Tax Tips
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Tax Tips For The
2018 Taxation Year
This guide was compiled by Graeme Treeby of The
“Special Needs” Planning Group. It is intended for
free and unencumbered distribution to
organizations serving the Special Needs Community,
clients and friends of The “Special Needs” Planning
Group (www.specialneedsplanning.ca)
and anyone else who may be interested. It is not
to be taken as Accounting or Tax advice but rather, as a
resource to provide a starting point for your
journey through the maze that is Income Tax Preparation
and Planning for people with a disability and their
families. Graeme Treeby can be reached at 905 640-8285
or graemetreeby@sympatico.ca .
What’s New for 2018?
Once again this year, Canada Revenue Agency has
announced a few changes that may affect the Income Taxes
of people with disabilities and their families.
They are:
- Service Animal Expenses:
The Medical Expense Tax Credit has been
expanded to allow expenses related to service animals
that are trained to perform specific tasks for a
person with a severe mental or psychiatric
impairment that help the person cope with the
impairment. Costs including the cost of the
animal, the care and maintenance of the animal, food
and veterinary care etc may be claimed
- Climate Action Incentive:
Although not specifically an issue exclusively for the
special needs community, residents of Ontario,
Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick may be able
to make a claim based on the size and composition of
your family.
- Age 17 Tax Returns: While
not new, it is important to remember to file income
tax returns for people receiving RDSP Grants and
Bonds. The income amount switches from the parents
income to the person with the disability’s income at
the beginning of the year that he or she turns age
19. The income amount used for these
calculations is the amount reported to CRA 2 years
prior to the current year. Therefore it is
important that we submit an Income Tax Return for the
year in which the person turns age 17 and every year
thereafter, even if he or she has earned no income in
those years.
- Sale of Your Principal Residence:
Again, while this is not exclusive to the Special
Needs Community, if you sold your home during 2018,
you need to be sure to designate on your return that
it was your principal residence. Otherwise, it
may be subject to Capital Gains Tax.
Tax Time - 2018
Once again, it is time for us to prepare our annual
income tax returns. Canadian Tax Returns must be
filed by April 30 of the year following the tax year in
question in order to avoid late filing penalties.
Penalties for not filing your returns amount to 5%
of any taxes owing plus 1% per full month that the
return is outstanding up to 12 months. As you can
see, filing on time is important. Even if you
don’t have an income to report, it is still wise to file
a return since the GST/HST credit may be available to
you even when no income has been earned.
The Income Tax Act allows us to take advantage of a
variety of different credits and deductions that can
minimize the amount of tax that we have to pay. Families
with members with disabilities have a number of benefits
that can be taken advantage of if they are aware of
their existence.
The purpose of this guide is three fold:
- To introduce you to the a) The
Disability Amount, b) The
Canada Caregiver Credit and
c) The T2201 Disability Tax Credit
Certificate
- To share a FREE Re-File Process to Get
Back Taxes That Should Never Have Paid.
- To highlight many of the Tax Deductions,
Credits and Benefits available to
people with disabilities and their families.
1. Introduction to:
a) The Disability Amount (Disability Tax
Credit)
Perhaps one of the most valuable tax credit available
to people with disabilities and their families is the
Disability Amount. This credit is most often called the
Disability Tax Credit (DTC). It is a
non-refundable tax credit which can reduce the amount of
tax that a person with a disability has to pay. If
the DTC is not required by the person with a disability
to reduce their taxable income to zero, then it may be
transferred in whole or in part to a family member who
supplied some or all of the basic necessities of life
such as food, shelter and clothing to the person.
Even if the person with the disability is not living
with you, you may still be able to claim the DTC if the
person depends on you for regular and consistent support
for one or more of the basic necessities of life such as
food, shelter or clothing. You may be asked to provide
receipts or other documents to support this claim.
In the 2018 Taxation Year, the Disability Amount
for a person who was 18 years of age or older is
$8.235.00. If the person with the disability was
under age 18 then there is also a Disability Tax
Credit Supplement of $4,804.00 that is added to
the disability amount. Both of these amounts can
be transferred to a supporting family member if
necessary. It should be noted that the supplement
can be reduced in 2018 if someone claimed Child Care
Expenses or Attendant Care expenses as a Medical
Expense. Details of the Disability Amount can be
found on Canada Revenue Agency’s web site by following
the link at:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/ddctns/lns300-350/316-eng.html
b) The Canada Caregiver Credit (CCC)
The Canada Caregiver Credit is designed to provide tax
relief to caregivers of dependants who have an infirmity
and who are dependant on the caregiver for support
because of that infirmity. It replaces the former
Caregiver Credit, Infirm Dependant Credit and the Family
Caregiver Credit all of which ended in the 2016 tax
year.
