Tax · Students & Parents
Tuition transfer to a parent/grandparent calculator.
The companion to our federal Tuition Tax Credit calculator, from the RECEIVING parent or grandparent's side: how much of a student's tuition can move to your return, and what it's worth.
A student can transfer up to $5,000 of their CURRENT year's federal tuition amount to one designated person — a spouse/common-law partner, or a parent or grandparent (theirs or their spouse's) — but only AFTER using whatever amount they need to reduce their own federal tax to zero.
Inputs
Transfer to you (line 32400)
Fill the form and press Calculate.
How the transfer actually works
The student must claim their own current year's eligible tuition amount first — but only up to whatever amount reduces THEIR OWN federal tax payable to zero. They can't choose to use less just to hand you more. Whatever CURRENT YEAR amount remains after that, up to a $5,000 cap, can be transferred to ONE person: their spouse or common-law partner, or a parent or grandparent (either the student's own, or their spouse's). Anything beyond the $5,000 cap, or left over after a full $5,000 transfer, stays with the student and carries forward on THEIR return for a future year — it cannot also be carried forward by you.
Only one designated person, and one exception
The student designates a SINGLE recipient for a given year's transfer — not split between a spouse and a parent. A student cannot transfer to a parent or grandparent at all if their spouse or common-law partner is separately claiming the spousal amount for the student, or an amount transferred from the student, on the spouse's own return.
Source, fetched 29 September 2026: CRA — Transferring and carrying forward amounts (line 32300 family, covers the line 32400 transfer). The 14% federal lowest-bracket rate (2026) used to value the transfer matches the figure already independently verified in this site's Federal Tuition Tax Credit calculator and Disability Tax Credit estimator.
Frequently asked questions
Can a grandparent receive the transfer directly, or does it have to go through a parent?
A grandparent can receive it directly — CRA's rule names "parent or grandparent" as an eligible recipient on equal footing, not grandparent-via-parent.
Can we split the $5,000 between two grandparents?
No — the student designates one recipient for the year's transfer.
What if the student's tuition amount already includes a carry-forward from last year?
Only the CURRENT year's amount is eligible for transfer. A carried-forward amount from a prior year can only be claimed by the student themselves, or carried forward again to a future year.
Does this work for provincial tuition credits too?
This tool is FEDERAL ONLY. Provinces set their own tuition transfer rules and rates — check your province's tax package separately.
Estimate only — not a filed return
This tool applies the published $5,000 federal transfer cap and the "student's own use first" rule, and values the transfer at the 14% (2026) lowest federal rate. It does not model provincial tuition transfer amounts, the restriction on transferring when a spouse separately claims spousal/transferred amounts, or a mid-year change in either return's tax bracket. File Schedule 11 (student) and the parent/grandparent's own Schedule 1/11 with your actual figures, or use a tax professional, for a real filing.