Principal Issues: Whether the cost of a trip to Mexico for a medical treatment using shark fins and cartilage qualifies as a medical expense.
Position: Question of fact.
Reasons: The cost can likely be broken down into three separate items: (1) a payment to a licensed medical clinic; (2) the cost of shark fins and cartilage and (3) travel expenses. (1) Where fees for medical treatments are paid to a private clinic, the fees would not qualify as a medical expense under paragraph 118.2(2)(a) of the Act unless the clinic qualified as a “licensed private hospital.” Whether a particular clinic is a licensed private hospital is a question of fact, which can only be determined after reviewing the relevant documentation and related legislation. (2) In general terms, the cost of shark fins and cartilage used in a medical procedure would qualify as a medical expense under paragraph 118.2(2)(n) if the use of these substances by the patient is prescribed by a medical practitioner (see paragraph 4 of IT-519R2) and if they are dispensed by a licensed pharmacist who records the prescription and issues a proper receipt. (3) Paragraph 118.2(2)(h) provides for the inclusion of certain travel expenses as medical expenses. The travel expenses must have been incurred in travelling to a place to obtain medical services for a patient who is the taxpayer, his spouse or a dependant, and, where the patient was, and has been certified by a medical practitioner to be, incapable of travelling without the assistance of an attendant, in respect of one individual who accompanied the patient. The travel expenses must be reasonable in amount and it must be reasonable, having regard to the circumstances, for the patient to travel to that particular place to obtain the medical services. Further, the patient must have travelled not less than 80 kilometres, in a reasonably direct route, to obtain the medical services and substantially equivalent services must not have been available in the locality where the patient dwells. It is our view that the taxpayer must have had an existing medical condition or illness and the services must have been performed by health professionals or related institutions. While there is no requirement that the health professional or related institution be licensed, it is our view that this would generally be the case.