As a follow-up to my post yesterday about CRA Child Disability Benefit Mrs. C8j pointed out that a lot of folks that she has chatted with feel intimidated by this process and have paid an accountants to get everything set up (Mrs. C8j has met a lot of parents with disabilities and is active in a few forums).
While I don’t have the visceral hatred of accountants that some might have, in this case I really must stress that you shouldn’t be paying to get this work done other than the fees you might get charged by your Doctor to fill in the necessary forms and letters. While I know my amigo the BBC might say that an accountant could be very helpful here (and well they might) paying a lot of money to set this up is not necessary (in my opinion).
There are many folks who have accountants already working for them do their taxes and such, and good on you if you don’t trust your own skills in this area, but filing these forms is something that you can do quite easily (as I showed yesterday). If you don’t feel confident that you can do it, I guess your accountant is a good choice to help you, but they shouldn’t be charging you much (if any) fees to do it.
As for other services and other important credits to claim, I will be covering those in posts in the next few weeks. I am trying to be careful with these posts to make sure I reflect our experiences, and remember with all of these types of posts from me, it may or may not work for you, I am writing them to show that you might be able to do this (but as with all things in life there are very few guarantees).
Another note, since I view yesterday’s post as being important I have changed one paragraph a little:
In a great many cases, a child’s disability is obvious, and there should be no issue with getting this disability benefit, however, in the case of the Autism Spectrum and other mental incapacities, whether you get this benefit relies heavily on the documentation supplied by the diagnosing professional….
Mrs. BCM pointed out that the term in bold is not politically correct so I have updated it to:
In a great many cases, a child’s disability is obvious, and there should be no issue with getting this disability benefit, however, in the case of the Autism Spectrum and other developmental disabilities, whether you get this benefit relies heavily on the documentation supplied by the diagnosing professional….
I also have included a picture of my son to show that even though he may have a disability he is and was (the photo was when he was much younger) a handsome devil.
I agree as well that there is no need for professional help. The challenge is that many people are unaware, or as BBC says, overwhelmed.
The second issue is awareness. Surprisingly many people are unaware that (a) you can claim the credit and (b) that you can have it applied retroactively.
In your prior post, you also point out doctors who discourage patient from doing the form. That is a real shame.
Agreed, the BBC sort of booted me in the butt to get going on this, and to ask for it to be retroactive.
People hate accountants? My accountant saves me a ton of work and money. I like my accountant just fine thanks.
BCM, glad to hear you don’t have the “visceral hatred of accountants that some might have”. I think you have confused accountants with lawyers 🙂 We are constantly reported in surveys as peoples most trusted advisors, my clients love me 🙂
Seriously, I agree, there is no need to have an accountant assist in the process if you do not have one. However, if someone has not read your blog or researched the tax credits available they are often overwhelmed and need direction.
Agreed on both counts, some of my best friends are accountants (however after working at Nortel, one could develop a real disliking for SOME accountants).
The important point is to NOT feel overwhelmed and just go off and do something about this.