The amount that can be claimed depends on the
circumstances:
- An amount of $6986.00 can be claimed for an infirm
spouse or common-law partner or an infirm dependant 18
or over but is reduced by any amounts claimed for the
Spousal Amount (Line 303) or the Equivalent to Spouse
amount (Line 305). In this circumstance, the
amount is claimed on line 304 of the caregiver’s
return.
- An amount of $6986.00 can be claimed for infirm
dependants who are parents, grandparents, siblings,
aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews or adult children
(age 18 or over) of the claimant or claimant’s spouse
or common-law partner. In this circumstance, the
amount is claimed on line 307 of the caregiver’s
return.
- An amount of $2182.00 can be claimed for an infirm
dependant spouse or common-law partner for whom the
claimant claims the Spousal Amount (Line 303) or
Equivalent to Spouse amount (Line 305).
- An amount of $2182.00 can be claimed for an infirm
child who is under 18 years of age at the end of the
taxation year. This amount is claimed on line
367 of the return.
It should be noted that the dependant person no longer
has to live with the caregiver but must be dependant
upon the caregiver. Also, the Canada Caregiver
Credit may be reduced when the dependant’s income is
greater that a stated amount.
c) T2201 Disability Tax Credit Certificate
In order to qualify for the Disability Tax Credit,
information relating to the disability must be reviewed
by Canada Revenue Agency. This information is
collected on form T2201, “Disability Tax Credit
Certificate” which is submitted to CRA. The
T2201 form can be obtained on line at
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t2201/
An interesting feature of the T2201 form is found in
Section 3. When you are applying for the DTC for
yourself or for your dependent child with a disability
under age 18, you can tick the box on the form and have
CRA adjust your tax returns for prior years. There
is no longer any need to send a letter to CRA to have
this done. However, in other circumstances you
will still have to send the T1-ADJ or
a letter requesting an adjustment of prior years’
returns. Generally, we recommend that a letter be
used since this simplifies the process and so the
procedure with the T1-ADJ is not being shared in this
year’s Tax Tips document. Those circumstances in which a
letter to CRA is still required are:
- The dependant is 18 years of age or older
- You are claiming for your spouse or common law
partner
- The Disability Amount is being divided between 2 or
more supporting persons
- Other changes not mentioned above
If a person needs assistance in filling out the form
and if they wish to appoint another individual or
organization as their Representative for income tax
matters, they must complete CRA’s form T1013, “Authorizing
or Cancelling a Representative”. This form
can be found on the web at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t1013/
The completed form will allow the named representative
to have access to your records with CRA and to act on
your behalf with respect to issues surrounding your tax
matters.
A person may be eligible for the disability amount if a
qualified practitioner certifies on Form T2201
Disability Tax Credit Certificate, that you have a
prolonged impairment, and that the effects of the
impairment are such that one of the following
applies:
- You are blind, even with the use of corrective
lenses or medication.
- You are markedly restricted in any one of the
following basic activities of daily living:
- speaking;
- hearing;
- walking;
- elimination (bowel or bladder functions);
- feeding;
- dressing; or
- performing the mental functions necessary for
everyday life.
- Life-sustaining Therapy – You need therapy to
support a vital function, and you need this therapy at
least 3 times per week for an average of at least 14
hours per week. It may be appropriate for you to
track the time you take each week to prove to CRA that
you are in fact spending more than 14 hours per week.
- Cumulative Effect of Significant Restrictions – if
you do not quite meet the criteria for being blind or
markedly restricted, but the following conditions
apply:
- because of your impairment, you are significantly
restricted in two or more basic activities
of daily living, or you are significantly
restricted in vision and at least one of the basic
activities of daily living, even with appropriate
therapy, medication, and devices;
- these significant restrictions exist together, all
or substantially all the time (at least 90% of the
time); and
- the cumulative effect of these significant
restrictions is equivalent to being markedly
restricted in a single basic activity of daily
living.
