How do you determine the date of a box 85 medical expense?

[graphite01]

When claiming medical expenses as listed in box 85 of a T4, how can you determine the date of the expense(s)? It would be helpful to know the date of the box 85 medical expense to determine the 12-month period for your claim and as well, in case you decide to only claim a portion of the box 85 medical expense.

Do most people claim the full amount from box 85? i.e. is it not necessary to only claim a portion of box 85?

[TonyC11 · Accepted solution]

Claim the full amount of box 85 as reported on your T4.
You will be claiming one year at a time. This year pertains to 2014, which must also be the year in which your medical claim term ends.

CRA allows you a sliding window of one year for Medicals to recognize that expenses do not coincide with the calendar year. The other thing to remember is not to claim the same expense twice.

[graphite01]

Thank you Tony for your helpful answer. I think what I will do this year (for the 2014 tax year) is not claim any of it (box 85) because I don't need the deduction this year because my tax credits were higher than my tax payable this year. My box 85 is about $1500 and my wife can't use it either because it is under her 3% minimum. So I will save it for next year (the 2015 tax year). But then if I have another $1500 amount of medical expenses in box 85 next year then I am not sure what I will do. Can I claim both of them (total of $3000)? The only way I think I might be able to justify this is if I consider my "medical expense" calendar year for 2015 as starting on Dec 31, 2014 and ending Dec 31, 2015 and then I might be able to claim my $1500 box 85 from this year (2014) in addition to my $1500 box 85 I will have next year (2015). I hope that will be OK. Does anyone see any problems with this? Thank you.

[TonyC11]

You should try to claim the Bo 85 amount each year.

[graphite01]

Thank you again Tony for your reply.

I tried to for this year (2014) but I received this TurboTax warning:
"Your non-refundable credits exceed your tax payable. You can carry all or a portion of your medical expenses forward to next year. To do this remove the amounts and save your receipts for use next year. For amounts from T4 Box 85 or T4A Box 135 delete amounts from slip and add as receipt next year."

Should I ignore the warning and claim by box 85 this year regardless, knowing I will loose it and it will not be of any benefit?

[graphite01]

Hello Tony, after giving this much thought and listening to your advice carefully I have decided I will not claim my box 85 medical expenses from my 2014 T4 this year (on my 2014 tax return) and save it for next year (2015). I will set my medical expense year for my 2015 tax return to be Dec 31, 2014 - Dec 31, 2015. Then I have a choice to either continue this pattern of claiming my box 85 on the following year's tax return or, more likely for 2015, I will claim both my 2014 T4 box 85 and my and 2015 T4 box 85 in one year (2015). Technically this should be allowed (given that there is no precise date on a T4 box 85 medical expense) and then the next year I will be back on track to stick to the calendar year (Jan 1 - Dec 31) for my medical expense reporting period and only claim the current T4 box 85 as most people do. I know this sounds confusing but I will check it out with the CRA first to be sure this is OK. This all happened because this year I couldn't claim my box 85 (Or more precisely, I didn't need to claim my box 85). Personally, I think the CRA should clarify this practice of exactly what the duration of a T4 box 85 medical expense claim is. It is a confusing regulation. Thank you once again for your generous advice!

[graphite01]

Now after all this, I removed my $1500 T4 box 85 medical expense claim and this affected my wife's Family Tax Cut credit. It reduced her Family Tax Cut credit by about $80. So, looking at the overall picture (to receive the maximum benefit on our spousal return), it seems to be better to simply claim the box 85 medical expense this year, even though there is no direct medical expense benefit because I will receive an additional $80 this year on our Family Tax Cut credit. Taxes are complicated because one area affects another. I could have never figured this all out if it were not for TurboTax. Thank you.

[jpo2021]

June 15 2017 dentistry $3200.00