I am a Canadian living in Canada.  This question is regarding Canadian
personal taxation.  I will be entitled to an individual tax refund
for the year 2002 but the provincial government has placed a claim
against any refund.  I am disputing that I owe them anything at all. 
Can I avoid my refund being lost to me if my partner claims me as a
dependant instead of the other way around?

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Clarification of Question by canajun-ga on 15 Jan 2003 09:38 PST

I am a 58 year old Canadian citizen who draws a modest penson.  My
partner worked fulltime for most of 2002.  I would like to know (a)
if/how I can prevent my anticipated refund from being claimed by the
provincial government and (b)whether my partners refund would be
subject to this claim if my patner was to file an income tax return
claiming me as a dependent?

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Clarification of Question by canajun-ga on 16 Jan 2003 07:16 PST

To clarify, my partner is, in fact, my common-law spouse.

What's your age?

I am 58 years old

I AM NOT A TAX LAWYER,

however, I would comment that usually, in the tax returns I've filed
for friends and family, the followingL

You mention partner as in spouse or common-law spouse. In most cases
neither of you can claim the other as a "dependant". Depending on the
actual situation, and both persons' ages, mental and physical
condition, one may be able to claim the other as an equivalent to
spouse, or as a caretaker.
In these situations, or even if one of you is claimed as a dependant,
it doesn't generally move one person's tax refund to another person.
It just effects the total refund for each person, because some credits
can be allocated differently, or the tax brackets may shift. Your
refund would still be your refund.

I can end with two pieces of advice:

1) Canada Customs and Revenue operates a tax information line. I
couldn't find it at their site http://www.ccra-ardc.gc.ca so it might
only be up closer to tax time.

2) I had a claim filed against me to withhold my entire refund by the
Province of BC. For some reason, my refund was paid out anyway. This
may happen to you.