The key to a successful application for the
DTC is to fully describe the impact that the
condition has on the person with the disability. To
merely name the condition is not sufficient. You
must be very specific as to how the condition affects
the person. Your doctor will complete the form
with his or her impression of the impact
the disability has in the various categories. The
doctor should also complete the full details of the
effects of the impairment on the last page of the
form. The more information provided the easier it
will be to approve the application. It is also
important to stress to the doctor that the “onset of
impairment” date be listed as the very first date
upon which the impairment began. This is important
when any back-filing actions are undertaken. If
you have been approved for a period of time for which
you have not claimed the credit, you may re-file for
those years and receive a refund of taxes.
Once the form is completed, you should sign it, and
forward it to Canada Revenue Agency. These forms
can be reviewed at any time of the year so you needn’t
wait until tax time for submission. In fact, it
often takes several months for Canada Revenue Agency to
approve the form and so it would be prudent to send it
in as soon as it has been completed.
Measures Requiring the Disability Tax
Credit:
It should also be noted that approval for the
Disability Tax Credit has a significant impact on
several tax measures. It is a pre-requisite for
the following:
- Registered Disability Savings Plan
(RDSP): The RDSP is a savings
plan from the Federal Government which is designed to
allow people with disabilities and their families to
save for the future. It involves contributions
of money from private sources plus generous matching
provisions from the Federal Government. A
pre-requisite for creating and the continuation of the
RDSP is qualification for the Disability Tax
Credit. More information relating to the
benefits of this program can be found at:
http://www.specialneedsplanning.ca/rdsp.html
- Qualified Disability Trust (QDT):
Qualified Disability Trusts are trusts that are
created in a will and which have a beneficiary who
qualifies for the Disability Tax Credit. These
trusts receive preferential tax treatment on income
earned and retained in them. Henson Trusts are
often deemed to be QDT’s an so having a beneficiary
qualify for the Disability Tax Credit can permit
preferential tax treatment. More information
regarding Henson Trusts that are deemed to be
Qualified Disability Trusts can be found at:
http://www.specialneedsplanning.ca/henson.html
- Home Buyer’s Plan: A
person who qualifies for the Disability Tax Credit or
a blood relative can withdraw up to $25,000 from their
RRSP to purchase a home and it doesn’t have to be a
new property nor the first property. The home
need only be more accessible or in an environment that
is better suited to his personal needs.
- Home Buyer’s Amount: A
person who qualifies for the Disability Tax Credit may
be able to claim $5,000 for buying a qualified
home. It does not have to be a first home but
the purchase must be to allow the person with the
disability to live in a home that is more accessible
or better suited for their needs.
- Home Accessibility Expenses:
This is a non-refundable tax credit that allows that
if you are age 65 or older or if you
qualify for the DTC, you may be able to claim up to
$10,000 per year in expenses that were incurred to
allow the person to gain access to the home or to be
mobile or functional within the home or incurred to
reduce the risk of harm within the home or in
accessing the home.
- Registered Education Savings Plan:
When the beneficiary of a single RESP qualifies for
the Disability Tax Credit, the maximum lifespan of the
plan is extended from 35 to 40 years. In
addition, the maximum contribution period is extended
from 31 years to 35 years.
Therefore, even if a person cannot use the Disability
Tax Credit (due to income levels) there is still
significant benefit in obtaining it.
2. Get
Back Taxes That You Should Never Have Paid
It is quite possible that you may not be keeping as
much of your hard earned money as you are entitled to
keep. Many people in the special needs community
are giving the Government thousands upon thousands of
dollars in tax revenue that should stay in our
community. But this doesn’t have to
continue. By following a few simple steps, people
with disabilities and their supporting family members
can claim the DTC from this year onward and for up to 10
years in the past where they have not claimed the
credit. In addition, caregivers can also claim
back for the Caregiver Tax Credit provided that your
dependent is over age 18 in each of the years being
claimed up to and including the 2016 tax year. These
credits could result in you receiving tax refunds of
$10,000, $18,000 and even much more when combined with
the other tax credits or deductions that you may have
missed over the years and which are still available to
you.
Once the DTC has been approved by Canada Revenue
Agency, a number of things can happen. If you were
able to take advantage of the new T2201 form section
where you can tick the box in Section 3, CRA will
re-evaluate your returns from prior years and if
appropriate, they will issue a refund to you. If
you are not able to take advantage of Section 3 then you
can commence the back filing process.
The back-filing process is very simple; so simple in
fact that virtually anyone can do it. The first
and easiest method is to simply mail a
letter to Canada Revenue Agency outlining the
details of your claim and asking that they review your
file for the past 10 years.
