If you or someone you support suffers from a severe, prolonged impairment, the Government of Canada acknowledges you will be impacted by additional costs and may grant eligibility for a tax credit to reduce the amount of tax you pay. This credit is called the Disability Tax Credit (DTC). Eligibility for the DTC can also provide access to other federal, provincial/territorial programs such as the Registered Disability Savings Plan, the Working Income Tax Benefit, and the Child Disability Benefit. Read our blog on the Disability Tax Credit.
The 2021 budget proposes expanded access to the DTC for individuals with compromised mental functions for everyday life. In addition to the current mental functions covered (memory, adaptive functioning, problem-solving, goal-setting, and judgment) the new proposal includes attention, concentration, perception of reality, regulation of behaviour and emotions, and verbal and non-verbal comprehension.
Furthermore, the budget takes into consideration time spent on activities related to life-sustaining therapy including:
- time spent on monitoring diet and physical exertion to adjust medication dosage on a daily basis
- medical appointments for therapy or to adjust medication
- medical recuperation to recover from therapy
