Canada’s Disability Tax Credit is a Cruel Pill to Swallow for People Without Resources

The good news today is that my husband finally qualified for the Canada Disability Tax Credit (DTC). The bad news is that we had to pay a third party almost $1,400 to get it.

While I consider this a “win” during a terrible and traumatic season, a time when Scott has been so disabled he can’t walk to the car or hold a dish, it’s also a bitter pill to swallow because it is a win with strings attached for someone facing an certain future.

At 70 years old, he no longer qualifies for any sort of disability payment, and is at risk of losing his job because he will be limited as to what he is able to do. For example, Scott cannot walk more than a few feet even on a walker at the moment, not because of the recently diagnosed ALS but because he is recovering from double knee replacement surgery.

So if he loses his job as a security guard, he will be forced to live on a small pension from a former employer, his Old Age Security and Canada Pension Plan. Add to that the fact that I am no longer able to work outside the home because of medical appointments, and attending to his day-to-day needs so we’re counting every penny.

We have some savings, and we have some debt — not much more than many people eeking out a living as middle class seniors — but the savings are starting to dwindle. Add ALS to the mix, and the result will be undoubtedly catastrophic for us.

People with disabilities have a lot of extra expenses, as I am finding out. For example, we have to hire someone to clear the walk and the driveway, and a lawn service because neither of us is able to perform this function.

I have osteoarthritis in both of my knees, psoriatic arthritis, and issues with my feet. While I can take out the garbage, look after the dog, and get groceries, I am left physically spent and in pain by the end of the day. (I should have invested heavily in Advil stock!)

Add to the yard expenses, rental for wheelchair, a fee for nursing care for Scott’s feet and massive parking bills at the hospital. If he loses his job, we will lose our extended health coverage so all of that will come out of pocket. Not to mention many of the drugs we currently get through extended insurance.

ALS (All Life Sucks) will add substantially to that burden, as most of you can imagine even with the supports offered by the government and the ALS Society.

Right now, we are treading water waiting to find out how far Scott’s ALS has progressed, and whether he is eligible for a clinical trial which offers hope that the disease will slow down with new meds. We’ll find out about all this next week, and will be able to make some decisions like whether we will have to move, rehome the dog, or just wander into the bush somewhere and not come back.

All this to say that the DTC is helpful because Scott has some back taxes he owes from the pittance he makes working at a near minimum wage job — just to give us a bump in our cost of living.

What’s eating at me is that we had to pay a private service and doctors to do something we could not — get approval on the DTC. The company charges 20 percent which means that he will reduce his tax bill but we still have to pay the service out of our own savings.

We should not have to do this. Why can rich people expense accounting fees while the ill and infirm have to swallow a bill just to get what is rightfully theirs?

I applied for this earlier in the year, on my own, and we were turned down even though my husband had to crawl up the stairs and couldn’t even make his own meals. Our application was clear, and no one called us to clarify what we might have done wrong. Instead, all we got was a terse letter saying Scott didn’t qualify.

Even our doctor was perplexed.

Look, I am a super smart and competent person who is used to filling out government forms. I managed to get my friend Jennette the DTC when she was terminal but unfortunately the cheque arrived after she died.

Not cool.

I am still grateful to True North Disability Tax Services for making this happen for us. I highly recommend their service. It is a lifeline for many people. And I’m happy to pay them for giving us a form of justice.

As I learned from my painful divorce, sometimes you just need to pay a fucking lawyer to get what is yours.

And all I can say to those applying for the DTC, don’t give up. You know yourself or your spouse or your ma or grandma. Trust your own instincts.

Get professional advice and help, even if it hurts.