The March 22, 2017 federal Budget has eliminated the 15% credit for buying public transit passes.
This move was expected, as the Liberal government is doing away with a number of the tax credits introduced by the Conservatives during their 10 years in power.
However, what was not expected was the timing of the elimination of the credit. Some taxpayers who were expecting the credit to be cancelled may have stocked up on passes ahead of the federal Budget, thinking that as long as they bought the passes before the Budget announcement, the credit would be available.
Unfortunately for those taxpayers, the credit is eliminated where the use of the pass is after June 2017. Thus, any passes bought ahead of time but not used before July 1 will not generate the credit on a taxpayer’s 2017 income tax return.
