Disability Tax Credit Promoters Restriction Act Bill C-462

MP Cheryl Gallant has support across party lines for this Bill to restrict the fees charged or accepted by persons who request a determination of the disability tax credit eligibility under the Income Tax Act.

The problem is that the determination isn't what costs. It's the adjustments after it's accepted. That's where it gets tricky.

You see, tax credits and expenses can be 'apportioned' and transferred to supportive family. IT 513 Personal Tax Credits has an appendix that describes what support means.

When support can be proven, there's all sorts of changes to other people's tax returns, those relatives who support someone with a disability can step up to have their crack at a piece of the tax credit pie.

I don't think that the MP's quite get it. They think that it's the determination that's costly. That part of the process, it's nothing in the grand scheme of things.

It's all those adjustments after the fact that take all the time and effort to sort out. It's the extra child care for an adult child, it's the disability supports claim, it's the other credits that all of a sudden become something worthy of consideration. It's the dependent care, nursing care, and other medical expenses not previously claimed, and trust me, those are time consuming to sort out for ten years prior. It's like doing someone's taxes all over again, because essentially you are, and for the entire family group. That can take multiple hours x 10 years. By the time you do the math, you can see why, if the promoters are really doing those adjustments, they're probably really earning a fair wage, that is if they were hiring professionals. Maybe they are, I don't know. If they are, because they aren't professionals up front, that's how they are skirting the ethics of charging a flat fee.

And after all that, CRA can counter with multi page questionnaires requiring details of exactly how many times food, clothing and shelter were purchased during the year, and how much, when, from whom, and was it paid directly to third parties. If you haven't kept your paperwork, look out, not only will you not get the credits you thought you'd get, but you'll have paid out fees you can't get back when you're re-assessed. Those promoters, they aren't going to be willing to refund their 30%. And neither will a professional who put in the hours.

The moral of the story, better have your bank and credit card statements and receipts to prove support.

I suspect it's going to get ugly.