Personal tax credits and benefit programs that rely on those credits impact on the family’s ability to maximize wealth; and, equally important, to minimize risk and tax.  For example, in the year you die, if you haven't received a full pension income of $2,000 directly or via a split by your date of death, you won't be able to claim the full $2,000 pension credit even though you may be required to include your RSP or RIF in income at date of death. Take time out of your busy schedule to:

1. Review a unique financial and tax record keeping system
2. Learn what questions to ask and questions to expect from your tax preparer
3. Identify credits, benefits, expenses, and programs
4. Ferret out which credits transfer, who can transfer credits and how to support a claim
5. Discover some great new tools to share with your qualified medical practitioners
6. Locate over 150 medical expenses and discover four medical expenses that require the DTC
7. Delve into a confusing array of attendant, disability supports and child care expenses
8. Craft requests for ‘certification in writing’ of medical expenses including travel claims and renovations
9. Consider who should pay; what they should pay for; and how much is claimable
10. Refresh your memory about important transitional provisions (Youth/Adult, Relationships and Retirement/Aging)

This workshop is just in time for tax preparers...when they bury you, your records live on. Have you prepared your executor?

Sign up today to host “Arrange your Affairs”! You won't want to miss the stories.  Host an online event, or if you're in the Lower Mainland, contact Eileen to book an in-person event at eileen@taxdetective.ca. To hold a Saturday in February or March, call immediately, as there are only a  limited number of dates still available.

Eileen Reppenhagen, CGA, is a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor who writes and speaks about tax and accounting.  She's passionate about taxpayers rights about the rules.  Six years ago, she volunteered to advise CRA Benefits Administration about disability administration. This committee still meets monthly.

Canada Revenue Agency has a second version available, which portrays each of the various disability definitions as a separate video under each category such as walking, speaking, etc.: Qualified Medical Practitioners  

2011 Tax Tips What's New? 2010 Tax Tips for Persons with Disabilities Articles and Links (Useful Links Personal) You may want to bookmark this page! Canada Benefits CRA: Persons with Disabilities Quebec Tax Credits PWD Online Veterans Affairs RC4064 T2201 Disability Tax Credit Certificate TD1 forms IT 513 Personal Tax Credits Can you claim the disability amount for dependent? T1213 Request to reduce tax deductions at source Youth in Transition Line 316 Disability - self Line 318 Disability - transfer from dependent there's a supplement to the disability amount, clawed back by child care or attendant care paid for that child.  You won't find it on the TD1 and in the tax software it calculates in the background in the dependent window.  Medical Expense Tax Credit What can PWD claim as a deduction or credit? Medical Expenses - eligible in alphabetical order These four medical expenses require the DTC: Attendant or nursing home care (S.118.2(2)(b)) Attendant up to $10,000, $20,000 in year of death (S.118.2(2)(b.1) Group home (S.118.2(2)(b.2) Therapy (S.118.2(2)(l.9)) And in a year of transition from attendant care to nursing home or full time attendant, it's one or the other but not both and only the attendant care can claim the DTC in the same year. Moving Moving, Renovations & New Construction Travel Expenses for Medical Expense Deductions from Income T778 Child Care Expenses Deduction Note that it's $10,000 with DTC approval, and remember to review if lower income parent is infirm, in school, hospital or jail (yes, jail) Disability Supports Line 215 T929 Disability Supports Deduction (2005 & later) Other programs Child Disability Benefit (CDB) Children's Fitness Supplement Death of RIF Annuitant - Qualified Beneficiaries Death of RSP Annuitant - Qualified Beneficiaries Employer Benefits and Allowances Benefits paid to or for persons with disabilities will not create a taxable fringe benefit ITA 6(16) if employee is certified by T2201 to be a person with a disability. Includes actual cost or reasonable allowance for transportation to / from work and cost of attendant to assist person with disability in performance of duties HBP RC4135 Home Buyers Plan (HBP) Home Reno Tax Credit Preferred beneficiary election IT 394 RDSP www.rdsp.com www.plan.ca Renovations by landlords/employers Landlords - See T4036 rental Guide, Capital expenses, special situations. Renovations to Income Producing Buildings to allow access (landlords and employers) are a current expense, not capitalized for ramps, door openers, widening doorways, bathrooms, elevators, doorways and prescribed devices including elevator car position indicators, visual fire alarms, listening devices for group meetings or telephone devices for hearing impairment; software and hardware attachments (ITA 20(1)(qq),(rr) IT Regulations 1102(1)(a), 8800, 8801 RMES Line 452 WITB Definitions Definition of Infirmity Relief of Aged - Charity Policy CPS 002: See Footnote 1 for definition: Infirm means not firm or sound physically, weak, especially from age, feeble: weak of mind. Qualified practitioners References to medical practitioners, S. 118.4(2),For the purposes of sections 63, 64, 118.2, 118.3 and 118.6, a reference to an audiologist, dentist, medical doctor, medical practitioner, nurse, occupational therapist, optometrist, pharmacist, physiotherapist, psychologist, or speech-language pathologist is a reference to a person authorized to practise as such, (a) where the reference is used in respect of a service rendered to a taxpayer, pursuant to the laws of the jurisdiction in which the service is rendered; (b) where the reference is used in respect of a certificate issued by the person in respect of a taxpayer, pursuant to the laws of the jurisdiction in which the taxpayer resides or of a province; and (c) where the reference is used in respect of a prescription issued by the person for property to be provided to or for the use of a taxpayer, pursuant to the laws of the jurisdiction in which the taxpayer resides, of a province or of the jurisdiction in which the property is provided. Note: Speech language pathologists are not licenced in BC... Qualified practitioners by province/territory Public Service Health Care Plan list Official References ITA S. 118.2(2) Medical expenses S. 118.2(2)(m) refers to devices and equipment found listed in Reg 5700 (below) ITA Reg 5700 Device & Equipment ITA S. 20(qq)&(rr) Disability: business deductions S. 20 (qq) and S. 20 (rr) refer to Reg 8800 and 8801 below ITA Reg 8800 8801 Disability related modifications ITA S. 118.4 Nature of impairment Note that the ITA uses the word impairment, not disability... ITA S. 64 Disability Supports Deduction PHSP's IT339 Meaning of PHSP See also ITA S. 248(1) which has definitions and ITA S. 6(1)(a), 18(1)(a) and 118.2(2)(q) and 118.2(3)(b) Olympia Benefits Inc. Blue Cross Canada Pacific Blue Cross ICBA: Construction Industry Benefit Plan Fuel Tax Refund Program:Persons with Disabilities Refund of Federal Excise Tax on Gasoline

