Tax deadline is coming up.. and I don't suppose many people on here are tax experts but I thought I'd ask:

Which of our supplementary fees can count as charitable deductions in terms of filing for taxes:

I know the MACLAB Fund (The Eng Endowment Fund) is eligible.... but are any of the following deductible: ?

OPIRG
McMaster Solar Car
MSU Refugee Fee

244 views later...


and I guess no one knows..?


I would appreciate some responses.. even if you guys don't know.. like a "beats me" or a "hell if I know" would be mildly helpful.

no idea. sorry! the msu office might know? or someone from the student accounts or whoever charges us? I'm not too helpful, sorry!

If I recall the refugee fee is less than $5 a year, so I really don't think so.

I'm not even sure who you could ask about this...as mentioned check with Student Accounts and Cashiers first. If they have no idea, email John McGowan, the MSU business manager.

Originally Posted by stevennevets

no idea. sorry! the msu office might know? or someone from the student accounts or whoever charges us? I'm not too helpful, sorry!

No problem.

Thanks for being the first one to reply!

Originally Posted by lorend

If I recall the refugee fee is less than $5 a year, so I really don't think so.

I'm not even sure who you could ask about this...as mentioned check with Student Accounts and Cashiers first. If they have no idea, email John McGowan, the MSU business manager.

Yeah, I realize the refugee fee is a buck and change.. and the other 2 are insignificant amounts as well.. But I'm too much of a perfectionist and try to have everything on my tax return as I can

the engineering one is, and i try to claim it, but using the free and awsome CuteTax.ca adding it to my taxes does not increase my return (probably depends on your situation), but i beleive it said something about it wasteing some kind of tax credit....

my $0.02
-Kevin

You would have received a receipt for anything that was deductible. Most of those charity fees are negligible and wouldn't affect your taxes anyways. MACLAB is the only one I've ever claimed.

Originally Posted by kevinf

the engineering one is, and i try to claim it, but using the free and awsome CuteTax.ca adding it to my taxes does not increase my return (probably depends on your situation), but i beleive it said something about it wasteing some kind of tax credit....

my $0.02
-Kevin

Originally Posted by DavidR

You would have received a receipt for anything that was deductible. Most of those charity fees are negligible and wouldn't affect your taxes anyways. MACLAB is the only one I've ever claimed.

You guys do realize that charitable deductions can be carried over to future years (e.g., to when we start earning full employment income), right?

Also, 4 years of it does add up a bit.. (Maybe you can get a Big Mac combo SUPERSIZED with the amount you get back )

Originally Posted by kevinf

the engineering one is, and i try to claim it, but using the free and awsome CuteTax.ca adding it to my taxes does not increase my return (probably depends on your situation), but i beleive it said something about it wasteing some kind of tax credit....

my $0.02
-Kevin

Charitable donations are a non-refundable tax credit, which means that they can only be used to reduce your tax to zero. But if you already have no tax to pay, they will not generate or increase your refund.

Originally Posted by myster

You guys do realize that charitable deductions can be carried over to future years (e.g., to when we start earning full employment income), right?

Also, 4 years of it does add up a bit.. (Maybe you can get a Big Mac combo SUPERSIZED with the amount you get back )

You are right, but you cannot hold on to them indefinetly. You must claim them in one of the following 5 years.

And, even though it is only a technicallity, I would like to point out that you do not 'carry over'- which would be to claim them now and then get the deduction in a later year. That would be a mistake since you can only claim once for a particular year. You would hold on to the receipts and then claim in one of the next years. (A year in which you have taxable income)

Please post back if you find out what can be claimed.

From: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/chrts/dn...u-eng.html#q11

11. Do I have to claim donations the same year that I make them?

No. You can carry forward any donations you do not claim in the current year and claim them on your return for any of the next five years, but you can only claim donations once. You have to claim tax credits for gifts you carried forward from a previous year before you claim tax credits for gifts in the current year. If you are claiming a carryforward, attach a note to your return indicating the year of the return in which you submitted the receipt, the portion of the eligible amount you are claiming this year, and the amount you are carrying forward.

Originally Posted by Nosferatu

You are right, but you cannot hold on to them indefinetly. You must claim them in one of the following 5 years.

And, even though it is only a technicallity, I would like to point out that you do not 'carry over'- which would be to claim them now and then get the deduction in a later year. That would be a mistake since you can only claim once for a particular year. You would hold on to the receipts and then claim in one of the next years. (A year in which you have taxable income)

Please post back if you find out what can be claimed.

You're right... as I posted it right after you by a couple of minutes.

You could report it on your 2008 tax return and technically, you can have it not claimed (hence why I said "carry over")