First Things First- Steps for Applying for the Disability Tax Credit

Steps to applying for the Disability Tax Credit STEP 1: Obtain T2201 forms from the Canada Revenue website. You can fill the form out online or print it and fill it in by hand.

• Printable Form

• Fillable/Saveable Form

STEP 2: Fill out part A of the form. BE SURE TO SIGN SECTION 4. STEP 3: Part B - Check off all applicable marked impairments (ONLY ONE MARKED IMPAIRMENT IS REQUIRED FOR APPROVAL) For help in determining if your child has marked restrictions, please click for information about each eligible impairment. You can also view further information in this article.

• VISION

• SPEAKING

• EXAMPLE VIDEO

• HEARING

• EXAMPLE VIDEO

• WALKING

• EXAMPLE VIDEO

• FEEDING

• EXAMPLE VIDEO

• DRESSING

• EXAMPLE VIDEO

• ELIMINATING

• EXAMPLE VIDEO

• MENTAL FUNCTIONS NECESSARY FOR EVERYDAY LIFE

• EXAMPLE VIDEO

• LIFE SUSTAINING THERAPY

• EXAMPLE VIDEO

*** IMPORTANT NOTE WHEN APPLYING WITH DIAGNOSIS SUCH AS ASD/ADHD/ODD ETC.*** I often see feeding/dressing/eliminating checked as marked restrictions when taking a child a long time to do these things because they are inattentive or have behavioural problems. Feeding/dressing/eliminating DO NOT qualify as a marked restriction unless they are physical in nature. Reminders, prompting, physical assistance due to inattention or behavioural problems are not qualifying. (Physical impairment such as cannot cut food due to issues dexterity, cannot pull up pants due to weakness in the upper body, requires catheter for urination). If applicable, feeding/dressing/eliminating should be mentioned in the effects of impairment as an adaptive skill impairment when “Mental Functions Necessary for Everyday Life” is checked. PROPER DATING OF IMPAIRMENTS You will see under each impairment a question asking when the date the effects of impairment began. PLEASE NOTE THIS IS NOT ASKING FOR THE DATE OF DIAGNOSIS. The date of diagnosis is rarely the same as when the effects of impairments began. Effects of impairment can begin long before a diagnosis or may not develop until months or years after a diagnosis. For this question, you would indicate the year the effects of impairment became a MARKED or SIGNIFICANT RESTRICTION. For example, an individual may be born with autism but is not diagnosed until they are older. You would put the year the effects were noticeably marked. An individual may be diagnosed with arthritis but may not suffer debilitating impairments until several years after the date of diagnosis in which you would put the year the effects became significantly or markedly restricted. APPLYING FROM BIRTH Some disabilities are apparent and show clear marked restrictions from birth. Others are not as evident. One of the most common questions I am asked is what year to indicate the effects of impairment began. This is especially true for children with impairments in mental functioning such as ASD, ADHD, ODD, SPD, etc.). This is HIGHLY debatable and is a discussion you will need to have with your physician. There are two schools of thought about this topic, and the choice ultimately falls upon your own honour system:

1. A child with mental impairment should be approved from birth simply because they were born with it (even if marked restrictions were not evident from birth).

2. A child who has mental impairment should be approved only from when marked restrictions became evident.

CRA does not help us know which the appropriate option is as sometimes they approve from birth and sometimes don’t. This seems to be quite dependent on who reviews the case and makes the ultimate decision. Approving from birth simply because a child is born with it is counter to CRA’S own guidelines, which indicate approvals are based on when the effects of impairment began to be markedly/significantly restricted. However, they DO approve them at times. Choose what you feel is honest. If you feel your child had marked restrictions from birth, indicate the birth year. If you overlooked marked or significant restrictions until later, indicate the year they became evident. Some argue that babies are completely reliant on caregivers and should not indicate impairments until they are of the age when they should be showing some independence. Although I am often torn on the from-birth question, I am not torn on how I feel about this aspect. Some effects of impairment would clearly not apply to an infant (dressing, for example). However, some children show obvious impairments in emotional regulation and sensory issues, for example. Again, if you feel there were significant or marked restrictions from birth, indicate from birth. CUMULATIVE EFFECTS EXAMPLE VIDEO Please note: You do not need to check ANYTHING under cumulative effects if you have checked ONE OR MORE impairments as MARKEDLY RESTRICTED. There are different ways to fill out this section appropriately.

