How to claim disability / infirm related credit

Part 1 - Supporting Document Required for the Claim

To claim disability, you have to possess a CRA approved T2201 certificate.

To claim infirm, the CRA may ask for a signed statement from a medical practitioner showing when the impairment began and what the duration of the impairment is expected to be.

For children under 18 years of age, the statement should also show that the child, because of the impairment in physical or mental functions, is, and will likely continue to be, dependent on others for an indefinite duration. Dependent on others means they need much more assistance for their personal needs and care compared to children of the same age.

Part 2 - How to mark a person as infirm/disabled in the software?

  1. In expert view, the page "Infirmity" is at "Account Personal" section.
  2. In simple view mode, you need to go "Interview Setup" page, tick the box beside "Disabled / infirm [Some browsers might need" and click Next button, the page "Disabled / infirm" will be listed on your left side nagvigation menu, click that you will be on th page.
  3. If the dependent does not need a return, the page link is either under "Account & Personal" section (in expert view) or always listed on the left side (in simple view).
  4. Select Infirm or Disabled and click Next button.
  5. A youtube demo is here for a person whose return is prepared in the account
  6. A youtube demo is here for a person who does not need a return

Part 3 - If the taxpayer himself/herself is disabled / infirm

  1. If you have a CRA approved disability certificate T2201, you can claim the disability tax credit (DTC) yourself.
  2. If you are physically or mentally infirm, but do not meet the conditions to get a T2201 certificate, you cannot claim any credit yourself. However, your family member or spouse can claim some tax credit for you. To let them make the claim, you need to first identify the infirmity under your name
  3. Under the taxpayer's name, follow part 2 to mark the infirmity status is all you need to do.

Part 4 - Spouse is the Supporting Person

If you have a spouse who is infirm or disabled, your spouse just mark the infirmity status under his/her name (see Part 2), no extra action needs to be taken, the software will calculate all related credits for you automatically. This included Canada Care giver amount and disability transfer.

Part 5 - Family Members other than Spouse are Supporting

  1. First, the dependent needs to declare his/her infirmity status under his/her own name (see Part 2);
  2. The supporting person can claim Canada Caregiver Amount credit. This credit will go to either line 307 or 367, dependents on the dependent's age.see demo
  3. If the dependent is a resident of Ontario or Yukon, provincial caregiver amount will be claimed automatically based on your federal Canada Caregiver amount in step 2. Please note that Ontario caregiver amount credit is only for dependent age 18 or older.
  4. If the dependent is 18 years or older, and lived in a province/territory other than Ontario or Yukon, the legacy infirm / caregiver amount needs to be claimed. If the dependent lived in the dwelling you maintain, you can claim a provincial caregiver amount (which is tolerable to higher dependent income), otherwise you can claim the provincial infirm amount. Please note that if a senior parent (65+) lived with you, you can claim a provincial caregiver amount for him/her even if the parent is not infirm/disabled. see demo claim
  5. If the dependent is disabled (with an approved T2201 certificate), you can also claim a disability transfer if the dependent has low to medium income. see demo claim