2021 Provincial Budget Consultations – Fixing OEPTC

We took advantage of the Ontario government’s 2021 pre-budget consultations to make a submission regarding the Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit (OEPTC) to the Ontario Ministry of Finance. See our submission here.

Rent-Geared-to-Income and the Income Tax and Benefit Return

Starting in 2019, the Government of Ontario made the filing of a tax return a condition for almost 200,000 tenants in Ontario to obtain rental subsidies for their living accommodation.  Read here to learn more about what is called Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) and why it makes filing an income tax and benefit return so important for these tenants, most of whom will have a level of income which makes them eligible for the CVITP.

What’s wrong with OEPTC and how to fix it

The Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit (OEPTC), one of the three credits that make up the Ontario Trillium Benefit (OTB), is flawed and the flaw has the effect of excluding some of the very people it was intended to help.

The OEPTC is claimed annually through the personal income tax and benefit declaration process.  It is explicitly designed with two distinct policy intentions: to help low to moderate-income Ontario residents with (a) their property taxes, and (b) the sales tax they pay on energy.

Mirroring its intent, the OEPTC has a property tax component and a home energy component.  Both homeowners and tenants can apply for it.

But tenants living in housing that is exempt from property taxes cannot claim the home energy component, even though they pay their own energy costs. This is because of an inconsistency between the policy and the way the Ontario Taxation Act was written.

As a result, thousands of low-income tenants in Ontario are ineligible to get the help that the OEPTC was designed to provide.

Learn more about how this problem has arisen, why it is inequitable and what you can do about it here.

Ontario Credits and Benefits

Learn here about the most important Ontario Government credits and benefits likely to be used in preparing CVITP client income tax and benefit returns.

Calling for contributors from Ontario

Do you work as a CVITP volunteer or does your organization host a CVITP clinic in Ontario?  What is happening with the provincial portion of the income tax and benefit return or with the CVITP that you think others in Ontario should know about?

We’re looking for contributors who want to share useful Ontario-related information and ideas with our readers.  (Not sure if your contribution is relevant? Check out the three purposes of this page here.) If you’re interested in contributing, please use the Contact page to let us know more about what it is you want to share.