How to Report T4A Box 105 on Your Tax Return

To report T4A Box 105 on your tax return, enter the amount on Line 13010 of your T1 after applying the scholarship exemption that matches your student status for the year. Full-time qualifying students at a designated educational institution usually owe nothing on this income. Part-time students get a partial exemption tied to their program costs. Everyone else, including postdoctoral fellows, gets only a $500 basic exemption, and the rest is taxable.¹

Box 105 covers scholarships, fellowships, bursaries, artists’ project grants, and prizes for achievement in a field you ordinarily work in.² Even if a T4A never reaches you, the reporting obligation stands. Check your CRA My Account or contact the payer if a slip you expected hasn’t arrived by the end of February.³

What You Need Before You File

Two documents drive the reporting. The T4A shows the Box 105 amount. The T2202 Tuition and Enrolment Certificate from your school confirms your months of enrollment and whether you were full-time or part-time, which is what determines your exemption.⁴ If you weren’t a student, you won’t have a T2202, and only the $500 basic exemption applies.

If you’re claiming the part-time or artist grant calculation, you’ll also want receipts for tuition, required program materials, or eligible expenses tied to the grant.

Figure Out How Much Is Taxable

Full-Time Qualifying Students

If you were enrolled full-time in a qualifying educational program at a designated educational institution, the entire Box 105 amount is exempt. The full exemption also applies if you were a qualifying student in the year immediately before or after receiving the payment, so a scholarship paid in a gap month before your program starts can still qualify.² A part-time student must spend at least 12 hours a month on courses to count as a qualifying student.⁵

Part-Time Qualifying Students

Part-time students get a partial exemption. It equals the lesser of the scholarship amount or your costs for tuition, fees, and required program materials. If the scholarship is larger than those costs, you can shelter up to another $500 of the excess under the basic scholarship exemption. What’s left is taxable.⁶

Take a $6,000 bursary against $4,500 in tuition and required materials. Program costs absorb $4,500. Of the remaining $1,500, the basic exemption covers $500. Total exempt: $5,000. Taxable: $1,000, reported on Line 13010.¹ If costs equal or exceed the award, nothing is taxable.

Non-Students and Postdoctoral Fellows

If you weren’t a qualifying student, only $500 is exempt. Every dollar above that is taxable on Line 13010.⁷

This is the boundary that catches postdoctoral fellows. The CRA does not treat a postdoctoral fellowship as enrollment in a qualifying educational program.⁷ A $45,000 postdoc fellowship in Box 105 leaves $44,500 taxable. If you’re moving from a graduate program into a postdoc, the tax treatment changes even though the funding may look similar.

Artists’ Project Grants

For a grant to produce a literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work, first subtract eligible expenses you incurred to fulfill the grant conditions, then apply the $500 basic exemption to what remains. An $8,000 grant with $2,000 in eligible expenses leaves $5,500 taxable after the basic exemption.⁸ The $500 is one annual limit across all your Box 105 income, not $500 per grant. Prizes for achievement work differently: no expense deduction, but the $500 basic exemption still applies.

Where the Number Goes on Your Return

The taxable portion of Box 105 income goes on Line 13010 of your T1 General. Certified tax software handles the exemption calculation once you enter the T4A and T2202 data, and files electronically through NETFILE.⁹ If you’re filing on paper, use the scholarship exemption worksheet in the T1 guide to work out the taxable portion before entering it on Line 13010.⁷

Full-time qualifying students whose entire amount is exempt still need to report the Box 105 figure and indicate the exemption. The software prompts for this; on paper, the worksheet produces a zero on Line 13010 rather than an omitted entry.

Filing Deadline

Your 2025 return is due April 30, 2026. If you or your spouse are self-employed, the filing deadline extends to June 15, 2026, but any balance owing still accrues interest from April 30.¹⁰

Common Mistakes That Trigger Penalties

The two most common errors are claiming the full-time student exemption when your T2202 shows part-time enrollment, and applying a student exemption to postdoctoral fellowship income. Both leave taxable amounts unreported.

If you fail to report $500 or more of income and also failed to report income in any of the three preceding tax years, the CRA charges a repeated-failure penalty equal to the lesser of 10% of the unreported amount or 50% of the resulting tax difference, with both federal and provincial penalties applying. If the CRA finds you knowingly made a false statement or showed gross negligence, the penalty is the greater of $100 or 50% of the understated tax.¹¹ Interest runs on both the unpaid tax and the penalty. Working out the correct exemption at filing time is far cheaper than correcting it later.

1
Canada Revenue Agency. P105 – Students and Income Tax 2025
2
Justice Laws Website. Income Tax Act RSC 1985 c 1 (5th Supp) – Section 56
3
Canada Revenue Agency. Distribute the Slips
4
Canada.ca. T2202 Tuition and Enrolment Certificate
5
Justice Laws Website. Income Tax Act RSC 1985 c 1 (5th Supp) – Section 118.6
6
Canada Revenue Agency. Scholarship Exemption – Part-time Enrolment
7
Canada Revenue Agency. Taxable Scholarships, Fellowships, Bursaries, and Artists’ Project Grants
8
Canada Revenue Agency. Artists’ Project Grants
9
Canada Revenue Agency. NETFILE – Tax Software for Filing Personal Taxes
10
Canada Revenue Agency. Due Dates and Payment Dates – Personal Income Tax
11
Canada Revenue Agency. False Reporting or Repeated Failure to Report Income