T1157: Election for Child Support Payments
Form T1157 is the joint election a payer and recipient use to change how child support payments made under a pre-May 1997 order or agreement are treated for tax.
This is the genuine CRA PDF, unmodified. Source: CRA official page.
What is T1157?
T1157, Election for Child Support Payments, lets the payer and recipient jointly elect to apply the current child support tax rules to payments made under a court order or written agreement dated before May 1997. Under the current rules, child support is generally not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient.
This is a dynamic (XFA) PDF built for Adobe Acrobat Reader and will not fill in a browser or a basic PDF viewer, so download it and open it in the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. The form identifies the payer and recipient, the order or agreement, and the date the new tax treatment is to start, and both parties must sign it.
Who files T1157?
- Payers of child support under a court order or written agreement dated before May 1997
- Recipients of that child support who agree to change the tax treatment
- Former spouses or partners who want current child support tax rules to apply
- Both parties together, since the election requires both signatures
How to fill out T1157
- Download the T1157 and open it in the free Adobe Acrobat Reader; it will not fill in a browser.
- Enter the payer and recipient names, social insurance numbers, and contact details.
- Identify the court order or written agreement and the date the current tax rules should start to apply.
- Both the payer and recipient sign and date the election.
- Send the completed T1157 to the CRA as directed on the form.
Get T1157
This is a dynamic PDF from CRA: it only fills in correctly in Adobe Acrobat Reader, so there is no in-browser fill here. Download the genuine T1157 below and open it in the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to complete and save it.
Download the official T1157 PDFFrequently asked questions
When do I need the T1157?
You need it when your child support is paid under an order or agreement dated before May 1997 and you and the other party want the current tax rules (support not deductible and not taxable) to apply from a chosen date.
Can one parent file the T1157 alone?
No. It is a joint election, so both the payer and the recipient must sign the same form before it is sent to the CRA.