A recent study has told us that Canadians are getting less healthy and bigger as the years go on. One out of every four people in the country are obese and it is estimated that more than $1.6 billion is spent annually on health costs associated with this epidemic. These range from average people living and working in places like Ajax real estate to children in smaller communities throughout the country. In an effort to curb these numbers, the Canadian government has started to offer a fitness tax credit to encourage parents to place their children in extra curricular sports and exercise programs. There are also several proposals that believe it would be beneficial to extend this credit to adults.

On your annual taxes you are able to claim up to five hundred dollars per child for expenses spent on exercise and sports. But these need to be a part of a prescribed program to be eligible. Children must be under the age of sixteen or eighteen if they have a recognized disability. For children with disabilities an extra five hundred dollars can be claimed. The tax applies to activities that you have paid for by the end of that tax year. For example, if you were to sign your fifteen year old daughter up for classes at a gym near your Windsor Ontario homes and paid for September to April all at once you could claim all of that for the year that you paid the bill.

A prescribed program is one that lasts for at least eight weeks, is supervised, suitable for children, and includes a significant amount of physical activity. This means that it must have some level of cardiovascular endurance as well as incorporate muscular strength, balance, flexibility, and/or muscular endurance. If you're looking at the community centre schedule near your home at 10 Avoca Avenue things that would apply would be dance classes, organized sports, karate training, or swimming lessons, to name a few.

There are some activities that some might consider physical activity that don't qualify for the tax credit. The activity can't focus on riding on a motorized vehicle, be self-directed, or be part of a class at school. But if your child is one of the kids living in homes in Richmond Hill that makes their school team and there is a fee for joining than that is an expense you can claim.

Fitness experts are now saying that there could be major benefits to extending this credit to adults and could save the government as much as $2.5 billion over the next twenty years. If you're living in Toronto condos or a home in Vancouver and believe that this is an issue that is important to you, you should contact your local national government representative.