Lessons Learned: The DTC Appeal Process [Part III]

As noted in my last post, applying (or re-applying) for the DTC involves having the relevant medical
practitioner provide the required information on the T2201 form. Depending on the extent of the
individual's challenges, you might want to consider having the medical practitioner send along an additional letter or report with the application form.

I.   The Appeal Route: Roads Not Taken?
There are three possible methods to challenge an initial denial of he DTC; namely

• reapply for the DTC;
• request an informal review; and/or
• file a Notice of Objection (formal appeal).

Although you can re-apply at any time, unless something has changed (or you now have significant new medical information to provide) with the person's situation, you are probably just as well (or better) off to proceed through the appeal route.

Whether proceeding with an informal review or a Notice of Objection, you will want to highlight
specific information found in the T2201 form and any included correspondence that shows how the effects of the person's impairments on their ability to perform the Activities of Daily Living. Remember, you are now providing  information to an individual who has no prior knowledge of the situation and must highlight for him or her the facts that you believe makes the person eligible for the DTC.

You have one year from the date of the denial to request an informal review but only 90 days to pursue the more formal Notice of Objection. If this timing sounds illogical to you, I agree but it is what it is.

Unfortunately, this timing issue can make things a little more complicated. As it could take anywhere from six months to two years to receive a response to your request for an informal review, you might well still be waiting for that response as you approach the one-year time limit to file a formal Notice of Objection. For this reason, you need to document your timelines carefully and make sure you file a Notice of Objection two or three weeks prior to the one-year time limit, even if you haven't yet received a response to your informal review.

II.  The So-called Requirement of 'Additional Medical Information"

Whichever route you take, it's important to include any new medical information that you have not already supplied, such as new or updated medical reports, or an additional letter from a medical practitioner who is familiar with the situation. This additional information will clearly focus on how the impairment affects the activities of daily living.

However, it's important to realize that although you can (and should) supply any additional helpful medical information you can, you are most certainly not obligated to do so.

This is extremely important because the CRA appears to have taken the ludicrous (and totally unsupported) position that it CANNOT and WILL NOT review any application unless additional medical information has been provided.

This is exactly what occurred when I requested an informal review of the denial of my youngest daughter's re application for the DTC and it's flatout not true. This position violates not only the
CRA's own Taxpayer Bill of Rights, but also the broader legal principle that when appealing a government decision you have the right to have that decision reviewed by an independent party (someone not involved in the original decision) whether or not you have new information to provide.

Whether a review or appeal, should you receive such a response, know that the CRA is simply up to  its old tricks. Unfortunately, too many people don't realize this and once they receive a letter denying their request for a review, they simply move on. Thank goodness I (and now you) know differently. If you receive such a response, simply move on to the next level of appeal and file a Notice of Objection.

III. The Notice of Objection
The procedure for filing a Notice of Objection is set out here, along with information as to the  documentation required. Note that there is no mention of a requirement to provide any additional medical information, only the "relevant facts and reasons for your objection" and "copies of all documents that support your objection". This supporting documentation will often be as simple as the T2201 form you originally sent to the CRA (along with any additional material that might have been attached).

It appears that the CRA is effectively requiring the majority of DTC applicants to reach this level before providing any semblance of due process. Unless your case is an obvious slam dunk (as occurred with my daughter and other situations I've recently become aware of), you can expect to receive a phone call from the authorized CRA officer prior to the the final decision being made.

V. The Tax Court of Canada
Should your Notice of Objection be dismissed, you have one final avenue of appeal to the Tax Court of Canada. However, I cannot recommend you take on this level of appeal without legal counsel.

VI. One Final Step: the Service Complaint
You also have the right to lodge a service complaint with the Office of the Taxpayer's Ombudsman. Please don't write this step off as a waste of time.

