Accounting for young professionals.

Questions worth getting ahead of

• Using tuition amounts from your school years
• Claiming student loan interest from earlier years
• Deciding between an FHSA, RRSP and TFSA
• Deducting a move for a first job
• Knowing what to keep for a growing tax file

Make use of your tuition amounts

The CRA says you must claim your current-year tuition fees and any unused amounts carried forward before transferring anything, and that the amount you use is the credit needed to reduce your tax owing, calculated on Schedule 11. Even with no tax to pay, filing the schedule lets the CRA record what remains available for later years. Keep your T2202 slips. If you have older years that were never reported, ask about adjusting those returns, and find out what a transfer to a parent might leave unused for you.

Student loan interest can reach back five years

For government student loans, the CRA says you can claim interest paid in the current year or any of the five preceding years. Only the borrower can claim it, even if a parent paid, and interest on combined or consolidated loans or private lines of credit does not qualify. If you have no tax payable, unused amounts can be carried forward, and the oldest are applied first. Gather your lender statements for each year before you file, and ask how this claim fits with your tuition amounts.

Compare an FHSA, an RRSP and a TFSA

The CRA says the FHSA gives participation room of $8,000 in the first year you open one, with a $40,000 lifetime deduction limit, and contributions are generally deductible. Transfers from your RRSP to an FHSA are not deductible. The 2026 RRSP dollar ceiling is $33,810 and new TFSA room is $7,000, though your own room may differ, so check your notice of assessment. File Schedule 15 the year you open an FHSA. Ask which account suits your timeline for a first home.

Check whether FHSA eligibility applies to you

To open an FHSA, the CRA says you must be a Canadian resident, at least 18 (or 19 where that is the age of contract), and no older than 71 at year-end. You must also be a first-time home buyer, meaning you did not live in a home you owned, as your main home, in the current or previous four calendar years. The same look-back applies to a home your spouse or common-law partner owned while you lived there. FHSA contributions for a 2026 deduction must be made by December 31, 2026. Bring your address history and your partner’s to the discussion.

A move for work or school may be deductible

The CRA says you may claim moving expenses if you moved to work or run a business at a new location, or to study full-time at a post-secondary institution, and your new home is at least 40 kilometres closer. For work, the deduction is against income earned at the new location; for study, it is generally limited to taxable scholarships or similar awards. If your employer reimbursed you, you can only claim by including the reimbursement in income or reducing your claim. Unused expenses may carry forward. Keep receipts, your old and new addresses and your start date.

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