Do you qualify for the northern residents deductions?

If you lived in a prescribed northern zone (Zone A), you can claim the full amount of the deductions. If you lived in a prescribed intermediate zone (Zone B), you can claim one-half of the deductions.

To find out the places located in the prescribed northern and prescribed intermediate zones, go to canada.ca/taxes-northern-residents, or call 1-800-959-8281.

There are two northern residents deductions:

• a residency deduction (Step 2) for having lived in a prescribed zone
• a travel deduction (Step 3)

Deceased individuals - A person who died in the year qualifies if they lived in a prescribed zone for six months or more before the date of death.

Moving - Your period of residency is not affected if you moved from one place in a prescribed zone directly to another place in a prescribed zone.

Absences from a prescribed zone - If you lived in a prescribed zone on a permanent basis, absences from a prescribed zone do not usually affect your period of residency.

To determine if you lived in the prescribed zone on a permanent basis, we consider the number of your absences from the prescribed zone and the purpose and length of your absences.

If you have not lived in a prescribed zone for a continuous period of at least six consecutive months at the time you file your return, you do not yet qualify. File your return without making the claim. When you qualify, you can ask us to adjust your return. To do so, follow the instructions in the Federal Income Tax and Benefit Guide under the heading "How to change areturn".

Step 1 - List your places of residence

Step 2 - Calculate your residency deduction (lines 1 to 13)

There are two parts to the residency deduction:

• a basic residency amount - Claim this amount for the number of days in the year that you lived in a prescribed zone.
• an additional residency amount - Claim this amount for the days you used to calculate your basic residency amount if you maintained and lived in a dwelling in the prescribed zone during that time and you are the only person claiming the basic residency amount for living in that same dwelling for that period.

If you are the only person in the household claiming the basic residency amount for a particular period and dwelling, you can also claim the additional residency amount.

To claim the deduction that most benefits your household, you should consider the taxable income of all the members of your household when deciding which one of you will claim the residency deduction.

A dwelling is a self-contained domestic establishment. Generally, this is a complete and separate living unit with a kitchen, bathroom, sleeping facilities, and its own private access. It includes a house, apartment, mobile home, or other similar place of residence in which a person usually sleeps and eats. It does not include a bunkhouse, dormitory, hotel room, or room in a boarding house.

Special work site (lines 4 and 9)
If your principal place of residence is not in a prescribed zone, you may still qualify for all or a portion of the basic residency amount for living at a special work site provided that the site is located in a prescribed zone and you resided at the site for at least six consecutive months.

If you received non-taxable benefits for board and lodging at a special work site (shown in either box 31 of your T4 slip or box 124 of your T4A slip), your residency amounts will be reduced. Enter the amount of non-taxable benefits on line 4 or line 9 unless the special work site is 30 kilometres or more from the nearest point on the boundary of any population centre that has a population of at least 40,000 individuals.

For more information about special work sites, see Archived Interpretation Bulletin IT-91, Employment at Special Work Sites or Remote Work Locations.

Step 3 - Calculate your travel deduction (lines 14 to 16)

You can claim the travel deduction for a trip for medical or other (such as vacation) reasons that started from a prescribed zone and was taken either by you or, under proposed changes, by an eligible family member. This is someone who lived with you at the time of the trip and was one of the following:

• your spouse or common-law partner
• your or your spouse’s or common-law partner’s child under the age of 18
• another individual who is wholly dependent for support on you, your spouse or common-law partner, or both, and who is either:
  • your or your spouse’s or common-law partner’s parent or grandparent
  • related to you and wholly dependent by reason of mental or physical infirmity

Complete Chart A to identify the individuals (under proposed changes, you and any eligible family members) who lived with you during the period(s) indicated in Step 1 and to show how you allocated each individual's $1,200 standard amount (if applicable). Complete Chart B to calculate your travel deduction.

The maximum deduction you can claim for each eligible trip is the lowest of the following three amounts:

• either the taxable travel benefits you received from employment for the trip (see Note 1) or, under proposed changes, the portion of the $1,200 standard amount for the person travelling (you or your eligible family member) that you allocate to the trip (enter the amount for whichever option you choose in Step 3, Chart B – column 3)
• the total travel expenses paid for the trip (enter the amount in Step 3, Chart B – column 4)
• the cost of the lowest return airfare available at the time of the trip between the airport closest to your residence and the nearest designated city to that airport as listed in Note 3 on the next page (enter the amount in Step 3, Chart B – column 5)

If an individual (you or an eligible family member) uses the standard amount to calculate a travel deduction in the year, $1,200 is the maximum total amount that may be claimed for each individual who travels, for all trips taken in the year by that individual, whether the trips were medical or non-medical, and regardless of which individual (either you or an eligible family member) is claiming the travel deduction. It is an amount per person, not per trip.

