Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Canadian Disability Tax Credit

Well my appeal has been denied! Turns out that because I am able to walk in to see my doc and dress myself, I am not eligible for the tax credit. Am thinking of appealing to the tax court of canada but wonder if anybody has gone that far and if so, what were the results.
I think they need to learn much more about this disease and the long periods of down time and days when I can't brush my teeth without going into muscle spasms.
How can this all be explained without providing a day to day journal of all the pain and glory of AS?
Any body with any news regarding this subject?
Thanks,
Kel.

Hi there, ah yes, CRA and our government's take on these things. Oh joy. I went to the CRA website and here are the criteria:

Walking
For the DTC, you are considered markedly restricted in walking if, all or substantially all the time:

•you are unable to walk, even with appropriate therapy, medication, and devices; or
•you require an inordinate amount of time to walk, even with appropriate therapy, medication, and devices. An inordinate amount of time means that walking takes significantly longer than for an average person who does not have the impairment.

Dressing
For the DTC, you are considered markedly restricted in dressing if, all or substantially all the time:

•you are unable to dress yourself, even with appropriate therapy, medication, and devices; or
•you require an inordinate amount of time to dress yourself, even with appropriate therapy, medication, and devices. An inordinate amount of time means that dressing takes significantly longer than for an average person who does not have the impairment.

I would be willing to bet you told the truth and admitted that you can, sometimes, actually do these things. That was your first mistake. I don't want to cast aspertions on our KAers who are on disability here (let alone the too many other people I know who are legitimately on disability), as I know they need to be, but all too frequently, honesty does not work with our system. You probably should have told them you couldn't do either of these things all or significantly all of the time. Always give your worst case scenario.

Now, I am not advising you to lie. Heaven forfend I should ever do such a thing. But from what I know of our system, people do lie (at least stretch the truth) or they aren't taken seriously. Unfortunately, there are also people who lie simply because they can't be bothered to get a job. But then, I'm cynical about this for reasons I cannot go into here. Suffice to say, when so many people truly do need disability or this tax credit, but cannot get them because they are honest; while other people lie through their teeth and play act about how badly they are feeling, and they do get these benefits, thereby using money that should be going to the people who really need it ...

As I said, I'm cynical about the whole process. I guess I'm not much help.

Sorry.

Hugs,

Guess they modelled the canadian system on the UK disability living allowance! Sounds like just the same kind of hoops to jump through. I know with our forms, it isn't so much about what you say, its about what NOT to say. Yes, describe the bad days and the worst case stuff, but NO, definitely don't ever admit that you can cope even some of the time. One silly little statement that implies you can cope can negate everything else you write.

I'm in the middle of filling out my renewal forms right now. Its so stressful.

Do you have the right of appeal? If so, then that is where your diary might be very useful.

Hmm, based on the description that Kat quoted from CRA, it sounds to me like you have to, basically, be on govn disability in order to be eligible for the disability tax credit... which makes sense. I've wondered about eligibility but hadn't ever bothered to look it up, just assuming that I wouldn't be. For people who are severely impacted by AS and are still choosing/or just barely managing to remain in the workforce, it's a shame they don't offer some sort of partial credit, since there can be a definite negative impact on earning ability.

You can get a direct tax credit for all out of pocket medical expenses (drugs, devices, etc.), which can be extremely helpful, particularly for those of us who are self-employed and without drug/dental plans.

If you push for a further appeal - best of luck!
mig

You can qualify for the Canadian tax credit if your disability is serious enough - it is intended for working people who are having to incur a lot of extra expenses in order to keep working and living. I qualified when I couldn't walk a block or get dressed without assistance, about 18 months ago. I was having to take my car to work every day (expensive when you have to take a car on a ferry) because I couldn't walk so I was very glad to get the tax credit to sightly offset the huge extra costs that my illness was incurring.

My doctor filled out the form with me - he knew what I was dealing with and was the one that told me about the tax credit and suggested that I qualified.

It does not require you to be on govt disability but you must be experiencing severe difficulties on a daily basis.

My Doctor told me that you basically need to be in a wheelchair to qualify for the tax credit.
Dan

That makes sense - thanks for the additional info Wendy. I'm glad it was available for you when you went through that really long awful period but were still making it in to work.

Back when mine was impacting me that severely, I took only a rare day off work over those years (even when my workaholic boss would say "what on earth are you doing here?" lol) and wasn't incurring any additional expenses because of it, except for the need to use a home delivery service for grocery shopping (pricey back then), so there was no need for a tax credit.

I've always presumed that if a doctor determines that a person should qualify for the credit, then the govn would honour the doc's opinion, as they do for other programs.

I qualified for the Canadian Tax Credit, because of my multi-comabidities(sp). I went originally through ODSP. I qualified for CPPD and was accepted immediately for Canada Disability tax Credit.

Gerri

Hi and thanks!
The doc did tell them I was restricted in walking and dressing myself. I am on disability pension but this does not involve the disability tax credit...it would almost seem that you must be in a wheelchair and totally ynable to care for yourself.
Makes me wonder after an ex-coworker got it!
Oh well might have to appeal to the higher courts just to open their eyes on this.
Thanks again.
Kel.

Hi
I know what you are going thru. It took many months and many medicals to get approved here as well.
Good luck with your paperwork, I hope it all works out for you.
Kel.