# How difficult is it to get the disability tax credit?



## wgf (Dec 3, 2015)

My spouse is on LTD from her company's group benefits insurance for a back injury. The problem is I am looking at the federal disability form and it is a LOT more restricted than what her insurance company has.

How serious does a back injury have to be in order to get the Disability tax credit?


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## Davis (Nov 11, 2014)

She's really going to have to talk to her doctor about it. The doctor will tell her whether he/she is comfortable signing the DTC form. 

The DTC is about severe and prolonged disability, while the employer's insurance is going to be focused on getting her back to work, so they are different animals.


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## wgf (Dec 3, 2015)

I realize a doctor needs to sign it.

I want to know now restrictive this proves to be in practice from someone who has experience with this.

If you have to be blind or in a wheelchair to get the feds to approve the credit, then there is no point in wasting time getting the form filled out.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

It will take someone with a number of experiences based on the medical facts to determine the odds of getting a portion, all, or nothing of the DTC. Your spouse's doctor is the only one who can provide an educated guess.

My bro and I got the full DTC for our mother but she had become legally blind.


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## stardancer (Apr 26, 2009)

See http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/t2201-1/README.html
The article gives a good outline of impairments to daily living. 
You must be impaired in the basic activities of daily living, all substantially all of the time (90%). An impairment is prolonged if it has lasted or is expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months.

It is fairly difficult to get the credit approved. My daughter suffers from 2 severe auto-immune conditions which prevent her from maintaining a job and which require life-sustaining medication, but is not impaired in her daily life, so is not eligible for the DTC.


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## Numbersman61 (Jan 26, 2015)

Often the insurance company will urge the claimant to apply for CPP disability since this will reduce the amount they have to pay to the insured. In most instances, the claimant receives the funds from the insurance company on a tax free basis. However, CPP disability benefits are fully taxable. A retroactive CPP benefit payment may result in a large unexpected income tax bill.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

Not to confuse CPP disability with the Disability Tax Credit.


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## Charlie (May 20, 2011)

It's worth an ask the next time your spouse sees the doc. The forms are retroactive so there's no great rush. I do suspect if he/she gets around OK then they won't qualify as the bar to qualify is quite high. Much higher than for disability insurance. But there's no cost in inquiring the next time he/she's at the doc's and the doc won't fill out the form unless he/she believes your spouse qualifies.


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## Numbersman61 (Jan 26, 2015)

AltaRed said:


> Not to confuse CPP disability with the Disability Tax Credit.


Correct. The DTC is entirely different.


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## Karen (Jul 24, 2010)

Over the years, I've successfully applied for the Disability Tax Credit for four different people - my sister, who eventually died from breast cancer; my husband, who was legally blind; my mother, who suffered from severe dementia; and my father-in-law, who was very elderly and simply could no longer walk. The form itself is very simple and straightforward - the doctor fills in the more difficult part, describing the disability and the time that it has been in effect. If I were wgf, I would fill out the form, take it to the spouse's doctor and ask him/her to fill in the rest of it, and see what happens. The worst they can do is say "No" and nothing is lost.

One thing I would definitely NOT do is to use the company that advertises that they will do it for you. I understand that they charge 25% of whatever funds they recover on your behalf, and that can be a substantial amount if the disability started several years earlier, As I said, it's very simple to do yourself, and it's completely unnecessary to pay to have anyone do it for you.


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## Charlie (May 20, 2011)

Karen said:


> One thing I would definitely NOT do is to use the company that advertises that they will do it for you. I understand that they charge 25% of whatever funds they recover on your behalf, and that can be a substantial amount if the disability started several years earlier, As I said, it's very simple to do yourself, and it's completely unnecessary to pay to have anyone do it for you.


This cannot be stressed enough. Your doctor fills out the complicated part of the form. These companies charge a lot for stuff you don't need them to do.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

Something applicants need to bear in mind. At first glance it appears that one has to be _markedly restricted_ in one basic activity of daily living as described in T2201 in order to qualify. A lot of people read through this, and conclude that "Well, I'm not bad enough to met their definition of "markedly restricted"", so they don't bother going any further. But there is a final question about cumulative effect of "significant restrictions" (a lesser standard than _marked restriction_). If an applicant passes the bar for a _significant restriction_ in 2 or more aspects of daily living, the cumulative effect may qualify them for a certificate.


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## Davis (Nov 11, 2014)

Charlie said:


> This cannot be stressed enough. Your doctor fills out the complicated part of the form. These companies charge a lot for stuff you don't need them to do.


Some of these companies have their own doctors who may be more flexible in their interpretations, which says to me that applicants are going to be at greater risk of audit by CRA.


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