Interview with Cleo from H&R Block Tax Services - Part 2
Cleo Hamel is a Senior Tax Analyst with H&R Block
Monty: Okay. I was wondering what are some of the major issues that you're finding in your research and dealing with your clients as far as tax goes? What sort of questions are you feeling, things like medical expenses and deductions and so on?
Podcast Interview with H&R Block
Cleo: Medical expenses tend to be one of the biggest ones that we've been dealing with. Probably over the last few years, there are two parts to medical expenses. One of the general things - you go to the doctor, dentist and if you've got kids who have braces, you're probably making payments on a monthly basis for that. Or if you're fortunate enough to have a plan at work, part of it is being paid for through that private health plan. But you're still paying some money out. Those types of things don't feel like a lot when you pay them every month, but if you look at them at the end of the year, there's some money there to be saved. So we're getting people asking us, "What types of expenses outside of the dentist and the doctor can I claim?" There's glasses, contact lenses. If you wear a hearing aid, if you have to buy batteries for that hearing aid.
You went to the chiropractor, massage therapy. So there are a number of medical practitioners that provide a service and you may be paying for them, whether it's $30.00 or $40.00 every month or maybe it's more. Other things they're asking or just finding out about is if you pay for a private health premium through payroll deduction, whether that's a couple of dollars every pay, that amount at the end of the year adds up and you can claim that as a medical expense as well. People are really surprised to hear that. The other challenge they're finding now is they have all these expenses, they put them all together and they go, "Now what do I do with it?" One of the rules you have to know about medical expenses is the amount of your medical expenses has to exceed 3% of your net income. As a tax tip, in a household with a couple, make sure that the lowest income earner in the family claims medical expenses because you get more for it. It's really good; they do add up.
Interview with Cleo H&R Block Part 1
The other one too then, is we go to another level of medical expenses when we talk about disabilities. Unfortunately, there are families out there that have a family member with some kind of a disability. They range from a number of different things. We've seen some who've gone on kidney dialysis. We've seen families who have a member who's got Celiacs disease. Maybe it's something a little bit more, deaf or blindness or some other kind of mental or physical handicap. The government actually has a tax credit available to those families and individuals. However, you have to get a form filled up, your doctor has to fill up this form and you have to send it in to the Canada Revenue Agency and they approve it or not. We have a lot of questions coming in because people say,
"You know what, I don't know if it's worth my time and realistically, if you qualify for a disability credit you can be saving about $1,000.00 in taxes - whether you're the person with the disability or maybe you're caring for someone with that disability. I think that's a lot of money, and I think that's well worth filling up that form and sending it in. I do caution people in that your doctor might qualify and say that, yes you have a handicap or disability, but remember it's the Canada Revenue Agency that actually approves it. They have a list of rules they go through. But that tends to be a really sensitive issue so we'd really like to put that message out to anyone who thinks they might qualify, don't hesitate. Get the form; it's called the T2201. It's a disability certificate. You can download it from the Canada Revenue Agency's website. You can even pop into one of our offices and someone can print one out for you. But I think it's well worth it.
Find H&R Block Tax Talk Canada
Cleo Hamel is a Senior Tax Analyst with H&R Block
Monty: Okay. I was wondering what are some of the major issues that you're finding in your research and dealing with your clients as far as tax goes? What sort of questions are you feeling, things like medical expenses and deductions and so on?
Podcast Interview with H&R Block
Cleo: Medical expenses tend to be one of the biggest ones that we've been dealing with. Probably over the last few years, there are two parts to medical expenses. One of the general things - you go to the doctor, dentist and if you've got kids who have braces, you're probably making payments on a monthly basis for that. Or if you're fortunate enough to have a plan at work, part of it is being paid for through that private health plan. But you're still paying some money out. Those types of things don't feel like a lot when you pay them every month, but if you look at them at the end of the year, there's some money there to be saved. So we're getting people asking us, "What types of expenses outside of the dentist and the doctor can I claim?" There's glasses, contact lenses. If you wear a hearing aid, if you have to buy batteries for that hearing aid.
You went to the chiropractor, massage therapy. So there are a number of medical practitioners that provide a service and you may be paying for them, whether it's $30.00 or $40.00 every month or maybe it's more. Other things they're asking or just finding out about is if you pay for a private health premium through payroll deduction, whether that's a couple of dollars every pay, that amount at the end of the year adds up and you can claim that as a medical expense as well. People are really surprised to hear that. The other challenge they're finding now is they have all these expenses, they put them all together and they go, "Now what do I do with it?" One of the rules you have to know about medical expenses is the amount of your medical expenses has to exceed 3% of your net income. As a tax tip, in a household with a couple, make sure that the lowest income earner in the family claims medical expenses because you get more for it. It's really good; they do add up.
Interview with Cleo H&R Block Part 1
The other one too then, is we go to another level of medical expenses when we talk about disabilities. Unfortunately, there are families out there that have a family member with some kind of a disability. They range from a number of different things. We've seen some who've gone on kidney dialysis. We've seen families who have a member who's got Celiacs disease. Maybe it's something a little bit more, deaf or blindness or some other kind of mental or physical handicap. The government actually has a tax credit available to those families and individuals. However, you have to get a form filled up, your doctor has to fill up this form and you have to send it in to the Canada Revenue Agency and they approve it or not. We have a lot of questions coming in because people say,
"You know what, I don't know if it's worth my time and realistically, if you qualify for a disability credit you can be saving about $1,000.00 in taxes - whether you're the person with the disability or maybe you're caring for someone with that disability. I think that's a lot of money, and I think that's well worth filling up that form and sending it in. I do caution people in that your doctor might qualify and say that, yes you have a handicap or disability, but remember it's the Canada Revenue Agency that actually approves it. They have a list of rules they go through. But that tends to be a really sensitive issue so we'd really like to put that message out to anyone who thinks they might qualify, don't hesitate. Get the form; it's called the T2201. It's a disability certificate. You can download it from the Canada Revenue Agency's website. You can even pop into one of our offices and someone can print one out for you. But I think it's well worth it.
Find H&R Block Tax Talk Canada
