26 June 1998 External T.I. 9811545 - FULL-TIME ATTENDANT

Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the CRA.
Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle de l'ARC.

Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the Department.

Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle du ministère.

Principal Issues:

NURSING HOMES - Full time care

Position:

No minimum time requirement
Atttendant care no restriction if 118.2(2)(b.1) met

Reasons:

Wording of the Act

XXXXXXXXXX 981154
C. Tremblay

Attention: XXXXXXXXXX

June 26, 1998

Dear Sir:

Re: Full-Time Attendant

This is in reply to your letter of April 23, 1998, concerning your request for an interpretation of paragraph 118.2(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act (the “Act”), regarding the meaning of “full-time attendant”. You question whether the phrase “one full-time attendant” requires that the patient/attendant ratio be one on one for 100% of the time or whether the principle in paragraph 24 of IT-519R2 for “full-time care in a nursing home” will apply.

You indicate that some retirement homes for elderly individuals are not registered as a “nursing home” notwithstanding that the attendant care in one or more dedicated sections of the retirement home is similar. Further, you mention that it is becoming commonplace for retirement homes to have various levels of care. As an example, you described the following situation. At the time an individual enters a retirement home, he or she may live independently in a suite or apartment. As the individual gets older, his or her abilities may decline to the point where he or she requires more care. When this occurs, the individual will be moved from the independent living suite or apartment of the retirement home to a dedicated attendant care floor where there will be 24 hour attendant care supplied on a similar basis as a nursing home, i. e. there will be one or more attendants on duty for the dedicated floor 24 hours a day. The cost of the dedicated 24 hour attendant care will be extra, i.e. the cost will be segregated from and over and above any occupancy costs. The attendant will be responsible for attending to the needs of the four to eight patients on the floor. The attendant for the dedicated floor may or may not be a nurse, although there will always be at least one nurse on duty 24 hours for the retirement home, including the dedicated floor.

Our Comments:

In our view, the reference to "full-time" does not place a minimum time requirement in attending to a cared-for person by a particular attendant, but rather, requires constant care and attendance by an individual by reason of that individual's illness or affliction. Further, the phrase “one full-time attendant ” limits amounts claimed as a medical expense to an amount paid in respect of an individual and can be satisfied in whole or in our part by one or more persons employed for that purpose but, as noted in paragraph 24 of IT-519R2, only so long as there is only one attendant for any given period of time. Thus, if in the above scenario the remuneration is for more than one full-time attendant at any given time, as seems to be the case, the requirements of paragraph 118.2(2)(b) of the Act will not be met. On the other hand, this restriction does not apply to remuneration for attendant care (whether full-time or otherwise) if the conditions of paragraph 118.2(2)(b.1) are otherwise met.

We caution that our replies are not advance income tax rulings but are merely opinions based solely on the information given.

Yours truly.

J. F. Oulton, C A
for Director
Business and Publications Division
Income Tax Rulings and
Interpretations Directorate
Policy and Legislative Branch

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