Why You Should Always Ask For A Rent Receipt

When you do your taxes, complete the ON-BEN form and enter the total amount of rent you paid the previous year. You'll need to include the name of your landlord.

How much you receive depends on your age, marital status and rent amount, but you could receive as much as $1,307 a year if you are between 18 and 64, or $1,488 if you are 65 or older (2026 amounts; the current figures are on ontario.ca), divided among monthly payments on the 10th of each month. (If your total Ontario Trillium Benefit for the year is $500 or less, it is paid as a single amount in July instead. If it is more, you can ask for one lump sum, but then you'll have to wait until the following June to get it, so most people opt to receive it monthly.)

In Ontario, landlords are required to give you a rent receipt free of charge whenever you ask (section 109 of the Residential Tenancies Act), and that includes a receipt for your rent deposit, so don't be shy about asking. You don't send receipts in with your return, but the CRA can ask you to prove what you paid, and a cheque stub or e-transfer record on its own may not show the rental address or the landlord's name. A proper rent receipt should include the name of the landlord (an individual or company), contact information for the landlord, the address of the rental unit, the total amount of rent paid and the year - the same details you enter on the ON-BEN form.

If you have a roommate and your receipt shows the full amount of rent paid, simply include your share of the rent on the ON-BEN form.

If you didn't apply in past years, you can go back and claim your rent by filling out a T1 adjustment form and an ON-BEN form from the year or years you didn't claim. You'll need to submit rent receipts from past years.

Always keep copies of your rent receipts for at least six years. If you e-file your taxes, which most people do, the CRA may send you a letter requesting copies of the rent receipts to confirm that you're eligible for the tax credit.

The CRA only needs to see one receipt covering the whole year, if it asks at all, but you may opt to ask your landlord for a receipt each month. This helps protect you if there's ever a mix-up. It's your proof that you did, indeed, pay your rent.

It's very important to also get a receipt for your rent deposit, which in Ontario can be no more than one month's rent and must be applied to your last month's rent; your landlord has to give you a receipt for it on request. Proof of this payment can help protect you when you give your notice to move.

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