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The Medical & Disability Tax Solutions Provider
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Defining
Eligibility for Disability Tax Credits (DTC) or Medical Expense Tax Deductions
- Includes Transferable and Retroactive Options.
Who Qualifies for
a Disability Tax Credit (DTC)? In the view of our firm
it is the intent of tax legislation to help people with a disability
and that this intent is by no means restricted to people who are bedridden
or forced to use a wheelchair - which is what far too many people assume.
Recent court cases clearly support a far more lenient view. QUALIFYING DISABILITIES
FOR DTC Ileitis
Tax
Figures SELECTED TAX MEASURES
TO SUPPORT PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES DISABILITY TAX CREDIT (DTC): $400,000,000 MEDICAL EXPENSE TAX CREDIT: $670,000,000 CAREGIVER CREDIT: $50,000,000 INFIRM DEPENDANT CREDIT: $10,000,000 MEDICAL EXPENSE SUPPLEMENT FOR EARNERS: $65,000,000 CHILD DISABILITY BENEFIT: $50,000,000 TOTAL TAX ASSISTANCE: $1,245,000,000 -
does not include additional assistance of $25 million for 2003-2004 or
$80 million for 2004-05 set aside in the 2003 budget SOURCE: TAX EXPENDITURES AND EVALUATIONS, DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE, 2003, AND THE BUDGET PLAN, 2003. HELP WITH EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES Some 2.2 million adults with disabilities (out of 3.4 million) reported receiving help or needing help to perform one of the above mentioned activities. About two thirds of this population indicated receiving all the help required, but more than 765,000 of them, or 35%, indicated that they had needs for help that were unmet. Within the population aged 15 to 64, 37% reported unmet needs, compared to 33% of people aged 65 and over. Overall, the same proportion of men and women reported unmet needs for help. Of those aged 15 to 64, 39% of women reported unmet needs, compared to 35% of men, while there was little difference between men and women aged 65 and over. People with very severe disabilities had the highest proportion of unmet needs. Half of them stated that they needed help with various everyday activities but help was not available. Some 23% of people with mild disabilities reported unmet needs, along with 30% of people with moderate disabilities and 39% of those with severe disabilities. These data appear to indicate that the more severe the disability, the less the needs for help are met. According to the PALS data, 63% of adults with disabilities who received help received it from members of their family living with them, 42% received it from family members not living with them, 24% from friends or neighbours, 22% from organizations or agencies, and 14% from other sources. This data underlines the importance of the family in providing help to people with disabilities. Men and women reported roughly the same sources of help, except with respect to friends and neighbours and agencies. Thus, 28% of men reported receiving help from their friends or neighbours, compared to 22% of women. However, there were differences depending on respondents' age. While 73% of respondents aged 15 to 64 stated that they received help from members of their family living with them, the proportion falls to 52% for respondents aged 65 and over. Conversely, older respondents were more likely to receive help from members of their family not living with them (48%) than were respondents aged 15 to 64 (38%). For both these age groups, it is always family members who play the main role in providing help, whether or not they live with the respondent. The more severe the disability, the more important is the role of the family. Thus, 56% of people with mild disabilities obtained help from family members living with them, while the proportion rises to 60% for respondents with moderate disabilities, to 67% for respondents with severe disabilities and 69% for those with very severe disabilities. In 2001, just over 771,000 people with disabilities needed help and did not receive it for a variety of reasons (respondents could indicate more than one). For half of them, the cost of help was cited as a reason for not having the help required. A quarter of respondents reported that informal help (from family or friends) was not available, and a quarter also indicated that the cost of help was not covered by their insurance plan. Lastly, just under a quarter of respondents also stated that they did not know how to obtain the help required. Note: The following statistics
are from Statistics Canada and represent only a portion of the population.
