to the tax credit
- $40,600 if you had a spouse on December 31, but only 1 of you is entitled to the tax credit
- $26,500 if you did not have a spouse on December 31
The maximum amount of the credit for the year is:
- $400 if you had a spouse on December 31 and the spouse is also entitled to the tax credit
- $200 if you had a spouse on December 31, but only 1 of you is entitled to the tax credit
- $200 if you did not have a spouse on December 31
The tax credit is reduced by 5% of the part of your family income that is over:
- $36,600 if you had a spouse on December 31
- $22,500 if you did not have a spouse on December 31
Family income means the total of your income and that of your spouse, if any, on December 31.
