The federal government’s new tax credit designed to get children active seems to have stumbled out of the starting gate.
Few of the youth organizations contacted had heard about the program that gives parents a $500 tax credit per child for registration and membership in activities designed to keep their children active.
“I don’t have a clue about it,” said Phil Crowe, assistant to the administrator of the Canadian Pony Club with 3,000 youth members across Canada.
“I have no idea if we have qualifying criteria,” said Crowe of Baldur, Man.
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Under the program, which came into effect Jan. 1, parents are eligible for up to $500 per child on their 2007 income tax for registration and membership fees for qualifying youth programs.
The tax credit was part of the Conservative government’s election promise to improve children’s fitness.
“”It’s one way of supporting families in their goal of keeping the children involved in physical activity,” said national revenue minister Carol Skelton.
“I see a lot of children that just don’t get a lot of exercise,” said Skelton who shuttled her children between hockey rinks and ball diamonds when her children were younger.
“It would have been nice to have a tax credit. It’s just one way of motivating people to keep their kids active,” said Skelton, the MP for Saskatoon and Rosetown.
Revenue Canada’s website said the tax credit is for an ongoing, supervised program, suitable for children under the age of 16, in which substantially all of the activities undertaken include a significant amount of physical activity that contribute to cardio-respiratory endurance, plus one or more of muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and balance.
The government news release lists hockey, soccer, karate, football, basketball, folk dancing, swimming, hiking and horseback riding as activities that would qualify.
But Dawn Lauder, director of the Camrose Aquatic Centre, said she is unsure if swimming lessons offered through their pool would qualify. Under the guidelines, parents would receive a tax credit for programs that are once a week for eight weeks. The Camrose pool offers swimming lessons twice a week for four weeks or four times a week for two weeks.
Under Canada Revenue Agency’s rules children in those swimming lessons wouldn’t qualify despite getting the same amount of activity.
“For a lot of our programs, it doesn’t apply,” said Lauder, who wants the agency to clarify the eligibility requirements.
Few parents Lauder talked to have heard about the tax credit program. Despite the uncertainty of the eligibility, Lauder will issue tax receipts for parents and let the federal agency deal with the questions.
“Anything to help parents out for fitness is great. I just think it needs to be looked at better,” she said.
Marc Letourneau, executive director of the Alberta Soccer Association, said his organization knows little about the tax credits. It is the province’s largest sporting organization. More than 70,000 kids play outdoor soccer and 25,000 kids play indoor soccer in Alberta each year. Fees range from $25 a year for a basic program to $3,000 for elite level players.
Letourneau said it’s hard to say whom the tax credit is targeted at, but at an initial glance it seems to be a larger benefit to middle and upper income parents who can already afford to register their children in fitness programs.
“It doesn’t seem to do a lot for lower income families,” said Letourneau. “If it’s hitting the right target, that’s always open to debate.”
An example on the revenue agency’s website shows a family of three who could claim $500 of expenses per child would be eligible to claim $1,500. Calculated at the lowest marginal tax rate of 15.5 percent, that family would have a benefit of $232.2 on the 2007 income tax return.
Mike Nowasad with the Canadian 4-H Council in Ottawa said he doesn’t know how the tax credit would affect 4-H programs across Canada.
“It hasn’t even been on our radar. It’s not been raised by any 4-H parent,” said Nowasad.
He added that the council will continue to focus on its 4-H recruitment and branding campaign before concentrating on the tax credits, he said.
