Good-Bye Student Loan!

Funny story: the Government of Canada issued me a tax refund check. For tax year 2000. For roughly twenty-eight thousand dollars! Whoa, good-bye student loan payments!

How did this come about?

Well, a couple years ago I was working in Anguilla. It was only for a short period of time, and I was pretty surprised when I got back to Canada and I had to pay tax (given that I’d been out of the country for the majority of the year). Though I looked through all the documentation, I was pretty sure I had to pay the tax – so I rolled up my sleeves and paid it over the next year. Ouch.

Then in 2002 I got a notice from Revenue Canada regarding the GST credit (in Canada, you get a refund for Goods and Services Tax if you’re in a low income bracket). Previously, you had to specifically apply for a GST credit, but that year they started automatically checking GST credit eligibility for everyone who filed a tax return. Two months after I filed my tax return and had already gotten my refund, I received my GST credit notice which stated:

Please keep this notice for your records

We have established that you are not eligible for the GST/HST credit because:

– you are not a resident of Canada.

“Hmm…interesting – because that’s what I thought too!” I thought, “So how about you give me all my damn tax money back?”

And now, after a bunch of adjustment filings, updates, and a strike by the union responsible for processing the paperwork, I got the money back. With interest (at a better rate, I might add, than any bank account).

Now, if only we could just finish putting the Sauder School of Business through the legal wringer for breach of contract (they quadrupled the MBA tuition, among other things), the majority of that money would end up back in my long-term savings.