Line 232 - Legal fees

You can deduct your expenses in any of the following situations:

• You paid fees (including any related accounting fees) for advice or assistance in responding to us when we reviewed your income, deductions, or credits for a year or in objecting to or appealing an assessment or decision under the Income Tax Act, the Unemployment Insurance Act, the Employment Insurance Act, the Canada Pension Plan, or the Quebec Pension Plan.
  
  
• You paid fees to collect (or establish a right to) a retiring allowance or pension benefit. However, you can only claim up to the amount of retiring allowance or pension income you received in the year, minus any part of these amounts transferred to a registered retirement savings plan or registered pension plan. You can carry forward, for up to seven years, legal fees that you cannot claim in the year.
  
  
• You incurred certain fees to try to make child support payments non-taxable. Fees relating to support payments that your current or former spouse or common-law partner, or the natural parent of your child paid to you must be deducted on line 221. You cannot claim legal fees you paid to get a separation or divorce or to establish custody of or visitation arrangements for a child. For more information, see Guide P102, Support Payments.

Note
If you pay support, you cannot claim legal costs incurred to establish, negotiate, or contest the amount of support payments.

You can also deduct on line 229 legal fees you paid to collect (or establish a right to) salary or wages. It is not necessary for you to be successful; however, the amount sought must be for salary or wages owed. You must reduce your claim by any amount awarded to you in respect of those fees or any reimbursement you received for your legal expenses.

Under proposed changes, you can deduct legal fees you paid to collect or establish a right to collect other amounts that must be included in employment income even if they are not directly paid by your employer. These fees must be deducted on line 229.

You have to reduce your claim by any award or reimbursements you received for these expenses. If you are awarded the cost of your deductible legal fees in a future year, you will have to include that amount in your income for that year.

For more information about other legal fees you may be able to deduct, see Interpretation Bulletin IT-99, Legal and Accounting Fees.

Completing your tax return

Enter on line 232 or line 229, the allowable amount of legal fees.

Supporting documents

If you are filing electronically or filing a paper return
Do not send any documents. Keep all your documents in case we ask to see them at a later date.

Forms and publications

• General Income Tax and Benefit Package - Guide, return and schedules
• IT-99, Legal and Accounting Fees
• Guide P102, Support Payments

Related topics

• Line 229 - Other employment expenses