Claim your medical expenses on the tax return of the spouse with lower net income.
You should claim the total medical expenses for both you and your spouse
or common-law
partner on one tax return. You can claim the medical
expenses on either spouse's tax return. If both spouses have
taxable income, it is usually better to claim the medical expenses on the return
with the lower net income. This is because the lesser of
$2,011 (federal, for 2009 - see the tables of non-refundable
tax credits for provincial/territorial amounts) or 3% of net income is deducted from the medical expenses to determine
the amount to be used for the tax credit. However, if the lower income
spouse does not have enough tax payable to offset the medical expense tax
credit, it may be beneficial to move the expenses to the higher income
spouse.
If you are a business owner, consider setting up a private health services
plan to have your business pay your family medical expenses. See the private
health services plan article on our Small Business page.
See also the article on the medical
expense tax credit on our Filing Your Return page.
Tax tip:
Claim all medical expenses on the tax return of one
spouse.
Revised: November 20, 2009
