Do I lose GST if My common law partner owes taxes?

[anawhatsme]

I don't owe taxes, nor did I receive a refund. I normally receive GST, but will I lose it if my common law partner owes?
Also, would I lose any child tax or universal child care benefits?

Thanks in advance!

[anawhatsme]

Anyone?

[lizzie bargain]

I am guessing here but I think you might as I think the govt treats you as one family unit. You might need to phone in and ask to be sure.

[Cake]

It is based on income not if you owe money.

[Midnightly]

i could be wrong but i'm pretty sure you do.. as the previous poster GST tax credits treat you as a family unit and it's based off the income of both of you together.. so of 1 person owes money to the government goes for the easiest money to claim back though i don't think it applys for child tax since child tax and UCCB is intended to help out the children..

i found this on UCCB so i imagine child tax would have a similar response
Can my UCCB payment be used to pay off my outstanding debt with the CRA or another federal department or agency? No, the UCCB is intended to help Canadian families meet their child care needs and it will be protected from being applied to outstanding debts, others than UCCB debts.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/bnfts/uccb-puge/menu-eng.html

but i couldn't find anything specifically on childtax

[Angela273]

You could lose your child tax credit if your household income is too much. If your common law partner earns too much money and you filed together, then you will lose your GST return. You won't lose your UCCB.

[anastasia1009]

My husband owes money and I didn't owe any money so I still kept my GST along with my tax refund.

[brunt]

I am not certain of exactly what the policy of CRA is, but I am unclear on what "owes taxes" means. Do you mean:

1) Once having filed taxes, at the end, your partner had to send CRA a payment because taxes owed were more than instalments made, or

2) Your partner has owed taxes, and these have not been paid in a timely manner. CRA will be looking for ways to collect this money.

In case 1, it simply depends on your family income. It is possible for a couple to pay taxes and still receive HST benefits and such. I am not familiar with the exact point where payments start being reduced, but I know that it does not stop at the first penny owed.

Case 2 is a different matter altogether. I don't know if they would deduct payments from benefits payable to a partner or not.

[Ciel]

If OP's partner is the one that usually applies for the HST/GST for the couple, yes I believe any amount eligible for paying out will be redirected by the CRA to any taxes owing.
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/bnfts/gsthst/menu-eng.html

If you have a spouse or common-law partner, only one of you can receive the credit. The credit will be paid to the person whose return is assessed first. The amount will be the same, regardless of who (in the couple) receives it. For more information see Budget 2014

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/bnfts/mkpmt-eng.html

Note
The CRA will also apply GST/HST credit payments to amounts owing for income tax balances or amounts owing to other federal or provincial government programs.