A question raised was if the purchase of Cannabis from a retail or provincially regulated Cannabis retailer can be claimed on a personal tax return as a medical expense.
The short answer is no.
The claim for cannabis is made under Paragraph 118.2(2)(u) of the Income Tax Act. To qualify, the patient must be authorized under the Federal Acts and the purchase must be made from either Health Canada or other certain specified production licenses. The provincially regulated Cannabis retailers who opened on Oct 17, 2018 do not hold the licenses under that Paragraph so no purchases made from those locations will qualify.
It is entirely possible that the Act may be changed. But presently, this is what the law says.
If you find that the retail source is cheaper than the medical source, you may wish to consider if it is to your benefit to purchase from the retail source. If that is your choice, you must evaluate the lost benefits from any insurance claims which you will be entitled to as well as the impact on your tax return from no longer being able to make a medical claim for the same item. This evaluation is based on your personal circumstance and is beyond the scope of this article. You are welcome to engage my services to assist you with this, by using the Contact Me tab on your screen.
This is a reminder that personal instalments are due on December 15, 2018. The amount due is generally either ½ of the total amount due in April 2018, if you did not receive a request to pay instalments earlier this year, or ½ of the amount remaining from your tax bill in April 2018, less the amount that you were requested to pay on March 15, June 15, and Sept 15, 2018.
Note that my clients can elect to have reminder emails sent out two weeks prior to the instalment due date.
You may also arrange for pre-authorized debit withdrawals from your bank through the CRA’s My Account service.
Failing to prepaid the instalments will result in non-deductible interest charges.
Thank you so much for getting this sorted out for me so quickly and efficiently. So glad to have finally got all my taxes in order. I received the cheque on the mail last week just in time for us to spend it all on our trip to Ireland this month to visit my family!
Thanks again
Phil
I have an interesting episode recently, which drew my attention one of the great lies about taxes. That lie (quote) is:
I am from the Government and I am here to help you.
I’ve forgotten who came up with that quote, but it is rather apropos in this age.
Now, we in Canada are familiar with Phoenix, specifically the government’s payroll system. Most people who receive a T4 out of this system approach the slip with some trepidation. They are not convinced that the slip is correct. Even when they check against their bank account and the amounts deposited match the slip.
So then, why do people trust the tax slip download (called Auto-Fill My Return) from the Canada Revenue Agency as if it is gospel?
I am building in some automated confirmations into my business process. Clients will notice some of these changes when I start to work on their tax return.
My computer system will automatically ask for a confirmation of your contact information when I start working on your tax return. Also, if you ask for a change of information, you will be provided a preview of the change that I have entered and you will be asked to approve that change. The whole process should be completed within a minute and can be handled on a smart phone or other device any time of the day or night.
This is done to ensure that I have the correct contact information on your tax return when it is filed.
