JDRF Canada and Diabetes Canada sent a joint letter to The Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue yesterday outlining their proposed solution to the issue of access to the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) for people with type 1 diabetes.
In the letter, JDRF Canada and Diabetes Canada requested:
- Recent interpretation of guidelines, the new direction and the language in the clarification letters provided needs to be immediately reversed to pre-May status, and in the interim replaced with a directive using new language to the effect that:
An adult who independently manages insulin therapy on a regular basis and whose claim has been certified by a qualified medical practitioner who has attested to the fact that they meet the 14 hour a week requirement using the eligibility criteria in the Income Tax Act will generally be approved for the DTC unless there are exceptional circumstances that warrant denial.
- All people with diabetes who have been denied the DTC since May 1st will have their T2201 forms reviewed under the new directive.
- Eligibility criteria in the Income Tax Act should be clarified to remove the ambiguity around calculating carbohydrates (not currently allowed) which is in the case of diabetes an essential and inseparable function to calculating insulin dosage, which is allowed.
- Eligibility criteria in the Income Tax Act should be modernized and amended such that the language reflects that doctors can certify that their patient has type 1 diabetes and is following their prescribed regimen, but does not require certification of activities performed by the patient in a non-clinical setting. This modernization should include reconsidering the ongoing relevance of the 14 hour per week requirement.
Further recommendations include:
- The government should establish an advisory committee comprised of medical professionals, Diabetes Canada, JDRF Canada and patients with type 1 diabetes to provide CRA with advice on policies and practices regarding the interpretation of claims from people with diabetes going forward. Reports and recommendations made by that advisory committee to CRA should be made public. That committee should be established by no later than November 30, 2017.
- The Disability Advisory Committee, which was dissolved in 2006, should be reinstated with a mandate to act as a liaison between Parliament and the CRA to address systemic problems in the administration of the Disability Tax Credit. Both JDRF and Diabetes Canada urge the type 1 diabetes community to take action by contacting their MPs to ask them to fight so Canadians with diabetes can access the Disability Tax Credit .
Use this link to contact MPs.
About Diabetes Canada
Diabetes Canada is the registered national charitable organization that is making the invisible epidemic of diabetes visible and urgent. Diabetes Canada partners with Canadians to End Diabetes through:
- Resources for health care professionals on best practices to care for people with diabetes;
- Advocacy to governments, schools and workplaces; and
- Funding world-leading Canadian research to improve treatments and find a cure.
For more information, visit diabetes.ca or call 1-800-BANTING (226-8464).