Inspiration
Many Canadians, especially newcomers and low-income families, struggle to know which government benefits they are eligible for. Filling out forms is confusing and time-consuming. I wanted to create a simple AI-powered tool that instantly checks eligibility and explains it in human-friendly language.
What it does
The Canadian Tax & Benefits AI Eligibility Checker allows users to input details like age, income, province, marital status, number of kids, disability, and newcomer status. The app:
Calculates eligibility for benefits like GST/HST, Canada Child Benefit, Canada Workers Benefit, Disability Tax Credit, OAS, and Climate Action Incentive
Provides a human-readable AI summary explaining why users qualify or not
Uses OpenRouter gpt-4o-mini as primary AI, with LM Studio fallback
How we built it
Next.js for frontend and backend
OpenRouter API for AI-generated explanations
LM Studio as fallback AI
JSON-based rule engine to encode Canadian benefit rules
Fully deployable on Vercel with /api/check route
Challenges we ran into
OpenRouter API rate limits and key authorization issues → fallback to LM Studio
Multiple benefits with different rules and exceptions → built structured JSON rule engine
Integrating AI responses with Next.js backend in real-time
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Created a fully functional hackathon-ready app in under a week
AI summaries are clear, accurate, and human-readable
Integrated primary + fallback AI seamlessly
JSON rule engine makes it easy to extend for future benefits
What we learned
How to combine multiple AI models in a single workflow
Building JSON-driven business logic for real-world use
Importance of fast deployment and user-friendly design
Handling API failures and fallbacks efficiently
What's next for Canadian Tax & Benefits AI Eligibility Checker
Add more detailed benefit calculations and regional variations
Deploy mobile-friendly version
Improve AI explanation with multi-language support
Explore automation for filing simple claims directly from the app
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