Medical expenses

Important: Do not enter amounts for your medical expenses that are already included in box 85 of your T4 slip or box 135 of your T4A slip. H&R Block’s tax software will automatically claim these amounts for you on your return. Only enter medical expenses on this page that haven’t been added anywhere else on your return.

You can claim medical expenses for:

Yourself
Your spouse or common-law partner or
Your dependants*

*Dependants can be your or your spouse’s or partner’s child, grandchild, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, niece, or nephew.

You can claim all or a portion of the medical expenses for which you’ve not been or will not be reimbursed. Let's say, your health insurance plan reimbursed you for 80% of your medical expenses, you can claim the remaining 20% on your return.

You can claim expenses for any 12-month period ending in the tax year for which you’re filing a return. For example, for the 2016 tax year, you could claim expenses paid in 2015 and in 2016.

Keep in mind, the medical expenses you’re claiming can’t be used to calculate any other credit, including the disability supports deduction.

Although either you or your spouse or common-law partner can claim your family’s medical expenses, it is usually more beneficial for the person with the lower income to claim the amount.

Some common eligible medical expenses include:

Medical services provided by qualified medical practitioners
Dentist and dental services
Prescription drugs and medications
Ambulance service to or from a hospital
Prescription eyeglasses and prescription contact lenses
Laboratory tests and x-rays
Diabetic testing supplies
Premiums for private health care plans, including those you paid through payroll deductions (premiums for mandatory provincial health plans, such as the British Columbia medical services plan, are not claimable)
Travel expenses

Click this link for a complete list of eligible medical expenses.

Note: Remember, if you’re eligible to claim the federal medical expenses amount, you’re also entitled to claim a corresponding provincial tax credit, which might vary in amount depending on which province or territory you live in:

Where do I claim this?

Follow these steps in H&R Block’s tax software to claim eligible medical expenses for yourself or your spouse or common-law partner. Click this link for information on claiming medical expenses for your dependants:

Under the PREPARE tab, click the OTHER icon.
Under the MEDICAL & DISABILITY RELATED CARE section, select the checkbox labelled Medical expenses and click Continue.
When you arrive at the page for Medical expenses, enter your information into the tax software.

Can I claim the amount I paid to move to a more accessible home?

Yes. According to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), if you or a family member suffer from a prolonged mobility impairment and moved to a house that’s more accessible or functional, you can claim reasonable moving expenses (up to $2,000). Having said that, these amounts can only be claimed as a medical expense as long as they haven’t been claimed as moving expenses on your, or someone else’s return.

I’m a resident of Québec, can I claim my RAMQ contributions?

Yes. If you were required to pay premiums for Québec's public prescription drug insurance plan (RAMQ) in 2015, you can claim these contributions as a medical expense on your 2016 federal return. To do this, enter the amount from line 447 of your 2015 Québec return in the field shown below on the Medical expenses page:

I entered my medical expenses in the software but don’t see a difference in my return

You'll only see a difference in your refund or tax owing amount if you have a significant amount of medical expenses. Your medical expenses must be more than $2,208, or 3% of your net income (whichever is less) for the amount to make a difference to your refund or tax owing.

For example, let’s say your 2015 net income is $30,000. On 1^st October 2015, you paid $300 for prescription glasses and that was your only medical expense for the year. Since your medical expense is less than 3% of your net income, entering this amount on your 2015 tax return won’t make a difference to your refund or tax owed.

2015 Net income = $30,000

2015 Medical expenses = $300

$30,000 X 3% = $900

$300 - $900 = –$600 -- a negative amount can’t be claimed

However, since medical expenses paid in any 12-month period ending in the tax year are claimable, you might be able to combine the above expense amount with other medical expenses you’ll have next year and claim it on that year’s return.

October 1, 2015	$300 for glasses
February 10, 2016	$500 for prescriptions
June 5, 2016	$1200 for dental services
Total medical expenses from October 1, 2015 to October 1, 2016	$2,000

2016 Net income = $30,000

$30,000 X 3% = $900

$2,000 - $900 = $1,100 -- your 2016 claimable medical expenses amount

I didn’t enter medical expenses but I still see an amount on my return!

You might see an amount for medical expenses on your return, even if you didn’t enter this amount on the Medical expenses page in the tax software, if you paid premiums to a private health services plan through your payroll and this amount was included in box 85 of your T4 slip or box 135 of your T4A slip.

These amounts on your T4 and/or T4A slip qualify as medical expenses and H&R Block’s tax software automatically claims them for you on your tax return.

Where can I learn more?

Do you have low income and high medical expenses? You might qualify for a separate Refundable medical tax expense supplement. (CRA website)
Québec medical tax expense supplement (Revenu Quebec website)

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