Boy ‘not disabled enough’ to receive tax credit
The Autism News | English
Susan Roque finds her son’s torn-up socks all over their Sudbury home. It’s an expensive habit she knows 13-year-old Marcus cannot control because he has Asperger syndrome, a form of autism characterized by emotional outbursts and obsessive behaviour.
“If there’s a tear in his sock he’ll start pulling at it. I have socks all over the place with holes everywhere. He just picks at it. He’s very sensory sensitive. I’m always buying that boy clothes,” said Roque, a single mother of two.
The Canada Revenue Agency has decided, however, that Marcus is “not disabled enough” to qualify for the $2,400-a-year disability tax credit. Roque had been receiving the credit since her son was diagnosed in 2006.
Autism Ontario has heard of two other similar cases in July, raising concerns that legitimately disabled Canadians have become unintended victims of a CRA effort to crack down on dubious claims for the credit.
The executive director of Autism Ontario said it’s unusual to hear of so many rejections in a single month.
“It’s concerning,” said Margaret Spoelstra. “We’re trying to figure out if there’s been a tightening of policy regarding the (disability tax credit).”
In February, a Toronto Star/CBC investigation found companies that specialize in helping Canadians apply for the credit encouraged or exaggerated claims for disabilities they or their family members didn’t have and pocketed commissions as a result. Some firms paid doctors to certify clients’ disabilities.
Then-minister of national revenue Keith Ashfield vowed to “aggressively” pursue tax firms that were submitting dubious claims and “shut them down.”
But almost six months later, not much seems to have changed.
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