How and when do I complete a tax return?
The Queen's University International Centre offers tax workshops during March and April to assist international students, staff and faculty with the process of preparing their taxes. Separate sessions are available for those who had income from Canadian sources and those who had no income from Canadian sources.
| You can find out the specific dates of our tax workshops in our Calendar of Events. |
Taxes owing should be paid by April 30. After that date, if money is owing, interest will be charged.
Tax returns may be submitted at any time for a previous year or years. There is no penalty if you do not owe taxes.
What forms and information do I need to complete a tax return?
Tax-related receipts are produced in January and February for the previous tax year. For students, some of the information will be available through SOLUS, while some information will be sent to the local or on-campus address that you have on file with Queen's. That means it is important to keep your address up-to-date and to save these documents when they arrive.
All students should have the following documents for each year of tax forms that they are planning to complete:
- T2202A - Tuition and Education Amount (Available from SOLUS [through https://my.queensu.ca] by the end of February)
- A record of the rent paid (Not required if you were living in residence)
If you received scholarships or bursaries from Queen's (or other Canadian sources), you should have:
- T4A - Scholarship and Bursary income (Issued by your employer by the end of February, if applicable)
If you earned income from Canadian sources you should also have:
- T4 - Employment Income (Issued by your employer by the end of February, if applicable)
- T3 or T5 - Investment or Interest Income (Issued by your bank by the end of February, if applicable)
If your only income from Canadian sources came as a scholarship or bursary (and was reported on a T4A) then you can plan to attend one of QUIC's income tax workshops for those with no income from Canadian sources. This is because scholarhips and bursaries are non-taxable (for students).
The tax forms themselves are available at QUIC's income tax workshops, in Post Offices between January and April or through the Canada Revenue Agency website.
What are the deductions that I see being taken from each of my paycheques?
Most students that earn employment income will see three deductions from their paycheques:
- Income Tax
- Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
- Employment Insurance (EI)
If income tax is taken from your paycheques, when you file your forms each year, you will determine what amount, if any, will be refunded to you. Most students have enough tax credits available to them to ensure that they will get back some, if not all, of the income tax deductions.
The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is meant to provide some financial support to those that have reached retirement-age. Anyone who has paid into the CPP can qualify for payments, but only upon retirement. You don't even have to be in Canada to qualify.
Employment Insurance (EI) benefits are meant to support people who lose their jobs while they look for new full-time employment. It may be possible for graduate students to qualify, as long as they work the required number of hours in the year before their application, they have permission to work in Canada, and are looking for full-time work. The only time when this is likely, is upon graduation. The Employment Insurance program also provides some benefits for those who have left Canada.