Maria had a net income of $8,234. Since she could make no deductions, this was also her taxable income. This isn't always the case, so make sure you use the correct income figure when you do the math for your own provincial credits.

Let's imagine that Maria is married and her husband's net income is $15,766. (This will give us an easy number to work with when we combine their two incomes.) They paid $700 a month in rent. Their property tax was paid by their landlord and was included in the rent. They have lived at 950 Willow Street, Apt. 203, Smallville, Ontario L4G 1B5 for the last three years. They are both under 65 years of age.

Maria lets her husband fill in the credits form, so his net income goes on line 1. Maria's income goes on line 2. When they add these two amounts, this is the income that their credits are based on.

The income they will use to calculate their Ontario property and sales tax credits is $24,000. This is the amount to enter on line 3.

The next thing to do is to work out their property tax credits. If you pay rent, it goes on line 4. If you pay property taxes, that goes on line 5. If you are a student living in residence, you can claim $25 on line 6. Maria and her husband rent their apartment, so they enter their rent on line 4.

How much rent did Maria and her husband pay during the year? If they paid $700 a month, that means they paid $8,400 a year in rent. They have to enter 20% of this on line 4.

You remember that 20% of something means 20% X the amount.
Maria's husband uses his calculator to find 20% X $8,400.

The decimal for 20% is .20, so Maria's husband enters .20, then a multiplication sign, and then 8400. Since this is a multiplication problem, it doesn't matter which number is entered first.

This is the amount to enter on line 4.

They didn't pay separate property taxes, and neither of them lived in a student residence. They can put a zero on lines 5 and 6. When they add zero and $1,680, they get $1,680. This is the amount to enter on line 7. This is their occupancy cost - the amount they pay as rent or property taxes for the place they occupy, or live in.

The next line, line 8, is where you have to make sure you enter the right numbers. Maria and her husband are both under 65, so they follow the first instruction:

If under age 65: Enter the amount from line 7 or $250 whichever is less. Unfortunately, $250 is less than $1,680, so $250 is what they have to enter on line 8.