All the Numbers

Age, spouse and caregiver credits

From the All the Numbers wiki · Tax

A non-refundable credit lowers the tax owed, to nil at most. The basic personal amount, which everyone gets, is covered in income tax brackets. The credits here depend on age or on a dependant. Each is a dollar amount multiplied by the lowest federal rate (14%) or the lowest Ontario rate (5.05%). Because tax is per person, each credit sits on one person's return.

The age amount

A person who is 65 or older at the end of the year may claim the age amount.[1] It is reduced as net income rises, so it matters for people with modest incomes.

  • Federal, 2026: $9,208, reduced by 15% of net income over $46,432.[2]
  • Ontario, 2026: $6,342, reduced by 15% of net income over $47,210, and nil at $89,490.[3] The Ontario credit is applied before the surtax.

The planner applies both automatically from each person's age, in every year that person is 65 or older, and grows the amounts and thresholds with inflation; see tax brackets after 2026. The reduction is one reason retirement income can be taxed at a higher effective rate than the brackets suggest; the OAS recovery tax works on the same income. The related pension income amount is covered in pension income splitting.

The engine assesses people aged 19 to 110. A plan outside that range is rejected rather than approximated.[4]

The spouse amount

A person supporting a spouse or common-law partner with a low income may claim an amount equal to their own basic personal amount, less the partner's net income, and not below nil. In 2026 the federal basic personal amount is $16,452.[5]

  • Only one person claims, and a person cannot claim both the spouse amount and the eligible-dependant amount for a child.[6]
  • Ontario: $11,029 while the partner's net income is $1,103 or less, then $12,132 less the partner's net income, and nil from $12,132.[7][8][9]
  • The caregiver add-on: if the partner or child is infirm, the federal claim rises by $2,740.[10]

The engine can claim this for the partner with the higher income and can claim the eligible-dependant amount for a single parent's child under 18.[11] The planner does not send it the household facts those claims need (children, who lives with whom), so a plan from the planner does not include them. A couple's tax in the plan is the sum of two single returns, and the real figure may be lower.

What it does not do

The Canada caregiver amount for infirm dependants 18 and over and Ontario's equivalent are not modelled. Medical, disability and donation credits are not modelled either.

See also

  • Benefits tested on family income · The Canada Child Benefit, the GST/HST credit, the Ontario Child Benefit and the Ontario Trillium Benefit are calculated on family net income and on facts about children and rent. The planner does not ask for those facts, so none of them is in a plan, and a household with children will receive more than this shows.
  • Combined marginal tax rates · The marginal rate is the federal and Ontario tax on the next dollar of income. In 2026 it runs from 19.05% to 53.53% on ordinary income, and the top rate is lower on capital gains and dividends than on interest.
  • Income tax brackets and your marginal rate · Federal and Ontario tax are each charged in slices of income at rising rates, then reduced by credits, with an Ontario surtax and health premium on top. The marginal rate is what the next dollar costs; the average rate is total tax over income.
  • Pension income splitting · Spouses can jointly elect to move up to half of one partner's eligible pension income onto the other's return, lowering combined tax when incomes are uneven. CPP and OAS are not eligible.
  • Taking money out of an RESP · Your own contributions come back tax-free. The grant and growth leave as education payments taxed to the student. If no one studies, growth is taxed to you with an extra 20%, and the grants are repaid. The planner pays contributions first.
  • Tax brackets after 2026 are projected, not published · Every year after 2026 is taxed with the 2026 brackets, personal amounts, credits and CPP/EI ceilings grown at the plan's inflation rate. That is how CRA indexes them, but the real figures are announced each fall and will differ.
  • Taxes are per person · Canada has no joint return, so each of you is taxed on your own income with your own brackets and credits. The routes that do move income between partners — pension splitting, spousal RRSPs, prescribed-rate loans — are not modelled, so a couple's real bill may be lower than this.
  • The alternative minimum tax · A parallel tax calculation that applies a flat rate to a wider measure of income, so someone with a large capital gain cannot owe almost nothing. The higher of the regular and minimum tax is paid, and any extra is carried forward as credit.
  • The OAS recovery tax · Years where net income clears the threshold repay 15% of the excess out of Old Age Security. The projection withholds it from the OAS cash, exactly as the CRA does, and leaves taxable income unchanged.
  • The tuition credit · Eligible tuition fees earn a federal credit at the lowest tax rate. Unused credit carries forward without limit, and a student can pass part of the current year's credit to a spouse or parent. The planner does not ask for tuition, so plans do not include it.

References

  1. ↑CRA — Line 30100 Age amount · Age from which the age amount (line 30100) and pension-credit age tests apply: 65 or older at December 31 · 65 years · effective 1988-01-01
  2. ↑CRA — Indexation adjustment for personal income tax and benefit amounts (2026); TD1 2026 line 3 · Federal age amount 2026 (line 30100): $9,208 for a filer 65+ at 31 December, reduced by 15% of net income over $46,432, nil at $107,819; credited at the lowest rate; indexed · See the source · effective 2026-01-01
  3. ↑CRA — TD1ON 2026 Ontario Personal Tax Credits Return, line 2 · Ontario age amount 2026 (ON428 line 58080): $6,342, reduced by 15% of net income over $47,210, nil at $89,490; credited at 5.05% before the surtax; indexed (ON factor 1.9% for 2026) · See the source · effective 2026-01-01
  4. ↑engine boundary (no statute sets these bounds) · The core assessment accepts year-end ages 19–110; outside that range the plan is rejected rather than approximated · See the source · effective 2026-09-17
  5. ↑ITA 118(1)(a) for the C + C.01 - C.1 formula; 2026 dollar amount from TaxTips 2026 non-refundable credits · Federal spouse or common-law partner amount 2026 (ITA 118(1)(a); tracks the BPA, reduced dollar-for-dollar by the spouse's net income) · $16,452 · effective 2026-01-01
  6. ↑ITA 118(1)(a)–(b) · Federal spouse or eligible-dependant amount: the claimant's basic personal amount minus the dependant's net income (plus the caregiver add-on if infirm), floored at nil; one claim per person, never both 118(1)(a) and (b) · See the source · effective 2020-01-01
  7. ↑TD1ON 2026 lines 5–6 ("Enter $11,029 … net income for the year will be $1,103 or less") · Ontario spouse or common-law partner amount / amount for an eligible dependant 2026 (ON428 lines 58120/58160): $11,029 when the dependant's net income is $1,103 or less · $11,029 · effective 2026-01-01
  8. ↑TD1ON 2026 lines 5–6 · Ontario spouse/eligible-dependant amount: full at dependant net income up to $1,103 · $1,103 · effective 2026-01-01
  9. ↑TD1ON 2026 lines 5–6 ("between $1,103 and $12,132") · Ontario spouse/eligible-dependant amount: $12,132 minus the dependant's net income between $1,103 and $12,132; nil above · $12,132 · effective 2026-01-01
  10. ↑CRA indexation table 2026 ("Canada caregiver amount for children under 18 / spouse / eligible dependant"); ITA 118(1)(a) C, (b) D · Canada caregiver add-on to the spouse or eligible-dependant amount when that person is infirm: $2,740 (2026) · $2,740 · effective 2026-01-01
  11. ↑ITA 118(1)(b)(ii)(D) · The eligible-dependant credit is available for a child who was under 18 at any time in the year (age on January 1 below 18); the dependant's net income is their assessed net income or nil when they file no return · See the source · effective 2026-09-18