Important Information for your Saskatchewan Tax Return

The Graduate Retention Program (GRP) tuition refund is paid out over a 7 year period, provided you file a Saskatchewan income tax return for each of those years. It is a refundable income tax credit, which means the portion of the credit which is not needed to reduce your tax liability (because it is already zero) will be paid to you. As an eligible graduate, you will receive 10 percent of the refund in each of the first four (4) taxation years of your refund period and 20 percent of the refund for each of the subsequent three (3) taxation years.

Graduates Will Receive and Claim Only One GRP Certificate

With the GRP, graduates receive and claim only one GRP certificate for each credential earned. Canada Revenue Agency will carry forward your entitlements over the 7 year period, however, you must still indicate each yearly entitlement on your Saskatchewan income tax return. If, for example, you filed a 2012 Graduate Retention Program Eligibility Certificate with your 2012 Saskatchewan income tax return, you will need to indicate your 2013 GRP entitlement on line 1 of form SK479, Saskatchewan Credits when you file your 2013 Saskatchewan income tax return. Your 2013 GRP entitlement can be found on your Canada Revenue Agency 2012 Notice of Assessment.

Requesting a Reassessment of a Filed Tax Return

If you have already filed your Saskatchewan income tax return for the year of your graduation ( 2008 tax return if your year of graduation was 2006 or 2007) prior to receiving your GRP certificate, you will need to contact Canada Revenue Agency and request a reassessment of this tax return. You will also need to request reassessments on any of the other Saskatchewan tax returns that you have filed with Canada Revenue Agency since your year of graduation, up to seven years.

You will need to provide Canada Revenue Agency with the total amount of eligible tuition that was paid from 2005 onwards in relation to the program you graduated from indicated on your GRP certificate. Eligible tuition amounts are indicated on your T2202A receipts issued by your post-secondary institution.

For further information, visit the Canada Revenue Agency website at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/5000-g/README.html or contact the Canada Revenue Agency at 1-800-959-8281.