April 22, 2019
Appealing to the Tax Court of Canada can be intimidating. And expensive if you want to hire a lawyer.
But you don't have to spend big bucks.
You can go it alone like Amber Green and Barbara Cochrane.
In his recent column in the Financial Post, Jamie Golombek reminded all of us how very difficult, if not impossible, for people living with mental illness to access the DTC. Especially, if they are lucid enough to appear before a judge.
But in both cases, judges disagreed with CRA that taxpayers, like Amber Green, do not qualify for the DTC if they are like Amber Green who "prepares her own meals, can dress and bathe herself, and usually is able to shop at her local Sobeys for groceries." Or Barbara Cochrane who was diagnosed with “severe depression & anxiety”, having the effect of “acrophobia & panic attacks [and] very restricted activity” and "unable to leave the house, all or substantially all of the time, due to anxiety, despite medication and therapy.”
In the 2017-2018 tax year, the number of cases appealed to the Tax Court more than tripled from previous year. The number of decisions favouring the taxpayer was double those confirming CRA's decision to deny the DTC. The majority of cases are settled out of court with both parties signing a Consent to Judgment to allow the DTC for the tax years being appealed.
The following videos (Parts 1, 2 and 3) involve an individual, unrepresented taxpayer filing an appeal and appearing before a judge. You can also ask a relative of friend to represent you.
For futher information, please scroll down the page to Notice of Appeal.
TAGS - dtc, cra
