As Canadians gear up to fill out their tax forms by April 1, it’s worth learning more about the tax deductions that have been put in place by the federal government.

Tax deductions could be available to those who claim them, so I would encourage taxpayers to make sure they get what is owing to them for the year 2008. Our government has already reduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from seven to five percent, which saves every Canadian money at the point of purchase. This saving is transparent and easy to forget, but it does leave more of our hard-earned cash in our pockets every day.

You may also be eligible to claim the Goods and Services Tax. This credit is a tax-free quarterly payment that helps individuals and families with low and modest incomes offset all or part of the GST that they pay. To receive the GST credit, you have to apply for it, even if you received it last year.

You can claim eligible medical expenses paid for by you, your spouse or common-law partner for medical expenses. It also applies to children born in 1991 or later and who depended on you for support. You can claim medical expenses paid in any 12-month period ending in 2008 and not claimed in 2007. Generally, you can claim all amounts paid, even if they were not paid in Canada.

While farmers cannot deduct the cost of property when calculating net farming income for the year, they can deduct property costs over several years as equipment and buildings depreciate. The deduction for this is called capital cost allowance and could help farmers retain more money.

There is an opportunity to claim child care expenses, which are the amounts you or another person paid to have someone look after an eligible child. The child care would have to have enabled you or the other person to earn income from employment, carry on a business either alone or as an active partner, or attend school. It is a good idea to check out the fine print on who qualifies to claim this expense, which was introduced to help those who need it most.

The Child Disability Benefit is a tax-free benefit of up to $2,395 per year for each child under the age of 18 with a severe and prolonged impairment in mental or physical functions. A prolonged impairment is one that has lasted or can reasonably be expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months.

For senior citizens, pension income splitting allows spouses or common-law partners who are both at least 60 years of age to share up to 50 percent of their Canada Pension Plan retirement benefit. The split between the partners is determined by the number of years they lived together during the period they were required to contribute to the plan.

These are just a few of the tax deductions available to eligible Canadians to encourage them to keep more of the money they earned. For details on these and other tax deductions, call 1-800-267-6999 or follow the prompts on the Canada Revenue Agency website at www.cra-arc.gc.ca.

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The audio version of Garry's March 9, 2009 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here