Schedule 11: Tuition tax credit

Schedule 11 is used by students to:

To complete this form, use the information on the tax certificate you received from your educational institution (T2202A, TL11A, TL11B, or TL11C). 

You can also claim fees paid to an educational institution to take an occupational, trade, or professional exam to obtain a license or certification as a tradesperson or a professional status, as long as you have the receipt.

Important: Starting in 2017, the range of courses that qualify for the Tuition tax credit will expand to include certain occupational skills courses (such as training in a second language or in basic literacy and numeracy to improve job skills) that are taken at a post-secondary institution in Canada, and will allow the full amount of bursaries received for such courses to qualify for the scholarship exemption (where conditions are met). For more information, refer to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website.

I didn’t pay any income tax in 2017. Do I still need to complete Schedule 11?

Yes. You should complete Schedule 11 even if you don’t have to pay income tax in 2017. Doing so allows the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to update their records on the credit amount that you can carry forward to future years. 

Claiming the corresponding provincial tax credit

If you’re eligible to claim the federal amount, you’re also entitled to claim a corresponding provincial or territorial tax credit. Fortunately, H&R Block’s tax software automatically completes your federal and provincial Schedule 11 forms for you (except if you’re a resident of Québec) based on the information you enter from your tax certificate. Refer to the applicable link below to learn more about your provincial/territorial tuition tax credit:

Residents of Québec

If you’re a resident of Québec, you’ll also need to complete Schedule T to calculate Tuition or Examination fees tax credit. As with Schedule 11, you can use Schedule T to determine the credit amount that you can carry forward to a future year, or transfer to a family member. Schedule 11 and Schedule T are combined in H&R Block's tax software and you only need to enter information from your federal tax certificate (such as the T2202A) and your relevé 8 to claim this tax credit.

I have unused tuition or examination fees from one or more previous years. How do I know which tax credit rate will be applied on my Québec return?

The year in which you paid your unused eligible tuition or examination fees is used to determine the tax credit rate that can be applied to this year’s return.

If any of the following situations apply to you, your tuition and examination fee tax credit rate will be 20%:

  • You paid eligible fees between 1997 and 2012
  • You paid for a semester of post-secondary studies that began before March 28, 2013
  • You paid fees to an educational institution that’s recognized by the Minister of Revenue for training other than that which is part of the post-secondary program in which you enrolled before March 29, 2013 and
  • You paid fees in 2013 for an exam you took before May 1, 2013

If, however, the fees you paid doesn’t match the criteria listed above or if it was paid in 2014, 2015, or 2016, your tax credit rate will be 8%.

In either case, you can refer to your 2016 Québec notice of assessment (NOA) for a detailed breakdown of these amounts.

Where do I claim this?

Claiming your tuition tax credit

Important: To claim your tuition tax credit, enter the information from your tax certificate (and relevé 8, if applicable) into H&R Block’s tax software. The software will automatically complete Schedule 11 (and Schedule T, if applicable) for you.

Follow these steps in H&R Block’s 2017 tax software:

  1. Under the QUICK ENTRY tab, click the QUICK SLIP icon. You'll find yourself here:

    QUICKSLIP_EN.png

  2. Type the name of the tax certificate you received (such as T2202A, TL11A, RL-8 etc.) in the search field and either click the highlighted selection or press Enter to continue.

  3. When you arrive at the page for your tax certificate, enter your information into the tax software.

Note:  If you paid examination fees in 2017, enter the amount in Box A of a new T2202A.

Claiming your unused tuition tax credit carried forward from a previous year

To claim your unused tuition tax credit that you carried forward from a previous year, follow these steps in H&R Block’s tax software:

  1. Under the PREPARE tab, click the IN THIS SECTION icon.

  2. Under Unused tuition amounts you carried forward from a previous year, interest paid on a student loan, and money received for school (a scholarship, grant, etc.), click the Add This button.
     
  3. Click the STUDENTS icon, and under the CREDIT AMOUNTS section, click the checkbox labelled Tuition or examination fees carried forward from a previous year.

  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Continue.

  5. When you arrive at the page for your Tuition or examination fees carried forward from a previous year, enter your information into the tax software.  

Transferring your unused tuition tax credit 

To transfer your unused tuition tax credit amount, follow these steps in H&R Block’s tax software:

  1. Under the WRAP-UP tab, click the OPTIMIZATION icon.

  2.  On the Education transfers page, select Yes in response to the question You have tuition amounts available to transfer. Do you want to transfer these amounts to someone else?.

  3. Select the person to whom you want to transfer the amount to and if you aren’t transferring the full credit amount, enter the amount you want to transfer.
Back to Top