Monday, March 6, 2017

A Prescription For More Tax Deductions

Every year I find all kinds of people who have been routinely missing out on some major medical expenses. I tell them about that and they say they never knew they could claim such things. Well, I've decided to tell all of you, so listen up.

When I mention claiming medical expenses I often hear, "but we don't ever have enough to claim." Of course, you have to have expenses over 3% of your income in expenses to be able to claim.  It's often best to let the lower income earner claim the family medical expenses for that reason. Then if you claim what you paid for health insurance, the rest is often gravy. What?  You didn't know you could claim your health insurance?  Sure you can. The thing is, in most instances, you have to ask your payroll clerk to give you the numbers for the amount you paid, separated from whatever life insurance may be connected to that payroll deduction. Only once has my hubby ever worked for an employer that had that figure right on the T4's where it belongs.  I told him to make sure he thanked the person responsible for that.  The rest of the time I get him to ask for the correct amount for me to fill in.  This year, when I had my son ask for his, he got some kind of argument about how that wasn't deductible. I told him to inform that clerk that obviously she had been missing out on her own deduction every year. Once she decided she didn't want to continue like that, she got them both the numbers to put on the forms.

The other medical deduction people seem unaware of is that they can claim their travel expenses to go to medical appointments that are more than 40km from home.  If I have to travel to one of the cities for a medical appointment, I just go to Mapquest and put in my address and the address of where I have to go, and it gives me a legitimate distance between the two places. I then multiply that by two, as it is, after all, a return trip. The total distance is then multiply it by the rate the government gives us each year. This year, for instance, in Ontario, it's 54 cents per kilometre. If your appointment is more than 80 kilometres you get a bonus. You can also claim a meal if you have to go that far. There is a flat rate of $17 per meal, to a maximum of $51 per day (sales tax included) per person.  Parking fees are also considered an expense (if you have a receipt), as is overnight accommodation if it's actually necessary for the treatment you are traveling for.

So, have you missed out on these deductions in the past?  Don't let it happen again. You have now been informed.

No comments:

Post a Comment