Section 118.02 — Income Tax Act: Definitions

The following definitions apply in this section. digital news subscription , of an individual with a qualified Canadian journalism organization, means an agreement entered into between the individual and the qualified Canadian journalism organization, if the agreement entitles an individual to access content of the qualified Canadian journalism organization in digital form and that content is primarily written news; and the qualified Canadian journalism organization does not hold a licence as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Broadcasting Act . ( abonnement aux nouvelles numériques ) qualifying subscription expense , for a taxation year, means the amount paid in the year for a digital news subscription of an individual with a qualified Canadian journalism organization and, for this purpose, if the digital news subscription provides access to content in non-digital form or content other than content of qualified Canadian journalism organizations, the amount considered to be paid for the digital news subscription shall not exceed the cost of a comparable digital news subscription with the qualified Canadian journalism organization that solely provides access to content of qualified Canadian journalism organizations in digital form;

and if there is no such comparable digital news subscription, 1/2 of the amount actually paid. ( dépense pour abonnement admissible ) For the purpose of computing the tax payable under this Part by an individual for a taxation year that is before 2025, there may be deducted the amount determined by the formula A × B where A is the appropriate percentage for the year; and B is the lesser of $500, and the total of all amounts each of which is a qualifying subscription expense of the individual for the year. If more than one individual is entitled to a deduction under this section for a taxation year in respect of a qualifying subscription expense, the total of all amounts so deductible shall not exceed the maximum amount that would be so deductible for the year by any one of those individuals in respect of the qualifying subscription expense, if that individual were the only individual entitled to deduct an amount for the year under this section, and if the individuals cannot agree as to what portion of the amount each can so deduct, the Minister may fix the portions. For the purposes of subsection (1), if amounts paid under an agreement cease to be qualifying subscription expenses at any particular time in a calendar year and, at the particular time, the Minister has communicated or otherwise made available pursuant to paragraph 241(3.4)(b) that these amounts qualify as qualifying subscription expenses, amounts paid under that agreement are deemed to be qualifying subscription expenses —

to the same extent that the amounts paid were considered to be qualifying subscription expenses immediately before the particular time — until the end of the calendar year in which the Minister communicates or otherwise makes available pursuant to paragraph 241(3.4)(b) that amounts paid under the agreement no longer qualify as qualifying subscription expenses. If an organization enters into a digital news subscription agreement with an individual and amounts paid under the agreement cease to be qualifying subscription expenses, the organization shall inform the individual that amounts paid under the agreement are no longer qualifying subscription expenses.