Many people find that they are no longer able to get the medical treatment they need within their geographical area. It often means having to travel quite a distance to obtain the necessary care. Part of this has been due to cutbacks in medical services as well as a shortage of Canadian specialists.
It can become expensive for this type of travel and the CRA will at least provide some relief for these extra expenses by allowing for a credit for qualifying medical travel expenses. There are a few available credits.
If your travel distance one way is a minimum of 40 kilometres you may be eligible for a credit for the cost of the public transportation that you paid to get there. For example, you may have used a bus or taxi. If this type of transportation was not available then you may have had to use a private vehicle as your source of travel, and in this case then those expenses would qualify.
If your travel distance happens to be 80 kilometers or over then you may be eligible for an additional expense such as accommodation, your meals and parking along with the transportation expenses.
As always there are rules that apply for qualifying and the amounts that you can claim.
First the type of treatments that you are receiving that are incurring your travel must not be available to you near you home. You must take the most direct route to your destination and finally it must make reasonable sense for you to have to travel to this location.
There are times where an individual is too ill to travel alone, and the CRA recognizes that a 2nd individual used to accompany them will incur a cost as well. If a Doctor certifies that this is the case then the travel and transportation expenses will also be applicable to the assisting individual.
Now there are times where some individuals are reimbursed for some of their travel expenses through private Insurance coverage. In this case those costs that are covered may not be eligible for the CRA credit, but some circumstances do apply.
There are a lot of potential credits available to those that suffer from ill health and have medical expenses. It would be well worth having a trustworthy Toronto accountant prepare your tax return for you to ensure that you are not missing out on all your possible entitlements. Give Sam Seidman a call here at 416-398-1700, we would be glad to help.
