- The same general filing triggers that apply to adults apply to minors: a legal obligation to file generally arises when a child has tax owing for the year, disposed of capital property,…
- Building RRSP Contribution Room RRSP contribution room accumulates based on a person’s reported earned income.
- - Any T4 slips from part-time or summer employment.
A child with a part-time job or a bit of investment income doesn’t usually owe any tax — their income is typically too low. That leads a lot of parents to assume there’s nothing to file. Often that’s technically true. But "not required" and "not worthwhile" are different questions, and for many Ontario families, filing a return for a child is a small piece of paperwork that pays off years later.
This guide covers when a child’s return is legally required, the more common reasons parents file one voluntarily, and a few practical details that trip people up.
Does a Child Legally Have to File?
The same general filing triggers that apply to adults apply to minors: a legal obligation to file generally arises when a child has tax owing for the year, disposed of capital property, or falls into one of the other mandatory categories. Most minors with modest part-time earnings or small amounts of investment income won’t hit any of these triggers, which means filing is optional for them — but optional doesn’t mean pointless.
Why Parents File for a Child Anyway
Building RRSP Contribution Room
RRSP contribution room accumulates based on a person’s reported earned income. A teenager who reports employment income on a return — even income too low to owe any tax — starts building contribution room they can use in future years, long before they’re likely to actually contribute. Filing early, even for small amounts, means that room isn’t lost.
Getting a Refund of Withheld Tax
If a child’s part-time employer withheld income tax from their pay, filing a return is the only way to get that money back, since a refund isn’t issued automatically without a return being assessed.
Setting Up Future Benefit Eligibility
Certain federal benefit and credit programs that apply to young adults, such as the GST/HST credit, are calculated based on a filed tax return once someone reaches the relevant age. Filing in the years leading up to eligibility helps ensure there’s a return on record when it starts to matter.
Claiming Tuition or Other Carry-Forward Amounts
A student with tuition costs may be able to carry unused tuition credits forward to a future year even if they have no income to use them against right now. Filing establishes that carry-forward amount on the CRA’s records.
What You Need to File a Child’s Return
- Any T4 slips from part-time or summer employment.
- Any tuition receipts (often a T2202 from a college or university) if applicable.
- Basic identification information, since a minor generally needs their own CRA account or a parent filing on their behalf through appropriate channels.
- Records of any investment income if the child holds savings or investments in their own name.
Who Reports the Income: The Child or the Parent?
This is a common point of confusion. Income a child earns directly — from a job, for example — is generally reported on the child’s own return, not the parent’s. Investment income can be more complicated: money that originated from a parent’s gift and is later attributed back to the parent under attribution rules may need to be reported by the parent rather than the child, depending on the source and structure of the funds. This is a technical area where a mistake can mean re-filing, so get advice if a meaningful amount of investment income is involved.
Frequently asked questions
My child only made a few hundred dollars from a summer job. Is it worth filing?
Often yes, mainly to start building RRSP contribution room and to recover any tax that was withheld. The paperwork burden is small relative to the long-term benefit.
Can I file my child’s return for them?
Yes, parents commonly handle the mechanics of filing for a minor child, though the return itself is legally the child’s, not the parent’s. Keep the underlying documents in case questions come up later.
Does filing for my child affect my own tax return?
Generally not, apart from situations involving attributed investment income as described above. A child’s employment income return does not usually change anything on the parent’s return.
At what point should my teenager start filing every year?
Once they have regular earned income, ongoing investment income, or tuition amounts worth tracking, filing annually is usually worthwhile going forward, even in years with no tax owing.
My child received a small gift or inheritance that’s now earning interest in their own account — do I need to report that?
This is one of the trickier areas. Depending on where the funds came from and how the account is structured, the interest earned may need to be reported by the parent rather than the child under attribution rules, even though the account is in the child’s name. Money a child earns from their own labour is treated differently than income generated by capital a parent contributed. If a meaningful amount is involved, confirm the correct treatment before filing, since reporting it on the wrong return can require a correction later.
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