1. Evaluate your spending habits for a month, list all of your regular commitments or contracts that are annual or monthly, your debt service payments, interest rates on debts and essentials like groceries and gas or medical. How much is left over and who is entitled to spend the remainder? Is it split 50/50 or 80/20 between you and your spouse or partner? Is that fair? This is where my book comes in handy
2. Know what you have, how many accounts, what assets you own, what debts you owe, what you insure and what's valuable, and where it's stored, check your will, power of attorney and representation agreements are current, review beneficiaries on insurance, RSP or RIF contracts ....This is where my book comes in handy
3. Evaluate financial contracts to determine if they are necessary and cancel any that are not (cell phone, internet, phone, cable, debt, mortgage, credit, bank & investment accounts, organic grocery delivery, lawn, building, sprinkler, spa or pool maintenance, gym memberships, insurance plans)
4. Develop a plan to manage your paperwork, sort out your paperwork into account numbers, one account or asset per file. You'll find that most of your paper is from an account or asset, whether it's a bank, credit card, investment, vehicle, house, pension plan, utility provider or cell phone. This is where my book comes in handy
5. Create a budget and a plan to live within that budget. Sort your cash out into five major categories with sub-categories. The five major categories are annual, monthly, essential, debt service and remainder. This is where my book comes in handy
6. Refinance debt at a lower rate of interest, investigate lines of credit with credit cards attached instead of credit cards
7. Make a long term plan (cash flow till you die requires date of death prediction)
8. Prepare some 'what-if' I scenarios, like what if we sold the house and rented, experienced a decline in health , what if we cashed in the GIC's and paid off the credit cards?
9. Evaluate what you are invested in, and if it's not growing, get out,consider debt repayment versus savings in tax deferred accounts and definitely consider TFSA's
10.  Shift your attitude about consumption of everything from water, your footprint on the earth, your food and other consumables from sources within 100 miles, living even more green and within your means

Disclaimer: Eileen Reppenhagen CGA does not research or endorse any product or service appearing in ads posted on this site.  Please do NOT rely on or use the information on this website as a basis for a course of action without obtaining appropriate professional advice.Disclaimer: All Apple®, Windows Mobile®, and Android® trademarks remain the property of their respective holders, and are used only to describe the products being provided by The App Code. Any usage of the above-mentioned marks anywhere on The App Code website in no way indicates any relationship, endorsement, or affiliation with the holders of said trademarks.   

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