Financing Your Education

The HST and Ontario Students

Ontario's comprehensive Tax Plan for Jobs and Growth is ultimately about more jobs, making businesses more competitive, making Ontario more attractive for investment and creating more jobs for students like you. The HST, which combines the existing 8 per cent PST and the 5 per cent federal GST into a single 13 per cent sales tax, comes into effect July 1, 2010.


NO HST

 
Text Books
 
  • Tuition fees *
  • Tutoring fees *
  • Scholarships and bursaries
  • On–or off-campus residence
  • Basic groceries
  • Municipal public transit
  • Health and education services
  • Child care
  • Prescription drugs

NO Additional Taxes

 
Family and baby
 
  • Textbooks
  • Coffee
  • Newspapers and magazines
  • Books
  • DVDs, Blu-ray discs
  • Cell phones and smart phones
  • Clothes

Tax benefits for students

 
Apprentice
 
  • The new Ontario Sales Tax Credit provides up to $260 each year, starting in August, on top of the GST Rebate
  • The Ontario Property and Sales Tax Credits provides up to $1,000 annually to those with off-campus housing costs — whether you rent or own
  • The new personal income tax cut provides an average savings of $209 that came into effect as of January 1
  • The Ontario Sales Tax Transition Benefit will provide up to $1,000 for families, or $300 for individuals, starting in June

* Paid to a school authority, a public college or university for courses for which a credit may be obtained toward a diploma or degree.

For more information check out www.ontario.ca/taxchange, www.cra-arc.gc.ca or find out about how HST exemptions will benefit students.