Government benefits and other amounts you repaid (benefits repaid)

Sometimes, the government might determine that the amount of benefits you received was actually more than you were entitled to. It might be that your circumstances changed, or that there was an error when your benefits were originally calculated. Either way, you might have included these overpayments in your income on last year’s (or a previous year’s) return – and that means these amounts need to be repaid. Thankfully, you’ll be able to claim a deduction for the amount you’ve already paid back on your federal return.

If you’ve repaid any overpayments of the following benefits and other amounts, you can claim a deduction on your federal return:

  • Old Age Security (OAS) benefits paid directly to Service Canada, as shown in box 20 of your T4A(OAS) slip
  • Employment insurance (EI) benefits repaid to Service Canada or the payer of your benefits, as shown in box 30 of your T4E slip (if your EI benefits were reduced to repay an amount, your T4E slip will show your net amount, so you can’t claim a deduction)
  • Canada Pension Plan or Québec Pension Plan benefits
  • Scholarships, bursaries, or research grants
  • Retirement allowances
  • Repayments of a shareholder’s loan
  • Repayments you’ve made for a policy loan under your life insurance policy
  • Income from a registered disability savings plan
  • Wage Earner Protection Program (WEPP) payments
  • Labour adjustment benefits
  • Apprenticeship incentive grant
  • Federal Income Support for Parents of Murdered or Missing Children (PMMC) grant

Note: If you received a GST/HST credit overpayment, refer to our GST/HST tax credit help article for more information.