Will the CRA accept a T1-Adj that changes medical expenses in the year-of-death from 12-months to 24-months, or will it be denied as retroactive tax planning?

[smokehouse452]

I am preparing T1-Adjustments for my deceased Mother's 2013, 2014 and 2015 returns.

Her tax preparer did not claim her full-time-care nursing home fees as medical expenses.  My T1-Adjustments will correct that oversight.

The CRA permits medical expenses for a 24-month period ending on the date of death.  Based on this I’m thinking of filing a T1-Adj reducing her 2014 medical expenses to zero so that they can be included in the 2015 T1-Adj that will include the 24-month claim.   

My question... Will the CRA approve the 2014 and 2015 adjustments as described, or are they more likely to disallow them as retroactive tax planning?

[TurboTaxJennifer]

Great question!

Because it's a close call between retroactive tax planning and maximizing credits, it's worth doing the adjustment. 

[smokehouse452]

UPDATE: My T1-ADJ filings were indeed successful.  Applying my Mother’s final two years of medical expenses against the crystalized assets that were reported to the final T1 resulted in a substantial refund to the estate.  In hindsight I probably would have been blind to the 24-month medical expense rule had I not taken charge of the tax filings after witnessing a disturbing degree of incompetence from the tax preparer.

Crucial to the eventual filing of the T1-ADJ papers was my reading and understanding of the implications of this readily available and exceptionally fair tax credit that takes into consideration the exceptional costs that are often a part of end-of life care.

The takeaway from my experience?  Though there is no denying the stress that comes with the death of loved on, the available 10-year window to submit T1-ADJ filings offers a solution that should be pursued, even well after the fact.

[TurboTaxJennifer]

Thanks for sharing your update! I'm happy to hear that the adjustments were worth the effort. Yours is a terrific example of how exploring options on your own can pay dividends.