Transit Pass Credit
You are eligible to claim a tax credit for public transit passes on your tax return for amounts paid for travel that occurred during the calendar year. Public transit includes buses, subways, commuter trains and ferries.
The public transit tax credit includes amounts paid for the following:
Monthly Passes:
- This pass entitles the holder to unlimited use on any day on which the transit company provides eligible services during an uninterrupted period of at least 28 days.
Weekly Passes:
- Each weekly pass must provide unlimited public transit use for an uninterrupted period of between 5 and 7 days. Within a 28 day period, you must have purchased 4 consecutive weekly passes which together provide for the use of public transit services for at least 20 of the 28 day period.
Cost-per-trip-electronic payment card:
- Provides use for at least 32 one-way trips during an uninterrupted period not more than 31 days; and
- The card must be issued by a public transit authority that records and provides a receipt for the cost and usage of the card.
In order to support your claim, the transit pass must display all of the following information:
- The date or period for which the pass is valid;
- The name of the transit authority or organization issuing the pass;
- The amount paid for the pass; and,
- The identity of the rider, either by name or unique identifier.
If the pass does not have all of this information, you will also need to keep receipts, cancelled cheques or credit card statements, along with your pass(es), to support your claim. You must have proof of purchase. At a minimum you need to keep your expired transit passes to support your claim.
You can claim the full amount paid for the public transit pass or for the cost of passes for multiple transit systems (assuming that you use more than one system such as a subway and a ferry).
The tax credit is a non-refundable tax credit and you can claim it on behalf of your spouse, common law partner, and your children under the age of 19, to the extent that these amounts have not already been claimed.