The alternative method is to acquire the Canada Revenue
Agency T1 Adjustment Request form. Since this is a
more difficult method, we suggest that if you wish to
re-file in this manner, you arrange for an Accountant to
do it for you.
If you are not comfortable with submitting a letter to
Canada Revenue
Agency asking for a review of previous years’ tax
returns, then by all means talk to an Accountant and
have him or her re-file for you. However if you are
interested in saving your hard earned money and are
willing to do a little work on your own, then simply
mail a letter to Canada Revenue Agency outlining the
details of you claim and asking them to review your
returns. CRA will do the work for you.
As a general rule of thumb, if an ODSP recipient
lives with his or her family and receives support from
them, the family member who provides support to the
ODSP recipient ordinarily would be able to get a
transfer of the full Disability Tax Credit. If
the ODSP recipient earns other income, there are some
restrictions which must be taken into account.
Please refer to Canada Revenue Agency tax guides if
this is your situation. In addition, if the
family member provides some or all of the person’s
food, shelter or clothing on a regular and consistent
basis the credit may be able to be transferred even if
the person does not live with the family member.
3. Tax
Deductions, Credits and Benefits:
The next section of this guide relates to the various
deductions, credits and benefits that are available to people
with disabilities and their caregivers. We
will list the categories that are available to people
with disabilities themselves and categories that are
available to the caregivers of people with disabilities.
We suggest that you scan each of the descriptions and if
it sounds like that particular deduction may apply to
you and your situation, then you can investigate further
into the details of the rules and regulations.
Deductions,
Credits and Benefits Available to People With
Disabilities Themselves:
- Home Accessibility Tax Credit:
People with disabilities who qualify for the
Disability Tax Credit as well as their supporting
family members who are qualified to claim the
disability amount for the individual may be able to
claim a non-refundable tax credit for up to $10,000
per year for renovations made to a residence.
The renovations must be made to allow the person to
gain access to the home or to be mobile or functional
within the home; or to reduce the risk of harm within
the home or in accessing the home. Further
details are available at:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/ddctns/lns360-390/398/398-eng.html
- Home buyers’ amount: A
credit of up to $5000 applies. A person
qualifying for the DTC does not have to purchase a first
home to qualify but the purchase must be to allow the
person with the disability to live in a home that is
more accessible or better suited for their needs.
- Home Buyer’s Plan: A
person who qualifies for the Disability Tax Credit or
a blood relative can withdraw up to $25,000 from their
RRSP to purchase a home and it doesn’t have to be a
new property nor the first property. The home
need only be more accessible or in an environment that
is better suited to his personal needs.
- CRA Auto-fill Feature: Canada
Revenue Agency has created a service for tax
returns that will assist all taxpayers including those
with disabilities. This new service will
automatically fill in certain parts of the income tax
return with information that CRA already has on file.
CRA says that it is able to populate a taxpayer’s
return with things such as T3, T4 and T5 slips, RRSP
information, Home Buyers’ Plans, Capital Gains and
Losses to name a few. A full list can be found
at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/auto-fill/
and can be used when a return is filed online with
certified tax preparation software.
- Disability Supports Deduction:
If you are a person with a physical or mental
impairment you may be able to deduct disability
supports expenses you incurred in the year to work, go
to school, or to do research for which you were
paid. The Disability Supports are actually
claimed as medical expenses on your Income Tax Return
and some are:
- Attendant care services
- Bliss symbol boards
- Braille note-taker devices
- Braille printers, synthetic speech systems,
large print-on-screen devices
- Deaf-blind intervening services
- Devices or software
- Electronic speech synthesizers
- Job coaching services
- Note-taking services
- Optical scanners
- Page turner devices
- Reading services
- Real-time captioning or sign-language
interpretation services
- Talking textbooks
- Teletypewriters
- Tutoring services
- Voice recognition software
- Disability Amount: As
previously mentioned, this is a non-refundable
disability tax credit which can reduce the amount of
tax that a person with a disability has to pay.
- Spouse or Common-Law Partner Amount:
If a person supported a low income spouse or
common law partner, a deduction is available.
- Working Income Tax Benefit:
This benefit may be available to individuals and
families with low income. In 2018 it includes a
basic claim plus a supplemental benefit for
individuals who qualify for the Disability Tax Credit.