You can claim a travel deduction even if you are not claiming a residency deduction. For example, if your spouse or common-law partner claims both the basic and the additional residency amounts, you can still claim a travel deduction.

You cannot claim a travel deduction if either of the following applies:

• you or any member of your household (or, under proposed changes, you or your eligible family member) received or was entitled to receive non-taxable amounts as travel assistance, as a travel allowance, or as a reimbursement for travel expenses
• someone else has already claimed the travel deduction for this trip on their return

Number of trips
Under proposed changes, you can claim, for other (non-medical) reasons, up to two trips that you took and up to two trips taken by each eligible family member. You also can claim any number of medical trips taken by you or an eligible family member. However, no more than two non-medical trips taken by any individual (themselves or an eligible family member) in a year can be claimed by all taxpayers combined.

Note 1
You can use the value of taxable travel benefits provided by your employer in the calculation in Step 3 if you meet both of the following conditions:

• you are an employee dealing at arm's length with your employer
• you had to include in your income (in the same year you have the travel expenses) the taxable travel benefits that you received from your employment in a prescribed zone

If you take a trip that begins and ends in one year and you are reimbursed the following year, you cannot claim the travel deduction for that trip.

However, you can claim a travel deduction if you leave on a trip in one year and return the next year. For example, you may leave on a trip in December and come back in January. If you receive non-refundable tickets or travel vouchers, the taxable travel benefit should be included in your T4 or T4A slip for the year the trip begins.

Taxable travel benefits include:

• travel assistance, such as airline tickets or a trip on a company-owned airplane
• a travel allowance or a lump-sum payment you received from your employer for travel expenses you incurred

Payments from your employer for travel that was not for employment purposes are generally considered taxable benefits. Box 32 of your T4 slip or box 028 of your T4A slip shows the taxable travel benefits you received in the year. This includes the benefits received specifically for medical travel, which are shown in box 33 of your T4 slip or box 116 of your T4A slip. You can use the benefit for medical travel in the calculation in Step 3, Chart B – column 3 only if the medical services were for you or an eligible family member and were not available where you lived.

If you received a benefit that was not for any particular trip, you have to split it reasonably between the trips you are claiming.

To calculate meal and vehicle expenses, you may choose the detailed or simplified method. Your total travel expenses equal the total of the value of travel assistance provided by your employer and the travel expenses incurred by you. Include any travel expenses paid by your employer.

Detailed method - This method allows you to claim the actual amount that you spent. Keep your receipts in case we ask to see them at a later date.

Simplified method - This method uses a flat rate for meals and vehicle expenses. Although you do not need to keep detailed receipts for actual expenses if you choose to use this method, we may still ask you to provide some documentation to support your claim.

• Meals - Claim in Canadian or US funds a flat rate of $23/meal, to a maximum of $69/day (sales tax included) per person, without receipts.
• Vehicle expenses - Keep track of the number of kilometres driven during the tax year for the trip. To determine the amount you can claim for vehicle expenses, multiply the number of kilometres by the cents/km rate for the province or territory in which the travel begins.

For more information about the detailed or simplified methods including the different rates, go to canada.ca/taxes-travel-costs, or call 1-800-267-6999.

Note 3
The lowest return airfare available at the time of the trip means the lowest return airfare ordinarily available for regularly scheduled commercial flights (excluding promotions or discounts that are not ordinarily available) on the date that the travel began. It also includes any GST/PST/HST and airport taxes. Additional charges, such as flight cancellation insurance, meals, and baggage surcharges are not considered part of the lowest return airfare.

The lowest return airfare to be used to complete column 5 is the cost quoted for a flight from the airport closest to your residence to the nearest designated city to that airport (even if you did not actually travel by air or to that city).

The nearest designated cities are:
Vancouver, BC; Calgary, AB; Edmonton, AB; Saskatoon, SK; Winnipeg, MB; North Bay, ON; Toronto, ON; Ottawa, ON; Montréal, QC; Québec, QC; Moncton, NB; Halifax, NS; St. John's, NL.

Note 4
If you are claiming the expenses for a medical trip on this form, no one (including you) can claim them as medical expense on their return.

In cases of medical travel, if the patient needs an attendant while travelling, the attendant's travel expenses are included as part of the patient's total travel expenses, even if they are in the form of travel assistance your employer provided or actual expenses you incurred.

If the attendant was you or a an eligible family member: Include the cost of the attendant's lowest return airfare in Step 3, Chart B – column 5, as part of the patient's expense for airfare. Include the cost of the attendant's travel expenses (excluding airfare) in column 4, as part of the patient's travel expenses.

If the attendant was not you or an eligible family member:
Do not include the cost of the attendant's lowest return airfare in column 5, as part of the patient's expense for airfare. Include the cost of the attendant's travel expenses (including airfare) in column 4, as part of the patient's travel expenses.

Step 4 - Calculate your northern residents deductions (lines 17 to 19)