A disability of any kind can be mentally
and emotionally draining and challenging not only for the disabled
person but also for the caregivers of that person.
While it is
common knowledge that there are numerous federal and provincial tax
credits and deductions available for the disabled individual, many
supporting family members may be so overwhelmed by the challenge of
caring for a disabled relative that they may not take full advantage of
tax deductions and credits that they are entitled to as supporting
family members.
The following are some of the tax benefits that the caregivers of the disabled are entitled to:
Disability Amount Transferred from a Dependant.
If
you are a caregiver living with disabled dependants you may be able to
claim a disability amount transferred from the dependant. To be
eligible for the claim, the dependant must have resided in Canada, and
depended on you for some or all of the basic necessities of life. In
addition, one of the following must apply:
- you claimed the
amount for eligible dependant in respect of the dependant (or could
have if you did not have a spouse/common-law partner and if the
dependant did not have any income);
- The dependant was
your parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, sibling, aunt, uncle,
niece, or nephew, and you claimed the caregiver amount or amount for
infirm dependant age 18 or older for the dependant (or could have if
the dependant had no income and had been age 18 or older in the year).
This
credit is not available if the spouse or common-law partner of the
disabled person is already claiming the disability amount (or any other
non-refundable tax credit except medical expenses) for a spouse. Where
the credit is available, it can be split with another supporting
individual provided the total amount claimed does not exceed the
maximum allowed for the dependant.
Amounts Transferred from a Spouse or Common-Law Partner.
Amounts
may be transferred from a spouse or common-law partner if the
spouse/common-law partner was eligible for the credit(s), but did not
have enough income to make full use of them. Among the transferable
credits are the disability and tuition and education amounts.
While
a disabled spouse’s full disability amount can generally be transferred
(subject to the disabled person’s taxable income), a maximum of $5,000
can be transferred in respect of the tuition and education amount.