Hughes – Tax Court of Canada finds that care of a child with severe and stringent dietary requirements qualified for the disability tax credit

The taxpayer spent 13.5 hours per week carefully monitoring the amount of a particular amino acid (Phe) consumed by her daughter (who had been born with phenylketonuria (“PKU”)) in order to avoid severe brain damage. Boyle J rounded this up to meet the requirement in s. 118.1(1)(a.1)(iii) of 14 hours per week of “therapy,” stating that this treatment was “much more like administering a medication than it is like managing a diet.” There also clearly was “life‑sustaining therapy” supporting a “vital function,” so that he granted the disability tax credit.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of Hughes v. The Queen, 2018 TCC 42 under s. 118.3(1)(a.1).