Designated dependant child

If you or your spouse or common-law partner are claiming the work premium and/or adapted work premium tax credits on your Québec tax return and you have children, you can designate one of the children as a dependant child.

This will allow you to claim the maximum tax credit amount applicable to your situation, since both these tax credits are calculated based on your family income and family situation.

Tax tip: If you have more than one dependant child, designate the child with the lowest income as your dependant child to get the most in work premium and/or adapted work premium amounts. If none of your children have income, select the youngest child as your designated dependant child.

You can designate your or your spouse’s child as a dependant child if:

  • You or your spouse received child assistance payments for the child from Retraite Québec for December 2024
  • You or your spouse are claiming (or could have claimed had the child not earned income) an amount for a child under 18 enrolled in post-secondary studies for that child
  • Your child is over 18 but is a full-time student at the secondary level or pursuing post-secondary studies and they received an RL-8 slip with an amount in box A or
  • Your child is under 18, lives with you, doesn’t have a child of their own, and isn’t recognized as an emancipated minor by a court

Note: If custody of the child is shared under a judgment or written agreement, the child is deemed to have lived with you only if you or your spouse had custody at least 40% of the time during the year.

Unfortunately, you can’t designate a child as a dependant child if they were confined to a prison or a similar institution on December 31, 2024 for more than six months.

Remember, your designated dependant child can’t claim any of the tax credits respecting the work premium for the year.

You’ll be able to designate your child as a dependant on the Dependant amounts page under Final Review on the Wrap-Up tab. Simply select the checkbox next to the name of the dependant you want to designate as a dependant child.