Over 9% of the core working-age population in Canada--the population between 25 and 54--have disabilities. With 1,206,660 individuals with disabilities falling between these ages, the core working-age group is a large segment (33.5%) of the total population of people with disabilities. Of core working-age adults with disabilities, 42% have severe to very severe disabilities (28% severe, 14% very severe). The three most frequently reported types of disability in this age group are disabilities related to pain, mobility and agility. Pain-related disabilities affect 77.9% of core working-age adults with disabilities. Mobility and agility disabilities affect 65.9% and 62.3%. "invisible" disabilities, such as psychological disabilities, learning disabilities and memory disabilities, affect a significant proportion of this group (24.8%, 20.2% and 14.6% respectively). Chart 9: type of disability for adults with disabilities aged 25 to 54, Canada, 2001 hearing: 21% SEEING: 15% SPEECH: 13% MOBILITY: 66% AGILITY: 62% PAIN: 78% LEARNING: 20% MEMORY: 15% PSYCHOLOGICAL: 25% DEVELOPMENTAL: 6% UNKNOWN: 2% INCOME Pals data show that core working-age adults with disabilities have a much lower average household income than those without ($52,835 compared to $72,951). Adults with disabilities in this age group are more than twice as likely to have a household income of $20,000 or less than their counterparts without disabilities (22.4% compared to 10.2%). As well, adults with disabilities in this group are more likely to live in households with an income below statistics Canada's low income cut-off (LICO) 10 (27.9% compared to 12.7%). At the other end of the spectrum, just 44.9% of these adults with disabilities have a household income of $50,000 or more, compared to 64.1% of their counterparts without disabilities. Chart 10: household income for adults aged 25 to 54, Canada, 2001 with disabilities LESS THAN $20,000: 22% $20,000-$49,999: 33% $50,000 AND OVER: 45% WITHOUT DISABILITIES LESS THAN $20,000: 10% $20,000-$49,999: 26% $50,000 AND OVER: 64% PALS SHOWS THAT AMONG ADULTS WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES, MEN HAVE HIGHER INDIVIDUAL INCOMES THAN WOMEN. WOMEN ARE ALSO MORE LIKELY TO REPORT BEING WITHOUT INCOME. FOR ADULTS WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES, THE INCOME GAP BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN IS GREATER IN THE WORKING-AGE GROUPS, REFLECTING MEN'S GREATER SUCCESS IN THE LABOUR MARKET. FOR THOSE WITH DISABILITIES WHO ARE NOT EMPLOYED, ADEQUATE INCOME IS A CRITICAL ISSUE. AMONG PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES AGED 25-54 WHO ARE EMPLOYED, ABOUT 33% HAVE INDIVIDUAL INCOMES BELOW $20,000 WHEREAS AMONG THOSE WHO ARE NOT WORKING, 71% HAVE INDIVIDUAL INCOMES BELOW $20,000. EDUCATION Pals shows that core working-age adults with disabilities are more likely to have lower levels of education than those without. Just 13.9% o of adults with disabilities in this age group have completed university, compared to 24.8% of adults without disabilities. While core working-age adults with and without disabilities are equally likely to have completed community college, a trade certificate or diploma, or high school, those with disabilities are more likely to have less than a high school education (29.5% compared to 18.2% of those without disabilities). Chart 11: highest level of education attained by adults aged 25 to 54, Canada, 2001 with disabilities LESS THAN HIGH SCHOOL: 30% HIGH SCHOOL: 25% TRADES CERTIFICATE OR DIPLOMA: 13% COLLEGE: 19% UNIVERSITY: 14% WITHOUT DISABILITIES LESS THAN HIGH SCHOOL: 18% HIGH SCHOOL: 25% TRADES CERTIFICATE OR DIPLOMA: 13% COLLEGE: 19% UNIVERSITY: 25% For people with and without disabilities, the highest employment rates occur in the core working-age group. Yet adults with disabilities in this group are much less likely than their peers without disabilities to be employed. According to pals, 51.2% of core working-age adults with disabilities are employed, compared to 82.3% of those without. As well, adults with disabilities in this age group are much more likely to be out of the labour force than those without disabilities (42.7% compared to 12.5%). 6.2% of those with disabilities are unemployed, a slightly greater proportion than in the non-disabled population (5.2%). In the population with and without disabilities, men are more likely than women to be employed, while women are more likely to be out of the labour force. 46.3% of core working-age women with disabilities are out of the labour force as compared to 38.4% of core working-age men with disabilities. Within this age group, both for those with and without disabilities, men are more likely to be unemployed than women (5.6% of men, 4.8% of women without disabilities and 6.9% of men, 5.5% of women with disabilities). Pals data also indicate that working-age persons with severe to very severe disabilities are much less likely to be employed than are their age peers with mild to moderate disabilities. While many persons with disabilities enter this age group already having a disability, others, as illustrated by Joe's story, develop disabilities at this age and seek re-entry to the labour market. Chart 12: labour-force activity of adults aged 25 to 54, Canada, 2001 with disabilities EMPLOYED: 51% UNEMPLOYED: 6% NOT IN THE LABOUR FORCE: 43% WITHOUT DISABILITIES EMPLOYED: 82% UNEMPLOYED: 5% NOT IN THE LABOUR FORCE: 12% Men with disabilities in the core working-age group have an average employment income of $34,536, compared to $44,312 for men without disabilities. for women with disabilities in this group, average employment income is even lower--$23,302, compared to $28,697 for women without disabilities. DISABILITY SUPPORTS Working-age adults with disabilities may require assistance with everyday activities such as cooking, shopping or looking after finances and the use of various assistance aids and devices like wheel chairs, computers or talking books as a result of their disabilities. Of those adults aged 25-54 who indicated a need for assistance with everyday activities, 61.1% said that they have all they need, 30.8% receive some assistance but need more, and 8.1% who need assistance indicate that they are receiving none. Of those receiving help, 74.6% receive it from family living with them, 35.0% receive help from other family members, 26.2% from friends and neighbours and 13.5% from organizations or agencies (people can receive help from more than one source). Among those who indicate a need for the use of assistance aids or devices 51.6% said that they have all they need, 34.5% have some aids but need more, and 13.8% who need assistance aids or devices indicate that they have none.
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Taxpayer provides care/support to parent or grandparent.