Line 31000 on your tax return is where you report base Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan contributions on self-employment income and other earnings that weren’t already deducted by an employer.1Canada Revenue Agency. Line 31000 – Base CPP or QPP Contributions on Self-Employment Income and Other Earnings If you came here looking for the age credit for seniors, that’s a different line: Line 30100. Both sit in Step 5 of the T1 (federal non-refundable tax credits), which is why the two get confused.
What Line 31000 Is For
Line 31000 captures the base portion of your CPP or QPP contributions on self-employment income and certain other earnings. You calculate the figure on Schedule 8, or on Form RC381 if Quebec is involved, and carry the result to Line 31000. A matching provincial or territorial credit is claimed on Line 58280 of your provincial Form 428.1Canada Revenue Agency. Line 31000 – Base CPP or QPP Contributions on Self-Employment Income and Other Earnings
If that’s the line you actually need, Schedule 8 (or RC381) does the work. The rest of this page covers Line 30100, the Age Amount, since most people searching for “line 31000” are trying to find the senior’s credit and mistaking the number.
Line 30100: The Age Amount
The Age Amount is a federal non-refundable tax credit for seniors. For the 2025 tax year (filed in 2026), the maximum base is $9,028. Because it’s non-refundable, it can bring your federal tax down to zero but won’t produce a refund on its own.2Canada Revenue Agency. Age Amount – Personal Income Tax
The credit is set out in subsection 118(2) of the Income Tax Act, which also authorizes annual indexation of the dollar figures.3Justice Laws Website. Income Tax Act – Section 118 The 2026 federal indexation factor is roughly 1.02, so next year’s numbers will be slightly higher once CRA publishes them.
Who Qualifies
You can claim the Age Amount if both apply:
- You were 65 or older on December 31 of the tax year.
- Your net income on Line 23600 is below the upper threshold, which is $105,709 for 2025.2Canada Revenue Agency. Age Amount – Personal Income Tax
If a person dies during the year and would have turned 65 by December 31, the age condition is treated as met, and the legal representative can claim the credit on the final return.
How the Amount Is Calculated
The calculation starts with your net income on Line 23600.4Canada Revenue Agency. Line 23600 – Net Income Using the 2025 figures:
- Net income of $45,522 or less: you claim the full $9,028.
- Net income between $45,522 and $105,709: the base is reduced by 15 cents for every dollar above $45,522. The chart for Line 30100 on the Federal Worksheet walks through the math.
- Net income of $105,709 or more: the credit is fully clawed back to zero.2Canada Revenue Agency. Age Amount – Personal Income Tax
The figure you land on isn’t the tax reduction itself. It’s a base that then gets multiplied by 15%, the lowest federal tax rate, to produce the actual dollar reduction in your federal tax. Certified tax software runs this automatically once you enter your date of birth and income.
Transferring an Unused Amount to a Spouse
If your income is low enough that you don’t need the full Age Amount to zero out your federal tax, your spouse or common-law partner can claim the unused portion. The transfer goes on Line 32600 of the spouse’s return, using Schedule 2.5Canada Revenue Agency. Line 32600 – Amounts Transferred from Your Spouse or Common-Law Partner
The claiming spouse has to report their partner’s net income and marital status on page 1 of their own return, even when that net income is zero. A provincial version exists too, calculated on Schedule S2 and entered on Line 58640 of the provincial Form 428.
One restriction to know: if you and your spouse were separated because of a relationship breakdown for 90 days or more, including December 31, the transfer isn’t available.5Canada Revenue Agency. Line 32600 – Amounts Transferred from Your Spouse or Common-Law Partner
Provincial and Territorial Age Amounts
Every province and territory except Quebec offers its own age amount on top of the federal credit, claimed on Line 58080 of your provincial or territorial Form 428. Quebec runs a separate credit through Revenu Québec. The numbers vary a lot from one jurisdiction to another. For 2025, Ontario tops out at $6,223 if net income is $46,330 or less, with the reduction running to $87,817. Nunavut goes as high as $12,303 for income of $45,522 or less, tapering to $127,542. Manitoba’s maximum is $3,728 at $27,749 or below, gone by $52,602.2Canada Revenue Agency. Age Amount – Personal Income Tax
The provincial credit uses the same Line 23600 net income but its own base and thresholds. Tax software handles both once your province of residence is set correctly.
Part-Year Residents
If you moved to or from Canada during the tax year, both the Age Amount base and the income threshold are prorated by the number of days you were a Canadian resident, divided by the days in the year.6Canada Revenue Agency. Federal Non-Refundable Tax Credits for Newcomers and Emigrants The 15% clawback then applies to net income during residency that exceeds the prorated threshold. Someone who arrived July 1 would get roughly half the maximum base and half the threshold.