How to claim your Ontario Staycation Tax Credit and get money back

With tax season fast approaching, here’s a reminder to apply for the refundable Ontario Staycation Tax Credit when filing your personal income tax, so you can get some money back on your return.

If you’re an Ontario resident and stayed at eligible lodging within the province in 2022, you could get back up to 20% of your Ontario accommodation expenses, claiming up to $1,000.

Staycation Tax Credit Ontario 2022:
Dig out those receipts for every HOTEL, AIRBNB, VRBO you stayed at in 2022 and include them in your income tax paperwork to your tax preparer! It’s a ‘refundable tax credit’ so even if you don’t pay taxes, you are eligible for some fund back!

— Instaccountant 🍁 (@1instaccountant) January 18, 2023

Those with a spouse, common-law partner, or children can claim up to $2,000 as a family. That’s a credit of $400 just for vacationing within Ontario.

Who is eligible for the credit?

The credit applies to leisurely stays in the province between January 1 and December 31, 2022, and includes Airbnb rentals.

To be eligible, you must have been an Ontario resident on December 31, 2022, and the expenses must meet the following requirements:

• The stay was less than a month at an eligible accommodation such as a hotel, motel, resort, lodge, bed-and-breakfast establishment, cottage, campground, or vacation rental property in Ontario
• Stay occurred between January 1 and December 31 of 2022
• The stay was for leisure purposes (expenses incurred for educational or business purposes do not qualify)
• The accommodation was paid for by the Ontario tax filer, their spouse or common-law partner, or their eligible child as set out on a detailed receipt provided by the supplier that is registered for the GST and HST

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• You can get a tax credit for taking a staycation in Ontario next year

How to claim the credit when filing

When you go to file your personal income tax, make sure you have your detailed travel receipts to submit for stays within Ontario in 2022.

When filing your Personal Income Tax and Benefit Return for 2022, you’ll see the Ontario Staycation tax credit on form ON479. The refundable credit will appear on your Federal tax return.

The credit is not being renewed

Unfortunately, the Ford government ended the Ontario Staycation Tax Credit for 2023. The Ontario Minister of Tourism, Neil Lumsden, said it was a temporary one-year measure to help the industry recover after being hit hard by lockdowns.

Tourism operators and opposition critics have called for its extension, and are disappointed the credit was not renewed. The tourism sector is still struggling to come back to pre-pandemic levels, and such an incentive would continue to help bolster the industry.