Jennifer, is a 53-year-old who is hard of hearing, and had been informed about the Disability Tax Credit. She had gradual hearing loss over the years, where her condition progressed such that she required hearing aids 11 years prior. The hearing aids helped, but she continued to be hard of hearing, even with their use. She asked her hearing specialist as well as her doctor, whether she qualified. Both had told her that she needed to be nearly deaf or completely unable to hear to qualify for the DTC. She was puzzled as she had been told by a friend who was also hard of hearing, that they applied and were approved for the DTC. Jennifer contacted our company for help.
We explained that a person who is either “unable” to hear, or who requires an “inordinate” amount of time to hear can qualify, and that inordinate was not well explained in the DTC application forms, though additional information available from CRA defines inordinate as “three times” longer than an average person. What this means is a person who is able to hear, but takes more time (and associated effort) or struggles to hear can be approved.
We asked her if in a “normal setting”, not pin-drop quiet, nor overly loud, say in her kitchen at home with others present, with perhaps the T.V. on in the background at normal volume (a common level for people who are not hard of hearing), when talking with others, whether she misses a word or two in most sentences, such that she has to try to lip read, guess words, ask the speaker to repeat themselves, or ask others what was said, or simply do without knowing the complete conversation? We explained that this describes, neither a severe hearing loss (deaf), nor a mild hearing loss (near normal hearing), but rather a “moderate” hearing loss. We also clarified that if pre and post hearing aids years can be considered separately within any of the last 10 years, and that if she normally wears hearing aids, the above assessment would include hearing aid use if they are used most of the time.
From our assessment, Jennifer qualified for a full 10 years, we explained this to her and her doctor, and how the DTC Certificate and follow up DTC form mailed directly to her doctor from Canada Revenue Agency would need to be completed according to Jennifer’s specific case. As such, we helped her with submitting these forms to CRA, and as a result her claim was approved, where she received a lump sum of $18,436.
Are hearing aids required in order to qualify for the DTC? No. Whether hearing aids are needed, being used, or not, the DTC is a daily “symptom” degree based program. This means that as long as the person frequently misses words spoken by others, causing more time and effort to hear (in normal settings), they can potentially qualify.
Common medical conditions that can cause hard of hearing and qualify for the DTC:
There are many number of medical conditions that may cause partial hearing loss/hard of hearing, where the cause is not the key measure of the Disability Tax Credit, rather it is the symptom, or degree of hearing loss experienced by the individual. So, whether progressive hearing loss over many years as a result of environmental exposure, or as a result of a medical condition, one can qualify for the DTC.
Be sure to take our Free Instant Online DTC Assessment to determine whether you may qualify, for which number of years, and the benefit amount available for your specific case, for past and future years. Remember it absolutely FREE! CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DTC ASSESSMENT.
