ARCHIVED - General Income Tax and Benefit Guide - 2000

Goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) credit application

To receive this credit, you have to apply for it, even if you received it last year. Complete the application area on page 1 of your return for 2000. Your credit is based on your net income added to the net income of your spouse, if you have one (see the definition on this page) as well as the number of children you have. Net income is the amount on line 236 of a person's return, or the amount that it would be if the person filed a return.

Be sure to enter, in the Identification area on page 1 of your return, your marital status and, if you have a spouse, his or her social insurance number. Otherwise, your application may be delayed. Either you or your spouse can receive the credit, but not both. No matter which one of you applies, the credit will be the same. This information also is used to calculate any payments from certain related provincial or territorial programs.

If you apply for this credit, we will let you know in July of 2001 how much you will receive, if any, and how we calculated it. Generally, we will make payments in July and October of 2001, and January and April of 2002. However, if your total credit for the year is less than $100, we will pay all of it in July of 2001 (or when you become eligible to receive it). To find out how we calculate this credit, use our T.I.P.S. (Info-Tax) services. See the T.I.P.S. information inside the back cover.

Notes
To be eligible to receive a GST/HST credit for a particular month, you have to be resident in Canada at the beginning of that month.

Under proposed changes, we will be able to adjust your credit after you advise us of changes to your family situation, such as when you have another child or separate from your spouse.

We may apply your credit against certain amounts you owe the Government of Canada or a province or territory. We list these amounts under "Line 484 - Refund".

Who can apply?

You can apply to receive the GST/HST credit if, at the end of 2000, you were resident in Canada and any of the following applied. You:

• were 19 years of age or older;
• had a spouse; or
• were a parent.

You cannot apply if, at the end of 2000, you either:

• were confined to a prison or a similar institution, and had been there for more than six months during 2000; or
• did not have to pay tax in Canada because you were an officer or servant of another country, such as a diplomat, or a family member or employee of such a person.

Note
You cannot claim the credit for your spouse or child who met either of these conditions at the end of 2000.

Number of children

Only one person can claim a GST/HST credit for a particular child. You can claim it for each of your children to whom all of the following applied at the end of 2000. He or she:

• was under 19 years of age;
• did not have a spouse;
• was not a parent; and
• either lived with you, or was claimed as a dependant by either you or your spouse.

What happens when a person turns 19?

Under proposed changes, starting in July of 2001, a person will be able to receive the GST/HST credit the next time we make a payment after he or she turns 19, as long as he or she has filed a return for the appropriate year. For example, a person who qualifies and turns 19 in August of 2001 could receive the GST/HST credit starting with the payment in October of 2001, as long as he or she filed a return for 2000 and applied for the credit on that return.

Note
If one of the person's parents was receiving the GST/HST credit for that person, the amount of the parent's credit will be reduced beginning with the payment in October of 2001.

Do you need to contact us?

Once you have applied for this credit, you have to advise us immediately of any of the following changes (as well as the date it happened or will happen):

• you move (or your payments may be interrupted, whether you receive them by direct deposit (see page 42) or by cheque);
• there is a change in the number of children for whom you can claim the credit;
• your marital status changes;
• you have your payments deposited directly into your account at a financial institution, and your banking information changes; or
• you are no longer resident in Canada.

For more information, call 1-800-959-1953.