Medical Expense

Last Saturday, I volunteered at Immigrant Services Calgary helping low income families and new immigrants prepare their income tax returns.  To my surprise, the most common question they ask was not child tax benefit, RRSP, or RESP, the question that almost every family asked me was if they could claim medical expenses on their returns.  Here are some Q&A’s related to medical expenses:
Q: Can I claim medical expenses if I had no income?
A: If you have no earned income, you cannot claim medical expenses on your return. However, if you have a spouse or common-law partner who had income, he or she can claim your medical expenses on his or her return.

Q: Is there a minimum amount of expenses required before I can claim them?
A: Your medical expenses must be more than 3% of your net income to be of benefit. For example, if your net income was $14,000, your medical expenses would have to be more than $420 before they would lower your tax. If you are married or living common-law, you can combine your medical expenses with those of your spouse to reach the 3% threshold.

Q: Can I carry medical expenses forward?
A: Medical expenses must fall within a 12-month claim period that ends in 2010 (the current tax year). You can carry forward unclaimed medical expenses only if they occur within a 12-month claim period that ends in the tax year in which you claim them.

Example – expense from two years ago

You have a medical expense from December 2008 that you did not claim on your 2009 tax return. You cannot claim it this year, because the earliest 12-month period that ends in the current tax year is January 2, 2009 to January 1, 2010. The receipt does not fall in that claim period.