Year End Tax Tip: Write Off Your Digital News Subscription

Evelyn Jacks

Did you know that effective starting in 2020 and before 2025, it’s possible to write off your digital news subscription as a non-refundable tax credit?  Did you miss writing it off in the past couple of years?  You can adjust your tax returns back to 2020 and get a tax refund.  Here are the details:

Individuals are eligible to claim a non-refundable tax credit for 15% of up to $500 paid for eligible digital news subscriptions in the tax year.  This includes subscriptions to local publications and national ones like the National Post or Globe and Mail.

An eligible digital news subscription is a subscription that allows the taxpayer access to content provided in digital form by a Qualified Canadian Journalist Organization (QCJO) that is primarily engaged in the production of written content. Specifically ,to qualify for the credit, the digital news subscription must provide content in a digital form that is primarily written news.

According to the CRA, a must submit Form T622, Digital News Subscription Tax Credit – Eligible Subscription to qualify. Taxpayers should look for eligible subscription names on CRA's List of qualifying digital news subscriptions. 

Where the subscription includes content not in digital format, the claim may not exceed the cost of a comparable digital-only subscription.  Where there is no comparable subscription, only 50% of the cost may be claimed.

This credit may also be split between taxpayers.  The claim is made on Line 31350 of the tax return for the years 2020 to 2024.  The maximum credit is the total of all qualifying subscription costs for the year up to $500 time 15%. . . so $75; not a whole lot. But if you missed it for 3 years, that’s another $225 – enough for groceries for a couple of days!

Make a Difference:  Even the small amounts of tax benefits can add up to make change to a family’s monthly income.  The digital news subscription tax credit is one of those little gems.