Ask Allan Forum
Get expert answers to your tax questions straight from Allan, our owner and experienced CPA. It’s free, direct, and designed to help you make the best decisions when it comes to your taxes.
I used to live with my parents. I did not own the house. They used to own the house and pay Property tax on it.
Suppose the property tax was - $ 3,000. They would show property tax as $ 2,000 on their return and I would show $1,000 on my return. So as a family we did not claim more.
But now I realised I should not how claimed OEPTC for those years as I did not own the principal residence, but parents did.
I claimed it for 5 years - 2020,2021,2022,2023 & 2024.
How do I return this back? What is the quickest and easiest way to do it?
1. Call CRA . Will the Call center agent be able to fix this just over the phone? Or they will just ask me to ReFILE or something?
2. REFILE using tax software for the 5 years and remove OEPTC claim from it?
3. Use Change My Return in My CRA account and remove OEPTC claim from it? Can you even do that in Change My Return? Do T1-ADJ1 online to remove OEPTC claim? Or ONLY certain lines can be changed in Change My Return online?
4. Paper file T1-ADJ for 5 years and physically mail it to the tax centre to remove OEPTC?
Thanks.
Hi Orfi,
Thank you for your message.
You're correct that to be eligible for the Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit (OEPTC), you must have paid property tax on a principal residence that you own or rent. Since you lived in your parents’ home and did not own the property, you were unfortunately not eligible to claim the OEPTC for those years.
To correct this and repay the amounts claimed in error for the years 2020 through 2024, here are your best options:
✅ Recommended Steps
1. Use “Change My Return” on CRA My Account
- This is the quickest and most straightforward method.
- You can log into your CRA My Account, navigate to “Change My Return,” and remove the OEPTC claim from each relevant year.
- You’ll need to adjust Schedule ON-BEN for each year and delete the property tax portion that was claimed in error.
- Most lines on ON-BEN are eligible for online adjustment, including the OEPTC claim.
2. REFILE Using Tax Software (if available)
- If you used certified tax software and it supports ReFILE, you can make the correction there for 2020 and later.
- ReFILE may be more efficient for some years, but not all tax software supports it for every year or every form.
3. File a T1-ADJ Paper Form (if needed)
- If “Change My Return” or ReFILE doesn’t work for some years or if your changes are too complex, you can complete and mail Form T1-ADJ for each tax year.
- You would check the box to indicate you're adjusting the ON-BEN form and include an explanation (e.g., “Claimed OEPTC in error as I did not own the home”).
4. Contact CRA (Optional)
- While CRA agents can guide you, they cannot usually make these corrections over the phone. They will likely direct you to use one of the above methods.
💰 Repayment
Once the changes are processed, CRA will reassess your returns and issue Notice of Reassessments for each year. You’ll then receive instructions on how to repay the overpaid amounts.
Let me know if you’d like help preparing the adjustments or submitting the T1-ADJ forms.