January 15, 2024
At long last, the CRA has provided an important qualifier to its problematic interpretation of “all or substantially all of the time” as being at least 90% of the time. It’s a concern that has dominated my own advocacy efforts over the years.
Back in 2002, a draft version of Form T2201 would make it virtually impossible to access the DTC for thousands of people living with severe mental illness who had previously qualified, “if the effects of the impairment are episodic or intermittent.” The cautionary statement on the cover page of the application form for the DTC was a blatant abuse of bureaucratic license discriminating against people living not only with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, but also epilepsy and multiple sclerosis.
Although the proposed restriction was never adopted, the 90% rule continued to limit access to people living with disorders that are characterized by episodic symptoms. It had also been a major concern raised by the Disability Advisory Committee (DAC) as it noted an important victory in its 3rd Annual Report:
“We were pleased to learn that the CRA has agreed to exclude explicit reference to 90% in the DTC electronic application. In addition, DTC assessors now have access to the guidelines in the document Mental functions necessary for everyday life. The guidelines permit more flexibility in the interpretation of “all or substantially all of the time” by noting that the effects of the impairment must be present and challenging “most of the time” rather than the arbitrary 90% rule.”
Gillian Pranke, Assistant Commissioner, Assessment, Benefit & Service Branch of the CRA and co-chair of the DAC provides further clarification in her response to my concerns, in a letter dated December 19, 2023:
“… the Income Tax Act does not distinguish between episodic and non-episodic conditions. As a result, the CRA considers the same information and applies the same criteria regardless of whether the condition is an episodic one… When the effects of the impairment indicate that an individual experiences frequent episodes which may be unpredictable and or uncontrolled with medication, and they are severely impaired during the episode and to a lesser extent between episodes, they may be considered to meet the 'all or substantially all of the time' criteria.”
This important information still needs to be included in the explanatory notes of Part B - Medical practitioner’s section of Form T2201 Disability Tax Credit Certificate. Otherwise, eligible individuals will continue to be left behind.
For more information about the advocacy efforts to improve access to the DTC for people living with servere mental illness, please visit anaccidentaladvocate.ca.
TAGS - DTC, CRA
