Line 215 – Disability supports deduction

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Line 215 – Disability supports deduction

Video series: Tax measures for persons with disabilities

Segment 4: Disability supports deduction


Segment 4: Disability supports deduction




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Individuals who have an impairment in physical or mental functions and have paid for certain medical expenses can claim the disability supports deduction under certain conditions.

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Who is eligible?

If you have an impairment in physical or mental functions, you can claim a disability supports deduction if you paid expenses that no one has claimed as medical expenses. You must have paid them so you could:

  • be employed or carry on a business (either alone or as an active partner)
  • do research or similar work for which you received a grant
  • attend a designated educational institution or a secondary school where you were enrolled in an educational program

Only the person with the impairment in physical or mental functions can claim expenses for this deduction.

If you lived outside Canada for part or all of the year and we consider you to be a factual resident (see Income Tax Folio: S5-F1-C1, Determination of an Individual's Residence Status) or deemed resident of Canada, you can claim the expenses that you paid to a non-resident person for services provided outside Canada.

Which expenses can you claim?

See the list of eligible expenses for the disability supports deduction and any certification from a medical practitioner that may be needed.

List of eligible expenses
Expense Prescription needed? Written certification from a medical practitioner needed?
Attendant care expenses See details See details
Bliss symbol boards Yes No
Braille note-taker devices Yes No
Braille printers, synthetic speech systems, large print-on-screen devices Yes No
Deaf-blind intervening services No No
Devices or software Yes No
Electronic speech synthesizers Yes No
Job coaching servicesFootnote 1 No Yes
Note-taking services No Yes
Optical scanners Yes No
Page turner devices Yes No
Reading services No Yes
Real-time captioning No No
Sign language interpretation services No No
Talking textbooks No Yes
Teletypewriters Yes No
Tutoring services No Yes
Voice recognition software No Yes


Footnotes

Footnote 1

Job coaching services (other than job placement or career counselling services) for a person with a severe and prolonged impairment in physical or mental functions and paid to someone in the business of providing these services.

Return to footnote 1 referrer


What are the amounts you cannot claim?

You cannot claim amounts you or someone else claimed as medical expenses (lines 330 and 331) or amounts for which anyone was reimbursed or entitled to be reimbursed by a non-taxable payment, such as insurance.

However, the person with the impairment in physical or mental functions can claim the medical expense on either line 215 or line 330. They could also split the claim between these two lines, as long as the total amount claimed is not than the total expense.

How do you calculate the deduction?

Use Form T929, Disability Supports Deduction, to calculate your deduction. Do not attach Form T929 or your receipts to your tax return. Keep them in case we ask to see them at a later date.

How do you report the amount on your tax return?

Enter the amount from line 11 of your Form T929, Disability Supports Deduction, on line 215 of your tax return.

Expenses must be claimed in the same year they are paid. Unused amounts cannot be applied to another year.

Forms and publications

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Date modified:
2017-01-06