About the digital news subscription tax credit
Status: Closed
The digital news subscription tax credit was a non-refundable tax credit for amounts paid by individuals to a qualified Canadian journalism organization (QCJO) for qualifying subscription expenses during tax years 2020 to 2024 only. It is not available for tax year 2025 onwards.
After the digital news subscription tax credit ends
Individuals who paid qualifying subscription expenses during 2020 to 2024, and have not yet claimed the credit, can still claim the credit for amounts paid during that period.
Qualifying subscription expense
A qualifying subscription expense was the amount a subscriber paid in the year for a digital news subscription with a QCJO that did not hold a licence as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Broadcasting Act. To qualify for the credit, a digital news subscription had to entitle an individual to access content in digital form that was primarily written news.
How could a QCJO request a determination of eligible subscription(s)
A QCJO can complete and submit Form T622, Digital News Subscription Tax Credit – Eligible Subscription to request confirmation that the subscriptions it offered were eligible as qualifying subscriptions. Eligible subscription names will continue to be published on CRA's List of qualifying digital news subscriptions (List).
Organizations may submit Form T622 with an application for designation as a QCJO or at a later date.
For more information on applying for QCJO designation, go to Supporting Canadian Journalism.
Organizations whose subscriptions ceased to qualify for the credit during the 2020 to 2024 calendar years were required to inform their subscribers.
How individuals can claim the digital news subscription tax credit for the 2020 to 2024 tax years
Individuals who entered into an agreement with a QCJO for a qualifying subscription that was eligible can claim the credit on Line 31350 of their T1 Income Tax and Benefit Return for the years 2020 to 2024.
Some organizations may have offered a subscription that qualified for the digital news subscription tax credit, but may have not requested a determination from the CRA. Those eligible qualifying subscriptions are not posted on the List. You should contact the organization that offered the digital subscription for more information if the name is not on this list.
The maximum credit was calculated by:
- multiplying the lowest personal income tax rate (15%) by the total of all amounts paid by the individual for qualifying subscription expenses in the year up to $500.
Only the individual(s) who entered into the agreement could claim the credit:
- if more than one individual was entitled to claim the qualifying subscription expense for a year (i.e. spouses, roommates, etc.), the total amount could be split between them provided that the total amount claimed was not more than the maximum amount that would be allowed if only one of them made the claim.
If the qualifying subscription was eligible and provided access to content in non-digital form or content other than content of the QCJO:
- only the cost of a stand-alone digital subscription to the content of the QCJO was an eligible expense; and
- if there was no stand-alone subscription, the amount was limited to the cost of a comparable stand-alone digital subscription that provided access to content of a QCJO. If there was no comparable digital news subscription then only one half of the amount paid was an eligible expense.
Subscribers should keep all their receipts in case the CRA asks to see them at a later date.
For more information on the digital news subscription tax credit criteria, go to Guidance on the income tax measures to support journalism.
If you have additional questions about the digital news subscription tax credit, please send an inquiry through our webform.