Line 15000 (formerly 150) on Your Tax Return

What is Line 15000 on My Tax Return?

Zeroing in on just one line of your tax return may seem like overkill, but not when it's as important as this part of your form. This article explains line 15000 (formerly line 150) of your T1 General tax return, which lists your total income before deductions—otherwise known as your gross income.

Line 15000 also includes not only your wages or salary from your T4–Statement of Remuneration Paid, but also income from other sources that you may have received. Because, often, what you make in a year can be more than just what your employer pays you hourly or yearly. So you'll want to get this number right to ensure you've filed your Canadian taxes correctly.

Here are the ins and outs of determining your full income for tax purposes.

Why you need to know your total income

There are many situations when the government, a bank, or another organization may need to know your total income or what’s listed on line 15000 of your last tax return. For example:

• For legal purposes, such as determining child or spousal support payments.

• For financial purposes, such as obtaining or refinancing a loan, line of credit, or mortgage.

• For signing up or logging into your CRA My Account online or if you call the CRA.

Understanding all possible sources of income on your tax return

Your total income is calculated based on your salary plus all other income types in “Step 2 - Total Income” of your T1 General tax return—and these sources can be vast and varied. The good news is, TurboTax software can do the heavy lifting here, adding up many of the income lines to come up with the total.

All common sources of income you have must be included when you calculate line 15000—your total income. (Note: These amounts are total amounts before any contributions you make to pensions, employment insurance, and other similar programs.)

Here's a line-by-line list of potential income that you may have and where to find the amounts:

• Line 10100 – Employment Income. From box 14 on your T4 – Statement of Remuneration slips.

• Line 10400 – Other Employment Income. Such as tips and gratuities, or casual income not reported on a T4.

• Line 11300 – OAS Benefits. Old Age Security (OAS), Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), or the Allowance from the T4A(OAS) – Statement of Old Age Security slip.

• Line 11400 – CPP or QPP Benefits. Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) benefits from your T4A(P) – Statement of Canada Pension Plan Benefits slips.

• Line 11500 – Other Pensions and Superannuation. You may receive a T4A – Statement of Pension Retirement, Annuity, or Other Income slip that tells you how much you received from a pension or superannuation.

• Line 11600 – Elected Split-Pension Amount. Eligible pension income includes income you receive from splitting your spouse or common-law partner’s pension.

• Line 11900 – Employment Insurance (EI) and Other Benefits. Benefits and assistance received from Employment Insurance (EI) and reported on T4E – Statement of Employment Insurance Benefits slip are entered here.

• Lines 12000 & 12010 – Taxable Amount of Dividends From Taxable Canadian Corporations. If you own a share of a Canadian corporation or the whole corporation and receive dividend income, you report that income here. You may receive a T5 – Statement of Investment Income in Canada for this type of income.

• Line 12100 – Interest and Other Investment Income. Although there are a few different types of slips that can be entered on this line, the most common is the T3 – Statement of Trust Income Allocations and Designations.

• Line 12200 – Net Partnership Income. Limited and non-active partners report their share of the net income from the T5013 – Statement of Partnership Income form here.

• Line 12500 – Registered Disability Savings Plan Income. If you received income from a Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP), report the amount from box 131 of the T4A slip here.

• Lines 12599 & 12600 – Rental income. If you receive income from rental properties, the net amount is reported here.

• Line 12700 – Taxable Capital Gains. If you profit from the sale of an investment or a property, the capital gains are included here. Any gains reported on a T5008 – Statement of Securities Transactions slip are also reported here.

• Lines 12799 & 12800 – Support Payments Received. This includes both child support and spousal support; but only the taxable amount is included here.

• Line 12900 – RRSP Income. Income from the T4RSP – Statement of Registered Retirement Savings Plan Income slip is entered here.

• Line 13000 – Other Income. This line covers other income that is not entered elsewhere on the tax return and may or may not be shown on a tax slip.

• Line 13010 – Taxable Scholarship, Fellowships, Bursaries, and Artists’ Project Grants. The taxable portion of scholarships, prizes, and awards is entered here.

• Lines 13499 to 14300 – Self-Employment Income. If you earn business income, professional income, commission income, farming income, or fishing income, report the net amount of your self-employment income here. Note that form T2125 informs these amounts. 

• Line 14700 – This is a subtotal line for the amounts below.

  Line 14400 – Workers' Compensation Benefits

  Line 14500 – Social Assistance Payments

  Line 14600 – Net Federal Supplements Paid

How to calculate line 15000 on your tax return

After seeing the list above, it may seem challenging to calculate your income. But now that you know what to look for and where to find it, it mainly comes down to some simple calculations. However, if you're using software like TurboTax—combined with the Auto-fill my return feature that connects directly to the CRA—it could literally be a snap. Because with CRA-certified software TurboTax, these amounts will populate automatically—and in the right places—on your T-slips.

A few more things to note: None of the sources of income above should be accounted for twice in the total amount on line 15000; so review your numbers carefully. Additionally, several of these sources of income may require you to attach other forms (if you’re filing via mail) and schedules to support your claims. Taking time to figure out what additional documents you may need to include with your return can make a difference.

Feel uneasy about calculating all of your sources of income?

TurboTax can be an expert in your corner, walking you through the process and making sure you have everything you need to file.

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