My MARITAL STATUS has changed, what do I do?

You need to advise the Canada Revenue Agency as soon as possible if your marital status changes.

Not doing so can cause you to have an over payment of GST, OTB and CCB – all of which will have to be paid back.

Example:  John and Jane got married on January 2, 2021 so they filed their 2020 tax return as ‘single’ as they were legally single on December 31, 2020.  They wait until the spring of 2022 and change their marital status to ‘married’ on their 2021 tax return.  During 2020-21, they both received $102 every 3 months in GST, Jane received $42 a month in OTB and she also received $230 a month in Child Tax Benefit.   After their taxes are filed, they will each receive an invoice for $404 (GST that must be paid back), Jane will receive an invoice for $504 (OTB that has to be paid back).  In addition, because ‘family’ income is used to calculate CCB entitlements, she would have only been entitled to $93 a month based on their combined income, therefore she received an over payment of $137 a month), she will also receive an invoice for $1,644 (CCB that must be paid back).  That is a total of $2,956 combined that they will have to pay back.

To ensure you meet the definition, please see CRA’s website:

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

You can call CRA at 1-800-959-8281 to change your marital status or by completing Marital Status Change Form (RC65)  and mailing it to :

Sudbury Tax Centre
1050 Notre Dame Avenue
Sudbury, ON   P3A 5C1

Posted in: CHANGING MY ADDRESS OR MARITAL STATUS