Comments on: The Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) Explained

By: Amna@Childcare in Eastbourne

Amna@Childcare in Eastbourne — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 07:47:35 +0000

If the tax of the earning spouse is increased then would it really help the family to go for this child tax benefit? if overall the net benefit is zero then why would parents like to take this tax cut?

By: How Much Does Raising A Child Cost? | The Canadian Finance Blog

How Much Does Raising A Child Cost? | The Canadian Finance Blog — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:46:41 +0000

[...] forward to… tax breaks from the government. This includes the Canada Child Tax Benefit and Universal Child Care Benefit, as well as the spousal amount if a parent’s income is under $9,600. Other tax savings [...]

By: Weekly Review-Recession Over Edition- Guest Posts | Financial Highway

Weekly Review-Recession Over Edition- Guest Posts | Financial Highway — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:04:54 +0000

[...] Canadian Finance Blog explains how the Universal Child Care benefit work [...]

By: Alexandra

Alexandra — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:22:51 +0000

Hi Tom – I’m pretty neutral on the UCCB. I would prefer a less-complicated tax system overall — i.e., lower overall tax rates — than a system which allocates credits and payments to people based on their demographic characteristics. I particularly dislike the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit (but I have two kids and make use of the credit!). My concern with any tax credit or deduction is that people understand it and plan for it appropriately.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:25:30 +0000

Alexandra, thanks for the clarification. Good point about the spousal credit, I’ll edit the post to include it.

What’s your opinion on the UCCB? While it’s not a large amount, I prefer that it’s not a ‘daycare or nothing’ plan so that parents are encouraged to stay home and raise their children.

By: Alexandra

Alexandra — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:08:20 +0000

Great post! The UCCB is not, though, tied in any way to formal child care. I think it would be more accurate to say it is to help with the cost of child *raising,* not child care (only because people tend to think of “child care” as formal care provided by someone other than the child’s parents).

Also – while the payment is taxable in the hands of the lower income-earning parent, by default it is *paid* to the mother. The slip needs to be entered on the return of the lower-income-earning parent at tax time, no matter who actually received it.

Finally, while a parent earning no income will pay no income tax on the UCCB amount, it *will* reduce the spousal credit available to the supporting spouse – so there will be a tax impact in that case.