Claiming your spouse and dependants on your tax return |
By Evelyn Jacks, RWM, MFA, MFA-P, FDFS on February 26, 2026 Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Claiming your spouse and dependants on your tax return
By Evelyn Jacks, RWM, MFA, MFA-P, FDFS on February 26, 2026 Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
These relationships have very specific meanings for tax purposes. It’s up to you to get them right.
Things change. Lifecycle events like marriages and separations, births and deaths, illness, and incapacity all can affect the claiming of family members on a tax return. In fact, making those claims can be among the most confusing parts of your annual income tax return, the T1.
For these reasons, professionals and do-it-yourself tax preparers should take the time to study Schedule 5 – Amounts for Spouse or Common-Law Partner and Dependants. It’s the electronic form used to claim dependent family members, and it’s a good idea to print it for review, even if you are using software to file the return. Here’s what you need to know.
Why getting it right is important
Let’s start with the end in mind. Claiming income made by your spouse and dependants correctly will affect other provisions on and off the tax return, including eligibility for tax credits and social benefits like the Canada Dental Care Plan. So that can affect your cash flow down the line.
The following are frequently asked questions with respect to claiming immediate family members.
Who is a spouse for tax purposes? First, the term spouse refers to someone to whom the taxpayer is legally married. It also includes a common-law spouse or partner—that is, someone who is living in a conjugal relationship with the taxpayer for at least 12 consecutive months. That 12-month time frame is moot, however, if the couple has a child with whom they live together at the end of the year. It’s also........