Disability tax credit is underapplied for and underused: CRA report
I’m not surprised. I’m disabled, but I don’t have a family doctor or a doctor who could fill the form. Doctors tend to be so advert to filling forms to begin with. I think the form has to be renewed yearly as well.
It would be much simpler if being on a provincial disability program would automatically qualify us for the federal program. It can be hell getting into a disability program, I had to resort to a lawyer after being denied twice. I just don’t have the energy to fight with another level of bureaucracy.
Usually that kind of thing means that either it’s not obvious that such a tax credit exists, or it’s too much of a hassle to apply for. Both of these things have obvious remediation strategies.
Because it’s often a nightmare to sign up for, which is why you hear of lawyers who specifically handle DTC.
This may be anecdotal. All 3 of our family are disabled. Wife has had her DTC for 20 years and they never asked her to renew so far. I applied around 3 years ago for myself and our child. Our doctor filled it out and we have not been asked to renew so far for either one one us.
Likewise anecdotal, but I also have several members who get the DTC, and two of them have to renew every 5(?) years, while another is listed as indefinite, so no renewal is needed.
It could depend on the illness (mental or physical), and whether it’s something that one might expect to get better from.
But my god, if you don’t have a doctor who is willing to fight for you, it’s often years of chasing them down before anything is done. I don’t blame people for getting a lawyer involved (one of my parents had to).
