Hello, if someone is in a full-time care nursing home in Ontario, and claims the entire care home amount as a medical expense, can they also claim the accommodattion portion as part of the OEPTC (Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit)?
Thanks!
There is no double dipping allowed. The rent portion should be claimed as OEPTC and the attendant care portion should be claimed as medical. If the home is government run, there are no property taxes paid for the premises, and therefore, no rental portion will be allowed. This information should be clearly outlined on the documentation from the home.
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Re: Medical
In Ontario if it is truly a Nursing Home the full amount can be considered a medical expense.
Re: OEPTC
“If you lived in a public or non-profit long-term care home and the institution did not pay full municipal and school taxes, you should enter only the accommodation charges that were paid by you or for you for 2020 beside box 61230.”
Typically though Nursing Homes do not usually provide a breakdown of charges in my experience.
The benefit amount caps out pretty early, $ 1,215 of care costs it appears when entering at 61230, so claiming the full amount or a much lesser amount will result in the same Trillium benefit. I have consistently just used the full amount for ON-BEN without issue.
In Ontario in order to claim the full amount paid to the nursing home as a medical expense the taxpayer must have a DTC on file with CRA. But you cannot claim both. Usually the annual accommodation fee is larger than the DTC so taking the medical claim only is the better choice. 75% of the accomodation fee can be claimed on the ON-BEN as rent in cases where a breakout is not provided by the facility.
This is what I thought too Arliss, but my client is experiencing a OEPTC claw back all the sudden for the last 2 years… talking to a rep with the CRA, they said it is because the care costs were claimed as a medical expense And in box 16230 of the OTB and thus she was overpaid the benefit…(but cited no reference) I feel like I have to escalate this issue or talk with a different rep…This is also a new to me client but reviewing those 2 years, things look like they were correctly done on the return…
The 75 % rule is for retirement homes that pay property taxes and don’t break down their billings.
Nursing home costs are never rent. They must be claimed at 61230 not 61100.
The Income Tax Act is federal and the Trillium Benefit is Ontario. There should be no reduction in the rent paid due to a medical expense claim. The institution must have paid property taxes to be eligible for the Trillium Benefit.
I believe your first two sentences are correct. I do not agree with your third. Accommodation in a public long-term care home or a non-profit long-term care home can indeed qualify for the Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit component of the Trillium Benefit. My references are subdivision C of Part IV of The Taxation Act, 2007 (Ontario), Canada Revenue Agency’s Ontario Information Guide 5006-PC(E), and form ONBEN - specifically line 61230.
Can you kindly direct me to the statutory or regulatory provision(s) that disallow what you have termed “double dipping”? Can you please do the same for your statement with respect to property taxes?
In my view, yes. You are dealing with two separate credits, each of which is subject to conditions and limitations, but there is no prohibition I can find on claiming both with respect to the same expenditure.
Yes but the maximum you can claim on the ON-BEN is 75% of the total annual accomodation fee.