Widow - Eligible Dependant

Tax Topics
1

Hi ProTax Community!
I have a client who became widowed in the 2023 tax year (July 2023).
Her and her deceased spouse have two children. My question is regarding the eligible dependant credit.
Eligible Dependant can be claimed if at any time in the year, you met all the following conditions:

  • You did not have a spouse or common-law partner or, if you did, you were not living with them, supporting them or being supported by them
  • You supported the dependant in 2023
  • You lived with the dependant (in most cases in Canada) in a home you maintained. You cannot claim this amount for a person who was only visiting you.
    After her husband passed she meets all the conditions outlined above. Does anyone disagree with claiming the eligible dependant for one child- based on these facts that I have presented?
2

On Dec 31, 2023 her marital status was a widow and she should claim an equivalent to spouse on the 2023 return.

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3

Thank you for your response.

4

Is she claiming the spousal deduction (line 30300) as well as the eligible dependant deduction (line 30400)? If so, you should pro-rate each of them to reflect the portion of the year they apply. Be prepared - CRA will probably ask for an explanation and supporting documents, or possibly just deny the eligible dependant deduction - in which case you’ll have to object to the assessment before they will listen to your explanation.

5

There is no claim for the spousal deduction. Spouse worked up until he passed suddenly.

6

I have a similar case to this. Spouse died in Nov. 2024. They have children under 19 year of age living at home. Deceased spouse worked until date of death, so there is no spousal transfers on Line 30300 from Schedule 5.

I can’t find any references suggesting to prorate the Eligible Dependant credit claim from date of spouses death to Dec. 31st (remainder of the year claim only), as @Nezzer suggested. TaxCycle clearly is not paying attention to prorating it. TaxCycle only pays attention to deducting the Eligible Dependant’s income from the Basic Personal Amount. Does that make this correct? Should we be prorating the Eligible Dependant claim from Date of spouses death to the end of year only?

7

There are no references to prorating the Eligible Dependant claim because you don’t prorate the claim. Your client needs to meet the criteria “at any time during the year” to be able to make the full claim… reduced by the dependant’s income for the year.

It seems your client would meet the criteria between November and December of 2024

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8

The dependent credit is not prorated. It’s all or nothing. If you qualify for it - even for a single day during the year - you get the full amount. It’s a badly-designed provision of the Act, but that’s how it works.

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9

I appreciate the clarifications. Thank you.