Caregiver Tax Credit Uptake in Canada between 1998–2015: An Analysis of the Longitudinal Administrative Databank

Given the high number of caregivers in Canada and the association between caregiving and financial and economic burden, this study investigates federal caregiver supports. Using annual tax data from Statistics Canada’s Longitudinal Administrative Databank (LAD), the paper employs descriptive statistics to calculate the uptake of these credits between 1998 and 2015 by socio-demographic subgroups of the sample tax filer population. It assesses if the rates of uptake match the profile of caregivers in Canada. On average, married, working-age, immigrant, 99th percentile earning males in large urban areas have the highest rates. We propose that caregiver-related tax policy would benefit from a campaign of better awareness among persons who are providing care to a family member or friend. In particular, those of lower socio-economic status would benefit from such a campaign given that credits are being claimed mostly by higher income tax filers.