I want to transfer the max of $5000 from son's tuition fees to my tax return. On schedule 11, the BC amount comes to 946.46 . Why can't I claim the full amount of $5000

A student can transfer a maximum of $5000 in unused tuition on their federal return. But that amount is reduced by how much the student needs to use to reduce their taxes owning. So, it could be less that the full $5000 or even zero. The same goes for the provincial tax return, though the maximum amount is usually different.

Also, as per this Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) page: Line 32400 – Tuition amount transferred from a child, “The student cannot transfer any amount they carried forward in a previous year.”. So only tuition that your child entered for this tax year will be eligible to be transferred.

Furthermore, even if the full amount is available to transfer, the tuition that you receive from your child can only be used to reduce your taxes payable, not generate or increase a refund. So, if you have less than $5000 in taxes owing (after your own credits and deductions have been applied), then taking the full $5000 of tuition would be wasting it, as you can’t use all it or carry any of it forward.

Please see this TurboTax FAQ for more details on transferring tuition: How much of my child's or spouse's unused tuition credits can be transferred to me?

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