These amounts may be adjusted depending on where
you live in Canada and on your family income
levels. Further information can be found at:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/bnfts/wtb/menu-eng.html
- Disability-Related Employment Benefits:
If an employer provides benefits or allowances to an
employee who has a disability, such as transportation
costs or attendant services, the benefit may not be
taxable in the hands of the person with the
disability.
- Medical Expenses: See
the Medical Expenses section to follow.
- Refundable medical expense supplement:
If you are working, have low income and high medical
expenses you may be able to claim a maximum amount of
$1,222 in 2018.
Deductions, Credits and
Benefits Available to Caregivers of a Person With a
Disability:
- The Canada Caregiver Credit (CCC):
Please see page 4 of this guide for a description of
the Canada Caregiver Credit that may be available to
your family.
- Child Disability Benefit:
Families with children under age 18 who qualify for
the disability amount may be eligible for the Child
Disability Benefit. It is income tested based on
family income and the maximum available in the 2018
tax year is $2771. Therefore, the benefit
provides up to $230.91 per eligible child. This amount
is calculated automatically by Canada Revenue Agency.
- Child Care Expenses:
If you have paid someone to look after your child who
qualifies for the Disability Amount, you may be able
to deduct up to $11,000 for child care expenses and
the age of the child can exceed 16.
- Amount for Eligible Dependant:
If you did not have a spouse or common- law partner
and you supported a dependant with whom you lived in a
home you maintained you may be able to claim this
amount.
- Disability Amount Transferred From
a Dependant: If the DTC
is not required by the person with a disability to
reduce their taxable income to zero, then it may be
transferred in whole or in part to a family member who
supplied some or all of the basic necessities of life
such as food, shelter and clothing to the
person. The person with the disability does not
necessarily have to live with the family member in
order to make the transfer.
- Adoption Expenses: You
can claim an amount for eligible adoption expenses
related to the completed adoption of a child who is
under 18 years of age that were incurred during the
adoption period. The maximum claim for each child is
$13,810 for the 2018 taxation year.
Medical Expenses
This is a major section of potential deductions that
may be available to people with disabilities themselves
or to caregivers of people with disabilities. You can
claim eligible medical expenses paid in any 12-month
period ending in 2018 and not claimed by you
or anyone else in 2017. If you are claiming for
yourself, your spouse or common law partner or for a
child under the age of 18, you claim the expenses on
line 330 of your return. The expenses you claim
for all other dependants is done on line 331 of your
return. The amount claimed for a person with a
disability is reduced by formula based on his or her
income. There is no maximum amount that can be
claimed in any given year.
You do not have to send any supporting
documents relating to the Medical Expense
claims to Canada Revenue Agency when you submit your
return. This applies to income tax returns
submitted electronically or those submitted on paper.
You still need to keep them for at least 6 years in
case CRA asks to see them at a later date. Those
receipts must show the name of the company or individual
to whom the expense was paid. Receipts for attendant
care or therapy paid to an individual should also show
the individual's social insurance number.
If you are submitting a claim for medical expenses,
speak with your Pharmacy and ask for a print out of your
prescriptions for 2018. All Pharmacists in Ontario
and some other provinces are required to provide you
with a listing free of charge. This can be useful
in preparing your returns.
The following is a partial listing of eligible medical
expenses. It is not exhaustive. Once again,
we suggest that you scan each of the descriptions and if
it sounds like that particular deduction may apply to
you and your situation, then you can investigate further
into the details of the rules and regulations.
- Acoustic coupler - prescription
required.
- Air conditioner - 50% of the
amount paid up to $1,000 for a patient with a severe
chronic ailment, disease, or disorder - prescription
required.
- Air filter, cleaner, or purifier -
paid for someone to cope with or overcome a severe
chronic respiratory ailment or severe chronic immune
system disorder - prescription required.
- Altered auditory feedback devices –
for treatment of a speck disorder – prescription
required.
- Ambulance service to or from a
public or licensed private hospital.
- Animals (Service)
- the cost of a specially trained dog or other animal
for use by someone who is blind, profoundly deaf, or
has a severe and prolonged physical impairment that
markedly restricts the use of their arms or legs, or a
person who is severely affected by autism or epilepsy
or a person who has severe diabetes (for expenses
incurred after 2013). As of the 2018 taxation
year, the Medical Expense Tax Credit has been expanded
to allow expenses related to service animals that are
trained to perform specific tasks for a person with a
severe mental or psychiatric impairment that help the
person cope with the impairment.
