It is personal tax time again, which is an opportune time to be updated with respect to some recent Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) positions on common medical and related expenses (released December 18, 2019). These updates include positions relating to cannabis, fertility treatments and insulin pens. The medical expense tax credit is a non-refundable tax credit that can be claimed if you paid qualifying healthcare expenses. The most notable updates to these expenses from 2019 include:
- To claim cannabis as a medical expense, the patient must have a medical document and be registered as a client of the licenced cannabis retailer. To be registered, the patient must provide a registration application and their original medical document or a copy of their Health Canada registration certificate to the licenced cannabis retailer.
- Fees associated with obtaining eggs or sperm from a donor are not eligible medical expenses. These fees include any costs for locating a donor and any medical expenses paid on behalf of the donor unless the donor is the taxpayer, their spouse or common-law partner or the tax payer’s dependant.
- An insulin pen is an eligible medical expense because it is an example of a needle or syringe designed for giving an ejection.
- An individual can earn income and still be a dependent on the claimant for support if their income is shown to be insufficient to meet the individual’s basic needs.
- When a medical practitioner has a teacher/student relationship with their patient, any services provided are generally not considered medical and related expenses.
If you have questions about these or any other medical and related expenses tax credits, please reach out to you Bateman MacKay account manager.
