Brant News photo
Brant MPP Dave Levac
Dave Levac
FOR BRANT NEWS
Like you, I am getting ready to file my taxes.
Before you do, I want to address a misunderstanding about the delivery of the Ontario Trillium Benefit.
In these pages around April of last year, I wrote about the change of the Ontario energy and property tax credit, the northern Ontario energy credit and the Ontario sales tax credit into one payment known as the Ontario Trillium Benefit.
At the time, some Brant area taxpayers felt the change did not fit into their family budget. People wanted more flexibility in determining when they received their tax credits.
So I, along with many residents, appealed the change to the minister of finance and the premier.
As a result, an optional payment choice was made available to tax submitters, allowing for greater flexibility in how and when you receive your tax credits.
In addition, Ontario Trillium Benefit cheques can now be cashed for free at any Canadian bank. You can also sign up to have your cheques deposited directly into your bank account.
Some Canadian banks also offer no-fee bank accounts.
The overall purpose of the Ontario Trillium Benefit is to help low to moderate income families and individuals keep more of their money by reducing the fees they may pay at tax time. It also provides for a “monthly” option should you want it.
The Ontario Trillium Benefit is providing Ontarians with $2.4 billion in relief from taxes and energy costs each year.
For full details about the Ontario Trillium Benefit please visit www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/credit.
For assistance with all other provincial matters please contact me at my office at 519-759-0361 or visit my website at www.davelevac.on.ca
Dave Levac is MPP for Brant and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
I am a volunteer income tax preparer and I have to say that there is NO OPTION in Ufile that one can get their Trillium grant back immediately. As much as our MPP states there is an option, there isn’t in the government supplied Ufile received for the 2012 tax returns.
The Trillium grant is the Ontario grant that combines your property taxes/rent, age and the Ontario portion of the HST. At one time, we had many people come in who did not pay any taxes for the year but received $300 or more back through this grant. They received this as a tax refund cheque and all were quite happy. For the last year, this value was divided by 12 and sent out on a monthly basis and most people are quite upset.
Another CVIP volunteer phone Levac’s office and they stated that the amount must be under $230 so that would eliminate 90% of the low income earners since if one submitted rent receipts, the amount would be over this value. There also is no method of applying this option so one might have to paper file the return rather than e-file it.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
9 
0