In addition to the cost of the animal, the care and
maintenance (including food and veterinarian care) are
eligible expenses
Reasonable travel expenses for the person to attend a
school, institution, or other place that trains him or
her in handling such an animal (including reasonable
board and lodging for full-time attendance at the
school) are eligible expenses. The training of such
animals has to be one of the main purposes of the
person or organization that provides the animal.
- Assisted breathing devices that
supply air to the lungs under pressure, such as a
continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine or
mechanical ventilator.
- Artificial eye or limb
- Attendant care expenses
- Audible signal - prescription
required.
- Baby's breathing monitor designed
to be attached to an infant to sound an alarm if the
infant stops breathing.
- Bathroom aids to help someone get
in or out of a bathtub or shower or to get on or off a
toilet - prescription required.
- Bliss symbol boards
- Blood coagulation monitors – the
amount paid for the purchase including disposable
peripherals such as pricking devices, lancets, and
test strips for a person who requires anti-coagulation
therapy – prescription required.
- Bone conduction receiver
- Bone marrow transplant
- Brace for a limb
- Braille note-takers -prescription
required.
- Braille printers, Synthetic Speech Systems,
Large Print-on-Screen Devices – designed
only to assist a person who is blind to use a
computer – prescription required.
- Breast prosthesis - prescription
required.
- Cancer treatment
- Catheters, catheter trays, tubing,
or other products required for incontinence caused by
illness, injury or affliction.
- Certificates - the amount paid to
a medical practitioner for completing and providing
additional information in regard to Form T2201
and other certificates.
- Chair - power-operated guided
chair to be used in a stairway, including installation
- prescription required.
- Cochlear implant
- Computer peripherals designed
exclusively to be used by someone who is blind -
prescription required.
- Cosmetic surgery – purely cosmetic
procedures are eligible if incurred before March 5,
2010. After 2010, only for procedures for
medical or reconstructive purposes.
- Crutches
- Deaf-blind intervening services
- Dentist
- Dentures and dental implants
- Devices or software designed
to be used by a blind person or with a person with a
severe learning disability to enable them to read
print – prescription required.
- Diapers or disposable briefs
- Driveway access
- Drugs and medical devices – purchased
under Health Canada’s Special Access Program.
- Elastic support hose -
prescription required.
- Electrolysis
- Electronic bone healing device -
prescription required.
- Electronic speech synthesizers -
prescription required.
- Electrotherapy Devices – for the
treatment of a medical condition or a severe mobility
impairment – prescription required.
- Environment control system (computerized or
electronic) - prescription required.
- Extremity pump - prescription
required.
- Fertility-related procedures –
amounts paid to conceive a child.
- Furnace - prescription required.
- Gluten-free products -
incremental cost
- Group home
- Hearing aids
- Heart monitor -
prescription required.
- Hospital bed - prescription
required.
- Hospital services – public or
private, that are licensed as hospitals by the
province, territory or jurisdiction they are located
in.
- Ileostomy and colostomy pads
including pouches and adhesives.
- Infusion pump including disposable
peripherals - prescription required.
- Injection pens – such as insulin pens – prescription
required
- Insulin or substitutes -
prescription required.
- In Vitro fertility program – paid
to a medical practitioner or public or licensed
private hospital.
- Kidney machine
- Laboratory services - prescription
required.
- Large-print on-screen device -
prescription required.
- Laryngeal speaking aids
- Laser eye surgery
- Lift or transportation equipment - prescription
required.
- Liver extract injections -
prescription required.
- Medical marijuana or marijuana seeds
- for medical purposes.
- Medical Practitioner
- Medical services outside Canada
- Moving expenses - to housing
that is more accessible to the person to a maximum of
$2864 in Ontario in 2018
- Needles and syringes -
prescription required.
- Note-taking services
- Nurse
- Nursing home
- Optical scanner -
prescription required.
- Organ transplant
- Orthodontic work
- Orthopaedic shoes, boots, and inserts
- prescription required.
- Osteogenesis stimulator (inductive coupling)
- prescription required.
- Oxygen concentrator
- Oxygen and oxygen tent or other
equipment necessary to administer oxygen –
prescription required.
- Pacemakers - prescription
required.
- Page-turning devices -
prescription required.
- Personalized therapy plan – the
salaries and wages incurred after 2013 for designing a
personalized therapy plan are eligible medical
expenses if certain conditions are met.