1. If you have ONE marked restriction and several cumulative

2. If you have SEVERAL marked restrictions – DO NOT check them under cumulative. CHECK NO under cumulative and leave the remaining boxes blank.

3. If you have no marked restrictions but several cumulative, check yes and the applicable impairments.

Cumulative effects apply if there are TWO or more significant restrictions that are NOT QUITE MARKED but, when added together, would equal ONE MARKED RESTRICTION. For example, an individual has a significant restriction in feeding and dressing. Still, both fall just under 90% of the time or 3 times longer than that of an average person of the same age; feeding and dressing could then be checked under cumulative as taken together; they would equal one marked restriction. EFFECTS OF IMPAIRMENT ***CRITICAL SECTION – WILL DETERMINE APPROVAL OR DENIAL – YOU MUST DO THIS SECTION THE WAY CRA WANTS. CORRECT WORDING IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE. EDUCATE YOURSELF ON CORRECT WORDING AND THEN EDUCATE YOUR DOCTOR*** TIPS:

• Use plain English. Remember, the agents who are making this decision are TAX AGENTS. They do not have medical training.

• Less is more. Keep it simple. Keep it as short as possible. Agents want to be able to determine in under ten minutes.

• Bulleted lists are more effective than paragraphs (I make a short summary paragraph and then a bulleted list of most notable impairments).

• Include the statements “is present 90% or more of the time, in all settings, despite appropriate therapies and treatments” and “takes 3 times longer than that of an average child of the same age”.

• One-on-one assistance is one of the strongest qualifiers. Focus on it.

• Academics do not count. If your application talks about not being able to sit at his/her desk, not being able to complete homework, not being able to focus in class – YOU WILL BE DENIED - IMPAIRMENTS MUST BE ABOUT DAILY LIVING.

There are 4 possible outcomes when applying for the DTC based entirely on the effects of the impairment section.

1. If this section covers the topics CRA wants to hear about and uses correct wording, you will be approved.

2. If this section is vague, does not cover the topics CRA wants to hear about, states only a diagnosis with no examples of how it affects the applicant, talks about things CRA considers ineligible, the CRA will deny it.

3. If this section says some of what CRA wants to hear about but does not give enough concrete detail, the CRA will send a questionnaire with specific topics to the professional who completed the forms.

4. The effects of impairment section are adequate, but there are questions about the dates the effects of impairment began. The CRA will send a request for supporting documentation to the professional who completed the forms.

Try to avoid questionnaires by ensuring the Effects of Impairment section is done right the first time. Duration Must check yes. If unsure is checked, approval is typically approved for five years. At that time, the DTC will expire, and a new application will be necessary. If no is checked, it is possible approval will be granted indefinitely. Indefinite approvals are more likely with physical disabilities than when applying under mental functioning. Indefinite approvals under mental functioning for children are rare (but do happen). Certification CRA has begun to approve based on the years the doctor was attending the patient RATHER than the date the effects of impairment began. This is not always the case, but it is becoming common. Be prepared for this possibility. If this happens you will there are steps you can take to have approval dates corrected. QUESTION 2 “Do you have medical documents on file to support the restrictions for all the years you certified this form?”

• If your doctor checks “no,” – that is a problem. This is a case where they may approve only for the years the doctor has been attending to the patient. To avoid this, you can gather documentation from any other source you have, such as previous doctors, OTs, speech therapists, etc. Provide copies to the physician completing the form so that they can check “yes.”

• You can STILL indicate the date the effects of impairment began – this question can complicate things, though.

STEP 4: SUBMIT TO CRA You can submit your signed application to CRA by uploading it to your CRA Account or send it by snail mail to your nearest tax center. The address is found on the last page of the T2201. LOGIN TO CRA HERE: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/e-services-individuals/account-individuals.html If you have not created an account, you will need to do so. This can take several days as CRA will need to send you a code through the mail to activate the account. If you would like to hire us for our services, we are happy to walk you through the process.