Tax Tip Thursday

There are some new dental benefits available in 2023 for people! In fact, they are already available for the period beginning Oct 1 2022, so a little bit of good news for individuals.

I started putting this post together and realized there are a lot of details, so I will just run through some of the basics.

From the CRA Website

source: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/dental-benefit.html  

The interim Canada Dental Benefit is intended to help lower dental costs for eligible families earning less than $90,000 per year. Parents and guardians can apply if the child receiving dental care is under 12 years old and does not have access to a private dental insurance plan.

Depending on your adjusted family net income, a tax-free payment of $260, $390, or $650 is available for each eligible child. This interim dental benefit is only available for 2 periods. You can get a maximum of 2 payments for each eligible child. Benefit payments are administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

The first benefit period is for children under 12 years old as of December 1, 2022 who receive dental care between October 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023.

Who Can Apply

There are 2 benefit periods for the interim Canada Dental Benefit. The eligibility criteria is specific to the period when your child receives dental care. Check if you meet the criteria for each child you are applying for.

First Benefit Period Checklist

Period: October 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023

You must meet all of the following for each child you apply for:

• Your child was born on or after December 2, 2010 (under 12 years old as of December 1, 2022)
• Your child receives dental care services in Canada between October 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023
• Your child does not have access to a private dental insurance plan
• Your child’s dental costs are not fully covered by another dental program provided by any level of government
• You are a parent or caregiver receiving the CCB for your child as of December 1, 2022
• You and your spouse filed your 2021 taxes (or you don’t have a spouse)
• Your adjusted family net income is less than $90,000 in 2021

To be eligible for the Canada Dental Benefit, you must meet all of the above criteria for each child you apply for.

Verifying Your Eligibility

The CRA regularly checks to confirm if people were eligible for the payments they received. Don’t get caught on the wrong side of that!

If your application is selected for review, we may ask for more information to validate your application. If you are found to be ineligible or cannot provide the required information, you will have to return any payments you received. If you are found to have misrepresented or concealed essential information to make a claim, you will be ineligible for the benefit amounts you received and cannot apply again.

Penalties may also be applied for knowingly providing false or misleading information.

How Much You Can Get

Your Canada Dental Benefit payments are tax-free and will vary based on your family income. Parents and guardians with children who meet the eligibility criteria may apply for this benefit. The CRA determines your benefit amount based on your adjusted family net income:

• < $70,000 net family income: $650
• $70,000 – $79,999: $390
• $80,000 – $89,999: $260
• > $90,000: not eligible

You may meet the criteria for additional payment if the costs are more than $650 and you only apply for one benefit period.

If you have more than one eligible child, you can apply for all of them at the same time or separately. For this benefit, you may apply for a maximum of two payments for each eligible child. You may apply for one payment for an eligible child per period, with a single additional payment available if dental care cost more than $650 in either period.

Shared Custody

All the same rules and outcomes apply to shared custody arrangements, however you will only receive half the amounts to which you would otherwise have been entitled.

How to Apply

You will need to apply with the CRA for this benefit. The fastest way to get your payment is to apply online, however you can apply online or by phone as well.

Keep Your Receipts!

The CRA requires you to keep your receipts for six years in case they need to validate your eligibility! Make sure you’ve got them handy, because you must respond within 30 days if asked for validation.

Looking for some help navigating this new benefit? We are happy to help you! Give us a call or book an appointment today.

Disclaimer:

This article provides information of a general nature only. It is only current at the posting date. It is not updated and it may no longer be current. It does not provide legal or tax advice nor can it or should it be relied upon. All tax situations are specific to each individual. If you have specific tax questions you should book an appointment for a 1 on 1 consultation.