Claiming medical expenses reduces refund amount

[sjantzen]

I'm trying to understand why, when my wife claims medical expenses (much higher than 3% of her taxable income), the resulting refund amount is lower. I've tracked it down to provincial (BC) non-refundable tax credits. After claiming medical expenses, the provincial non-refundable tax credits are less than before. Any idea why? This seems counter-intuitive.

I can even see the refund drop when I add a new medical expense. How is this possible?

Thanks

[sjantzen]

I've done some experimenting, and I believe it has something to do with the optimized donations claimed (vs carried-forward). It seems like the donations claimed gets reduced when medical expenses get added, but provincially, the donations count for more (or medical expenses count for less), so the provincial tax credits go down. ?? Is this accurate? Should the optimizer take this into account or at least give you a heads up?

[TurboTaxAniqua]

We tested this on our end, and there are no reported problems. To be clear, charitable contributions and medical costs are not related credits. Medical expense is a nonrefundable tax credit; it can only bring your owing down.

Perhaps you can adjust it to the appropriate amount you desire when using an optimizer and the recommended amount is carried forward.