Adding tuition is lowering my refund

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
February 28, 2022
1 reply
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Hi. My son is a full time student and when I just put his eligible tuition into Turbotax, it actually decreased his refund by half. He made more than the basic personal amount at his part time job. Why would he have to pay more tax as a student? Is it mandatory to submit his eligible tuition and declare he is a student? It seems he would be better off not saying he is a student but I don't know if that is a mandatory declaration. Thanks for any help!

TurboTaxSusan

What likely happened is that when you put in your son's income, TurboTax claimed the Canada Workers Benefit (CWB) (aka the Working Income Tax Benefit) for him. This is a refundable tax credit for people who work, but don’t make very much. However, students are usually not eligible for this credit, so when you added your tuition, then the CWB was removed, lowering his refund.