Providing elderly care for an incapacitated loved one can sometimes be overwhelming. More often than not, even the most loyal and devoted relatives are incapable of providing the full-time care and attention desired and necessary for their loved one’s everyday needs.
As our loved one’s age, most dedicated family members many times find themselves in a struggling position with the role of taking responsibility for the family members who are not in a position to take care of themselves. Hence, they result in paying for attendant care expenses as an alternative way to deal with the burden. This decision not only poses a financial challenge to the family but also directly impacts them emotionally.
An attendant care services are hand-on assistance for the personal tasks and functional needs of an enrolled participant who has physical incapacitation and requires assistance with the daily living activities.
Individuals can claim tax eligibility paid to an attendant if only:
- The attendant was not your spouse or a common-law partner.
- The attendant was the age of 18 years or over during the period when the amounts were paid.
Who is Eligible to Claim the Attendant Care Expenses?
You are entitled to claim the attendant care expenses that you or your partner paid for your attendant care or provision of care in a facility as medical expenses.
Tax eligibility only applies if the attendant care expenses were paid for the following people, yourself, family members, or your dependant and a spouse.
A dependant is someone who relies on other people, especially a family member for support and includes the following persons:
- You or your partner’s child or grandchildren
- You or your partner’s guardians, parents, grandparents, siblings, and the extended family.
What amount are you eligible to claim as medical expenses?
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Specialized care/Full-time care
Usually, you are eligible to claim the total amount you paid for the specialized care at any of the subsequent facilities:
- Nursing homes which often offer full-time care
- Institutions that provide care and training such as schools
Full-time care is usually offered to individuals who require the constant provision of care and attendance.
It is important for you that you cannot generally claim the entire amount you paid for retirement home service, notwithstanding you are eligible to claim the remuneration or wages for the attendant care in the respective facility if the caregiver qualifies is warranted for the disability tax credit.
A nursing home also known as a retirement home is a facility that provides residential accommodation, inclusive of 24-hour nursing health care, especially for the elderly and incapacitated people. Any facility possessing the characteristics and features could be characterized as a nursing home. All regular expenses including food, housing, nursing medical care, maintenance fees, relief program, and activity fees are all paid as full-time care and are tax eligible as medical expenses. Personal expenses such as hairdressing services are not considered as part of the medical expenses.
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Salaries and Remuneration
An individual can claim for salaries and remunerations paid to the care attendant as part of the medical care expenses in the following facilities:
- Independent domestic institutions such as privately owned homes.
- Retirement home institutions or any other elderly homes which provide temporary attendant care.
- Nursing homes whereby special rules often apply to this type of facility.
For an individual to claim the salaries and remunerations as part of the medical expenses they require to first be eligible for the disability tax credit.
Which kind of expenses can you claim?
You can only claim tax eligibility for the salaries and remunerations paid to the employees as medical care for the ones who perform the following tasks and services:
- Preparing food
- Management of household affairs such as housekeeping services for personalizing a household’s living space.
- Nursing health care services from a certified health care provider or a registered nurse.
- Social programming activities.
- Hairdressing services if it is included in the monthly expenses.
- Transportation fees.
- Security services for a secured unit.
If you are receiving attendant care in the comfort of your home you can only claim for the certain period that you were receiving the home care and you should be eligible for the disability tax credit as well as written documentation from a certified practitioner that clearly states the services rendered were necessary.
Which kind of expenses you are not eligible to claim?
You cannot be able to claim any of the following:
- Rental fee except for services rendered in the house such as housekeeping and laundry services.
- Cleaning products and supplies.
- Operational costs such as interior and exterior house maintenance such as refurbishing common areas or outside grounds.
- Salaries and remunerations are paid to employees for common areas such as receptionists and administration staff.
Which kind of rules and regulations apply when claiming the disability amount?
There is a particular set of rules and guidelines one is required to follow when claiming the attendant care expenses or the disability amount as medical expenses.
You can only claim tax eligibility for the attendant care expenses and disability with the nursing care fees which only relate to salaries and remuneration for the attendant care. It is crucial to provide a breakdown of the total amount charged by the nursing home indicating the payments channeled to the attendant care.
Which certification do you need to support your attendant care expenses?
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Receipts
The receipts should indicate the particular individual organization to which the attendant care expenses were channeled. An individual should issue a receipt acknowledging the attendant care services rendered bearing his or her social insurance number.
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Certification
It is important to note that you need certification to prove that you are eligible to claim the amount you paid the attendant care as medical expenses.
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A detailed breakdown
For an individual to initiate a claim paid to a certain facility it is crucial to provide a comprehensive breakdown of the said facility.
The detailed breakdown should include the exact amounts paid to the employees that are relevant to the attendant care expenses listed under the salaries and remuneration.
Wrapping-up!
Several tax incentives are applicable for the attendant caregivers. In addition, the incapacitated or elderly and the people supporting them are entitled to tax relief upon incurring renovation expenses concerning improving mobility or accessibility in their homes.