The Relevé 8 tax form is the Quebec slip your school issues each year to report the tuition and examination fees you paid for post-secondary or recognized vocational studies. You use it to claim a non-refundable tax credit on your provincial return that reduces the Quebec income tax you owe. If the credit is larger than your tax bill, you can carry the unused fees forward with no expiry, or transfer part of the amount to a parent or grandparent.1Revenu Québec. Tax Credit for Tuition or Examination Fees
What the Slip Shows and Who Gets One
Box A is the field that matters. It shows the total tuition or examination fees you paid for enrollment in a recognized program.2Revenu Québec. RL-8 Slip: Amount for Post-Secondary Studies Only mandatory educational fees count. Student association dues, medical services, meals, lodging, transportation, and parking are excluded. Your Social Insurance Number also appears on the slip so Revenu Québec can match it to your file.
Schools designated by the Ministère de l’Éducation or the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur must file RL-8 slips for eligible students, which covers universities, CEGEPs, and approved private vocational schools. The slip is issued for students in full-time vocational training at the secondary level and full-time post-secondary studies. Institutions typically make slips available by the end of February, usually through the school’s secure student portal.
When you receive the slip, check the Box A amount against your invoices or bank records. If something is wrong, contact the registrar or student accounts office and ask for a corrected slip before you file.
How to Claim the Credit on Your Quebec Return
The credit is non-refundable, which means it can bring your provincial tax down to zero but won’t produce a refund on its own.1Revenu Québec. Tax Credit for Tuition or Examination Fees For students with little income, that usually means the credit will actually pay off in a later year, not the year you’re claiming.
To claim it, complete Schedule T and file it with your TP-1 return. The credit amount goes on line 398.3Revenu Québec. Tax Credit for Tuition or Examination Fees Most tax software imports the RL-8 and fills in Schedule T automatically; verify the amounts against your slip anyway.
You can claim eligible tuition or examination fees paid for any taxation year after 1996, provided those fees have never been used to calculate the credit before.1Revenu Québec. Tax Credit for Tuition or Examination Fees Forgotten fees from a prior year aren’t lost.
Carrying Unused Fees Forward
If your credit is bigger than your tax owing, the unused portion carries forward. Eligible fees from 1997 onward can be carried to any future tax year, with no expiry.3Revenu Québec. Tax Credit for Tuition or Examination Fees One threshold applies: only fees totaling more than $100 for a given year can be included in the carry-forward calculation.
Here’s the step people skip. You must complete Schedule T and file it every year, even in years you’re not claiming the credit.1Revenu Québec. Tax Credit for Tuition or Examination Fees Schedule T is what tracks your cumulative balance of unused fees at Revenu Québec. Skip a year, and there’s no official record of what you’re entitled to carry forward. File the schedule even if you owe no tax and expect no refund.
Transferring the Credit to a Parent or Grandparent
When you can’t use the full credit yourself, part of it may transfer to a family member. The rules depend on your age.3Revenu Québec. Tax Credit for Tuition or Examination Fees If you’re under 18, the Box A amount can be claimed by the person reporting an amount for a child under 18 enrolled in post-secondary studies, typically a parent. If you’re 18 or older, you complete Schedule S to determine whether you can transfer an amount representing the recognized parental contribution to a parent.
You do the calculation on Schedule T. The family member receiving the transfer claims it through Part D of Schedule A on their own TP-1 return. Fees you transfer cannot also be carried forward, so it’s one or the other for that portion. Run the numbers both ways before deciding, since the better choice depends on the family’s overall tax picture.
If Your RL-8 Doesn’t Arrive
Check the student portal first. Many institutions post slips digitally before, or instead of, mailing paper copies. If nothing is posted, contact the registrar or student accounts office directly. Schools are required to issue the slip, so a missing one is usually an administrative delay.
You can still file your Quebec return without the physical slip, using your tuition receipts and payment confirmations to enter the correct amounts. Keep your RL-8 slips and school payment records for at least six years, since Revenu Québec can revisit prior years and may request supporting documents.