Arthritis and the Disability Tax
Credit (DTC)
What is Arthritis?
Arthritis is a joint disorder that involves inflammation
of one or more joints. There are over 100 different forms of arthritis. The
most common form is osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease).
Other forms of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and arthritis-related autoimmune diseases.
In Canada, Arthritis is a top cause of disability. Click here to read a CBC news report on arthritis.
The major complaint by individuals who have arthritis is joint pain.
Pain may come and go, or be constant. It may affect one or more joints. The
pain from arthritis is due to inflammation
that occurs around the joint, damage to the joint from disease, daily wear and
tear of joint, or muscle strains against stiff painful joint. Arthritis can lead to restrictions
in joint or back movements.
Arthritis is the most common cause of disability
in the
Can You Get a Disability Tax Credit
due to Arthritis?
If you have arthritis and have severe limitations in either walking,
dressing, or feeding yourself on a daily basis you will probably qualify for
the Disability Tax Credit. The
severe limitations must have lasted, or be expected to last for 12 months or
more and must be 90 percent of the time.
Only those individuals who are extremely restricted (taking 3 or more
times longer than the average person) in their activities may qualify for the
tax credit.
Specifically What
is the Medical Criteria to Get a DTC due to Arthritis?
The medical criteria for the Disability Tax Credit is not directly determined
by the specific medical diagnosis, or even the amount of pain, shortness of
breath, or fatigue that one might have. Instead, the government looks at how severe
your ability to perform one or more of the activities of daily living are affected
by your health impairment.
There are many of these daily activities that are looked at when approving
a DTC but specifically for Arthritis, three of them stand out as the areas that
an arthritic impairment would most normally qualify. These activities of daily living are walking,
dressing or feeding oneself.
In order to qualify you must be severely impaired in how long it takes
you to perform these activities, which means that it must take you 3 times
longer to perform the activity than somebody who does not have your
impairment. Also, it must be prevalent
more than 90% of the time in at least one of these activities (or more than 50%
of the time in at least each of two or more of these activities of daily living.) Examples of Severe Limitations in each
of these daily activities are as follows:
Walking
- You must always rely on a wheelchair
or a scooter when outside of the home, even for a short distance.
- Even with a cane or a walker, you are
unable to walk down 100 meters (110 yards, or past 6 or 7 houses on your
street) before needing to stop to rest because of painful joints, fatigue,
problems with balance or shortness of breath. Or, even if you can walk
that distance, it takes you at least 3 times longer to walk the 100 meters
than a person who does not have your impairment.
Dressing
- It takes you more than 3 times longer
than a person who does not have your impairment to put on your clothes
because of pain or restricted movement in your joints or back.
- You need someone else’s daily
assistance to dress you.
Feeding
- You are unable to use a knife to cut
you food.
- You take more than 3 times longer to
feed yourself because of joint pain, restricted joint movements, poor coordination
or tremors.
You would likely not qualify for the disability
tax credit if:
- You can walk past 6 or 7 houses down
the block in less than 4 minutes.
- Despite joint or back pain, you can
still walk at a reasonable pace.
- You are just a little slow, walking a
few steps behind everyone else.
- You can walk around the block without
stopping at a reasonable pace.
- You only have problems with stairs,
and not walking on a flat surface.
- Your joint problems improve
intermittently during the year (not present more than 90% of the time).
- Your medications improve your
symptoms and activities significantly.
- Your walking is significantly
improved when you use a cane or a walker.
