CANADA CF Income Tax Deductions

[alegris]

There is a similar thread right now about CF income tax deductions in the USA. I'm curious about what we can deduct in Canada. I'm aware of the Disability Tax Credit and I also deduct travel expenses for appointments under medical expenses. But I don't think we can deduct things like food or electricity. Can we? Does anyone have information/experience with this?

 

[MichaelL]

The US gets a little crazy with all their tax deductions. Canada tends to have a lot less of them. I'm not a tax expert, but the only deductions I'm aware of are not specific to CF. I am on CPP disability, but I looked at the Disability Tax Credit and I did not qualify.

There's also the general deduction from medical costs over a certain threshold. I always keep my medical receipts every year and add them up. The threshold is so high, that I've never been close. (Most of my drugs are covered by either the OHIP CF drug program or private employer insurance.) I probably need to do more research on this to see what counts as medical costs.

Sorry -- I realize this doesn't help much, but I thought I'd add what little I know.

 

[alegris]

Michael - How come you don't qualify for the Disability Tax Credit? I was under the impression any CFer could get it because we do at least 14 hours of therapy per week. My nurse was the one who told me about it. There's a form your doctor signs, then once it gets approved you can claim the credit every year after. I started claiming it in my 20's and I was actually able to back-claim for some of the years I missed. It's a decent amount of money (over $1000/year for me). I would ask your doctor.

 

[dporteous]

I did the same thing as above. I was told all cfer's qualify and I also got to redo my taxes to claim this credit all the way back to when the government passed the tax law for cfer's. Defiantly talk to your doctor about the form.

Good luck

 

[MichaelL]

When I received my first T4A for my CPP benefits earlier this year, we looked at the requirements online and decided I wasn't eligible. (We didn't actually apply.) It sounds like I need to go back and take a look at it again. Thanks to both of you for the information!