The 2006 federal budget brought with it a minor benefit via a child fitness tax credit, which is available for children under the age of 16. To be eligible, the program must last for at least 8 weeks (minimum one session per week) or five consecutive days at camp.
In order to qualify for the credit the child’s activity must be in a supervised program in which substantially all of the activities include a significant amount of physical activity that contribute to cardio-respiratory endurance plus at least on of the following:
Muscular strength
Muscular endurance
Flexibility
Balance
For children under the age of 10 at least 30 minutes of sustained moderate to vigorous physical activity is necessary and for children 10 years of age and over 60 minutes is required.
It is up to the organization administering the activity to issue a receipt and these organizations should have the guidelines to determine what may or may not be an eligible program. Without such a receipt you cannot make a claim. If in doubt ask the organization if the program is eligible.
The credit is available on up to $500 of registration fees per child, resulting in a maximum tax savings of $77.50 per child in 2007. Please note that this is a federal initiative and Saskatchewan currently has no equivalent credit.
Technical information contained above was obtained from The Canadian Taxpayer, February 13, 2007 to February 26, 2007 issue.
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