Line 255 - Do you qualify for the northern residents deductions?

To qualify for northern residents deductions, you must have lived, on a permanent basis, in a prescribed northern or intermediate zone for a continuous period of at least six consecutive months.

This period can begin or end in the tax year specified on Form T2222, Northern Residents Deductions.

Publication T4039, Northern Residents Deductions - Places in Prescribed Zones, lists the places in the prescribed northern and prescribed intermediate zones.

Deduction limits - If you lived in a prescribed northern zone (Zone A), you can claim full northern residents deductions. If you lived in a prescribed intermediate zone (Zone B), you can claim one-half of the deductions.

Deceased individuals - A person who died in the year qualifies if he or she lived in a prescribed zone for six months or more before the date of death.

Moving - Your period of residency is not affected if you moved from one place in a prescribed zone directly to another place in a prescribed zone.

Absences from a prescribed zone - If you lived in a prescribed zone on a permanent basis, absences from a prescribed zone do not usually affect your period of residency. If you lived in a prescribed zone for work-related reasons (while your principal place of residence was not in a prescribed zone), you may have lived in the prescribed zone on a temporary basis only and therefore may not qualify for the deduction.

To determine whether you lived in the prescribed zone on a permanent or a temporary basis, we consider the number of your absences from the prescribed zone and the purpose and length of your absences.

Note
If you have not lived in a prescribed zone for continuous periods of at least six consecutive months at the time you file your return, you do not yet qualify. File your return without making the claim. When you qualify, you can ask us to adjust your return. To do so, follow the instructions in the General Income Tax and Benefit Guide under the heading "After you file".

Forms and publications

• General Income Tax and Benefit Package - Guide, Return, and Schedules
• Publication T4039, Northern Residents Deductions - Places in Prescribed Zones
• Form T2222, Northern Residents Deductions

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