I got back over 17k from CRA and continue to save thousands of dollars every year which really helps my family. Maybe you can too!

Every year accountants, tax preparers and Canadians who do their own personal taxes miss out on millions of dollars of tax refunds and credits. How can you prevent this from happening to you?

My personal story may help your family. I have two boys that were born in 1999. They were born prematurely so my wife and I basically lived at Mount Sinai Hospital for 3 months during what we thought would be the most challenging period in our lives.

Looking back, our experience at Mount Sinai pales in comparison to one day in 2003 when a doctor told us that both of our children have Autism. The mental and physical challenge was only just beginning and would stay with us probably for life.

For the next several years our family trudged along, making use of the many services that are available to special needs children in Ontario. However, like many in our situation, we became very centrally focused with the knowledge that we no longer have anything in common with our friends and their typically developing children. Moving forward to 2007, it was just by chance that my wife mentioned the boy’s diagnosis to our tax preparer and we learned of the Disability Tax Credit (DTC). After completing all of the necessary paper work, our tax preparer revised our tax returns back to 2003 (the date of diagnosis). We received a cheque for over $17,000 and we continue to save on our taxes yearly by making use of the DTC.

Here is what I have learned from all of this. Accountants and tax preparers provide an excellent service based on the documents that you provide them, but they rarely have time to ask questions about your personal situation. And, unless you are aware of your CRA entitlement, you are not likely to mention personal information to your tax preparer.

Likewise, those who do their own taxes may also be missing out.

At a recent seminar we learned of a man whose father had died 3 years ago. Since the CRA allows you go back 10 years, the son was able to claim the DTC and revise his father’s taxes for 7 years. He received over $15,000 for the family.

The following is a list of conditions that may qualify for the Disability Tax Credit. This list is by no means complete and not all individuals will qualify.

  • Addictions: illegal or prescriptions
  • ADHD: Primarily Hyperactive/impulsive
  • Autism (an estimated 190,000 Canadian children)
  • Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD)
  • Asperger’s syndrome
  • Alzheimer’s disease
  • Angina: an estimated 6% of Canadians between ages 50-64 have this symptom of heart disease
  • Anxiety
  • Arthritis
  • Auditory syndrome
  • Antisocial personality disorder
  • ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
  • Bi-polar disorder
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  • Chronic pain disorder
  • Colitis
  • Coronary artery disease
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Gambling Addiction
  • Glaucoma
  • Deafness
  • Hepatitis C
  • Huntington’s Disease
  • Learning Disabilites
  • Irritable bowel syndrome
  • Migraines
  • Arthritis
  • Multiple Sclerosis: every day 3 more Canadians are diagnosed with MS
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder
  • Parkinson’s Disease: nearly 100,000 Canadians have Parkinson’s Disease, 20% are under age 50
  • Post traumatic disorder: military, paramedics, front-line nurses and victims of abuse, violent crimes or accidents
  • Feeding: unable to feed themselves or take significantly longer to eat than most to do so
  • Stroke: more than 50,000 strokes occur in Canada each year, one stroke every 10 minutes
  • Vision problems: blind in both eyes or 20/200 or 20 degrees field of vision
  • Walking: unable to walk 100 meters or take significantly longer than most to do so
  • Sleep disorder
  • Fetal alcohol syndrome
  • Dressing: unable to dress or takes significantly longer
  • Depression
  • Down’s syndrome
  • Quadriplegia

As an advisor I don’t do my clients’ taxes personally. I use the experts for this.

I am working with a firm which specializes in submitting all the paperwork to start the process. To date, they have collected over $2,000,000 for their clients. This process takes on average 60 to 90 days and a small referral fee is charged by the firm if they collect.

DON’T DELAY!

2009 is coming to a close and you will miss out on the 1999 credit as of 2010…this may mean thousands of dollars lost forever!

Once you have the Disability Tax Credit you can open an RDSP (registered disability savings plan).

In my next article I will discuss the RDSP and how some can get over $164,151 from only $20,000 invested in twenty years, assuming a modest 3% rate of return. Also, find out what most banks are missing in their advice of the new RDSPs and what you need to know.

Phone me at 905 338-7689, or e-mail me at brian@rightinsurance.ca.