Cost of a generator as a medical expense

Tax Topics
1

My client is elderly, lives alone in a rural area and requires oxygen to survive. She has purchased a generator for power outages. Can she claim the cost as a medical expense?

2

If you ask CRA, I suspect they would say no. But, if your client really believes it is a medical requirement, and is willing to go to court to prove it, they may be able to convince the judge to allow it. Not that it would necessarily go to court, but if you report it as a medical expense, and CRA later questions it, and disallows it, you (or your client) could file a NOO, which may eventually get you (or them) into court where you (or they) could argue their case.

3

I would say no and if you wanted to fight in court (which wouldn’t be worth the expense), you would almost certainly lose.
I am making an assumption here but i suspect the need for power is because she is using an oxygen concentrator. The CRA would argue that there are at least two less costly backup solution for the AC oxygen concentrator both of which are valid medical expenses with no question.

  1. You can get a battery powered oxygen concentrator.
  2. You can go old school with bottled gas.

Another assumption, unless she never leaves the house she likely already has one or both of theses backups.

4

Mum was on Oxygen. She had a massive, bottled tank ( thru Extra Mural in New Brunswick) as a backup. On the east coast losing power … .even in the city… is a reality of winter months.

She bought a 2nd hand battery pack … it only lasts about 3 hrs at a time… but it broke anyways. We( her daughters) were always on alert that if she lost power one of us would run over to the house to ensure we switched to the bottled tank. In our province, you can register with our power company to state you run a medical device(proof required) and that power is essential and then will prioritize your line fix to the best that they can.

All this back story to say, while I totally empathize with your client, I agree it would be denied in a review and you could argue it all the way up to the courts.

5

I tend to agree with the other comments here. What about a home accessibility claim? I’m still not certain it would be allowed but the argument for it is pretty clear.

6

It seems you have your argument ready. Really, you could just stick it on the return anyways and let CRA tell you otherwise …

7

Thanks all! To jimt - she only leaves the house by ambulance! so I’m not certain about any of these backup systems.
And I put it on the home accessibility form.

8

@pfs
For medical expenses which may seem unusual and are not clearly listed by CRA in the list of medical services, devices, and drugs I recommend the following:

1 - Apply for a DTC if not already on file.

2 - Obtain a written medical assessment from an MD outlining the individual’s medical condition and requirements of life. IE. Oxygen.

3 - If available, obtain an elder/infirm medical assessment report with supportive test results and brief medical history. In Calgary, these are available from mid sized clinics with multiple disciplines.

4 - Provide an context from the rural location and proximity/ time for service to emergency and hospital care.

5 - Include the fact that she lives alone.

Sometimes this works in the event of a CRA medical claim review, especially if there are similar tax precedents. In some cases it does not. Without the documentation it is sure to be rejected.

1 Like
9

Thank you for such a detailed response. Some of the items on your list we have. I will work on getting the remainder.