Disability Tax Credit – Information for you and your Medical Professional
WHO WE ARE:
Ottawa Tax Services have been income tax return specialists since 1998. We participate in on-going training throughout the year to ensure that we are abreast of the
most recent Tax changes that may affect you.
Susan Kent has over 17 years of Financial experience in Banking, management, and overall 18 years of Income Tax preparation. Her and her spouse Bill have operated Business starting in 1981 with their first 5 retail and service businesses. In 1995, together they launched another Business in personal Mentoring, Coaching and Financial growth and training. Through the Financial Industry experience, training, Business involvement, and various roles she has performed, Sue can offer you first hand expertise and knowledge for support with your Income Tax matters and Small Business.
Susan has two children and through personal experience in dealing with children with Disabilities, Sue has gained valuable knowledge and expertise to share with others as they may be faced with similar circumstances. Her knowledge of the Canada Revenue Agency Disability Tax Credit program has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in refunds for her clients.
WHAT IS THE DISABILITY TAX CREDIT:
The Disability Tax Credit has been put in place by our Government to help people with disabilities cope with aspects of every day life that others who do not suffer from an impairment may not face. These can be to help pay for transportation, medical coverage not covered under your medical plan, physiotherapy, adaptive devices to assist in daily care, medications etc. The Disability Tax Credit is not a “tax grab” and people who apply for it are not “trying to get something out of the government”. These are real people with real issues who are looking for assistance with their disability.
The application process is simple and yet must be completed in a specific manner or the odds are high that it will be refused. This will require some ground work on behalf of the individual and as well, a cooperative Physician or Medical Professional who understands your impairment and what you endure each day. The submission of it and success is also dependant on a good Tax Professional who understands this credit and the process for applying.
HOW TO APPLY
The first step is to have the Revenue Canada form T2201 completed by your Medical Professional. In this application you will target one area that most describes what the “effect of your impairment” is. Your diagnosis is actually secondary, and Revenue Canada wants to understand how your impairment affects every day life.
The form is long and sounds daunting. That is because in the 7 “categories:” eligible for this tax credit, Revenue Canada must try to put in one line or two that represents everyone from an obviously severely impaired person such as a quadriplegic all the way up to a person who has a back injury and has difficulty walking or moving due to the pain or effects of that injury. Due to this, each area on the form must cover off all possibilities of any impairment that may exist. If your impairment causes you to have even just one of the sentences as an effect for your for daily life, then you may qualify for this tax credit.
As to the reference of “significantly all the time”, this means that the person must experience the effects of their impairment or potentially must have the symptom at all times. A good example is an epileptic person. They may be fine 80% of the time, but when they have a seizure then they are unable to think, walk or remember. They are not in a seizure state all day every day, but potentially they are at any time. Every action and decision each day is affected by the potential that they could have a seizure. The application is completed based on “When they are in the state of the impairment” so, when they are not in a seizure, they are fine, but when in a seizure they are unable to perform the basic activities of every day life.
This logic applies to all impairments. For example, a person who has Chrones or IBS, they are not 100% of the time experiencing the effects of that impairment, but when they have a flare up, they are unable to “personally manage bowel and bladder functions or it takes them an inordinate amount of time”
INFORMATION FOR YOUR MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Your Medical Professional is not “Approving” this application to Revenue Canada, but simply being asked for the diagnosis and what they know to be the effects of your impairment. They are being asked to simply put the facts as they know them on the form. Revenue Canada has medical staff on hand who review each application and will make a medical decision if the application will be approved or not.
Once the form is complete, then you and Susan will meet to complete the application and additional documents that must go with it for a fair assessment from Revenue Canada.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Once the forms are submitted, Revenue Canada will likely send a second questionnaire to your Medical Professional. This is a time sensitive document and must be sent back to Revenue Canada within 30 days or your file will be refused and closed. This is where your Medical Professional must be cooperative. They must be prepared to react quickly to this questionnaire and to answer it and return it to Revenue Canada well within the time frame specified. Also, this questionnaire allows for only true/false type answers, so once again, it is not conducive to allowing for the Doctor to put a medical opinion down. The suggestion is again that the Doctor answer it based on when symptoms are at their worst. It is also encouraged to suggest to the Doctor to attach a written note to the questionnaire to allow their professional diagnosis of the impairment and the effects they have observed from you.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE
The process for the application and realization of any subsequent refunds will take anywhere from 4 weeks up to 6 months depending on your situation. Susan will be with you the entire way to monitor and assist in keeping the application moving forward.
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