- Phototherapy equipment
- Premiums paid to private health services
plans
- Pre-natal and post-natal treatment
- Prescription drugs and medications
- Pressure pulse therapy devices -
prescription required.
- Reading services
- Real-time captioning
- Rehabilitative therapy
- Renovating costs
- Respite Care services
- School for people with an impairment in
physical or mental
- Scooter
- Service Animals – (see Animals
section)
- Sign-language interpretation services
- Spinal brace
- Standing devices - prescription
required.
- Talking textbooks - prescription
required.
- Teletypewriters - prescription
required.
- Television closed caption decoders -
prescription required.
- Tests - prescription required.
- Therapy - prescription
required.
- Training
- Travel expenses – in
excess of 40 km one way and for medical services not
available near your home transportation costs are
deductable
- Travel expenses – in excess
of 80 km one way you can deduct transportation costs
and some accommodation, meal and parking expenses.
- Treatment centre for addictions
- Truss for hernia
- Tutoring services
- Vaccines - prescription required.
- Van - 20% of the amount paid
for a van that has been adapted up to $7159 in Ontario
for 2018.
- Vehicle modification to permit
someone confined to a wheelchair to gain independent
access to and drive the vehicle - prescription
required.
- Vision devices – eyeglasses etc –
prescription required.
- Visual or vibratory signalling device
- prescription required.
- Vitamin B12 injections -
prescription required.
- Voice recognition software
- Volume control feature -
prescription required.
- Walking Aids -
prescription required.
- Water filter, cleaner, or purifier -
prescription required.
- Wheelchairs and wheelchair carriers
- Whirlpool bath treatments
- Wigs - prescription required
If you think that any of these items may apply to your
particular situation, please follow the following link
for more details.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/rc4065.html
Non-eligible Medical
Expenses Include the Following:
- athletic or fitness club fees;
- birth control devices (non-prescription);
- blood pressure monitors;
- cosmetic surgery - expenses for purely cosmetic
procedures including any related services and other
expenses such as travel, incurred after March
4, 2010,cannot be claimed as medical
expenses. Both surgical and non-surgical procedures
purely aimed at enhancing one's appearance are not
eligible. These non-eligible expenses include the
following:
- liposuction;
- hair replacement procedures;
- filler injections (for removal of wrinkles);
- teeth whitening.
An expense, including those identified above, may
qualify as a medical expense if it is necessary for
medical or reconstructive purposes, such as surgery to
address a deformity related to a congenital abnormality,
a personal injury resulting from an accident or trauma,
or a disfiguring disease.
- diaper services;
- health plan premiums paid by an employer and not
included in your income;
- health programs;
- organic food;
- over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and
supplements, even if prescribed by a medical
practitioner;
- personal response systems such as Lifeline and
Health Line Services;
- the following provincial and territorial plans:
- Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan
- Manitoba Health Plan
- Medical Services Plan of British Columbia
- New Brunswick Medicare Division of Provincial
Department of Health
- Newfoundland Medical Care Plan
- Northwest Territories Health Insurance Services
Agency of Territorial Government
- Nova Scotia Medical Services Insurance
- Ontario Health Insurance Plan
- Prince Edward Island Health Services Payment
Plan
- Quebec Health Insurance Board (including
payments made to the Health Services Fund)
- Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance Plan
- Yukon Territorial Insurance Commission; or
- Travel expenses for which you can get reimbursed.
In conclusion, we trust that this guide has been useful
to you. Again, remember that we are not providing
Accounting or Tax Planning or preparation advice. If you
have any questions regarding your Income Tax Returns,
please contact a Tax Accountant or Canada Revenue Agency
for assistance.
Disability Related Information Links:
The “Special Needs” Planning Group:
www.specialneedsplanning.ca
Canada Revenue Agency
Links:
Disability
Amount:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/ddctns/lns300-350/316-eng.html
Canada Caregiver
Credit:
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/programs/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/federal-government-budgets/budget-2017-building-a-strong-middle-class/consolidation-caregiver-credits.html
T2201 Disability Tax Credit
Certificate:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t2201/
Prior Years Re-File Form:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t1-adj/README.html
Allowable Medical Expense Listing:
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/rc4065.html
Additional Disability Deductions
& Credits:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/rc4064/rc4064-e.html
Working Income Tax Benefit:;
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/ddctns/lns409-485/453-eng.html
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