One of the issues noted in the "2019 First Annual Report of the Disability Advisory Committee: Enabling access to disability tax measures – Report in brief"was that the CRA doesn't
adequately share information about the results of objections or appeals with its employees, which negatively affects the Agency's ability to  improve its performance. Assessment decisions that are overturned  may signal inconsistencies in assessment or objection processes and sharing such information should reduce the numbers of objections and appeals.

The  CRA agreed and has explained that it is committed to ensuring that objection and appeal decisions are shared with all assessing and audit areas.

Let's do our part to give them a little shove push in that direction.

* With a tip of the hat and many thanks to Dan Paladin of Padalin Disability Tax Credit Solutions.

'To Fight the Unbeatable Foe'

UPDATE: Advocacy wins the day. Now, for heaven's sake, please let these ladies live in peace.

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go 

These were the words that came to my mind today when I read that a ReMax real estate agent is appealing the Town of Bridgewater's decision to change its zoning bylaws to allow LaHave Manor Corp. to open a new group home.

You might recall last Spring when the LeHave Corporation attempted to purchase a property that was ideally-suited for use as a group home by three women that have lived together for over 18 years. It seemed like a great idea until neighbours started complaining and the Town decided that the property couldn't become a group home because it violated zoning bylaws -bylaws that allowed for "low density residential housing", also known as single family dwellings. Apparently, the Town viewed three people living together in the community as an "institution".

But just when we thought saner heads had prevailed and all was well (the Town changed its by-laws to allow the group home to be opened), we now come to find out that Ron Bullen, an agent with RE/MAX South Shore Realty, along with a merry group of fellow real estate agents, has filed an appeal of the Town`s decision with the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.

The reason? Apparently they are afraid that the group home will cause real estate values in the "upscale neighbourhood" to fall.

Seriously?

To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

One of the better lines in the article has to belong to local resident Brian Tennyson, who stateed at a public meeting that he's not opposed to the zoning change because it's a "residential-care facility", but because "councillors and staff were manipulated, pressured and intimidated by LaHave Manor Corp".

Hey, you might just be on to something there, Mr. Tennyson. Town Council might just have been intimidated. And some things are, indeed, worthy of intimidation.

Such as the public statements recently made by the Minister of Community Services to the effect that persons with disabilities have the right to live in the community and if you disagree ... well, that's too bad.

Also worthy of intimidation? The fact that you might just be running afoul of the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

"Bridgewater prides itself on being an inclusive community and as such wants to incorporate the intent of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities," the release said. "We acknowledge that the rights of disabled persons are equal to the rights of any other person in our community."

This fight is not, cannot, be over.

Perhaps a few well-placed letters to ReMax letting them know what Nova Scotians think of the actions of their agent in this matter? Perhaps an online petition boycotting ReMax unless this matter is resolved?

And, if anyone knows the names of the other real estate agents involved, I would love to hear them.

Appeal Strategies For Tuition Support Program

This comment was dropped on the "Tuition Support Program Gets Fourth Year' post.

I have a daughter with a non verbal spvisual [sic] spatial disorder. Even though she has had Resource an IPP and tutoring paid by us, she is two years behind. She has no behavior issues, is a good student and tries extremely hard. She is exhibiting anxiety, and we want to send her to a place that can help her. Why would the Governmnet [sic] take this away.

Why indeed?

Which led to me a dated, but good, post outlining Strategies For A Tuition Support Appeal at the Equal Education Association of Nova Scotia blog.

Which you should check out.

The IPP Appeal Process

"It's all knowing what to start with. If you start in the right place and follow all the steps, you will get to the right end."
~ Elizabeth Moon, The Speed of Dark, 2003



UPDATE:  Due to recent changes, a parent is now able to appeal the fact that the school has refused to provide their child with an IPP




Technically speaking, the IPP is the Individual Program Plan which sets out certain educational goals for the student, the means by which the goals are to be achieved or measured and the roles of teachers and other specialists or assistants.

But from a parent's point of view it is often the place where the rubber hits the road - if your child cannot meet grade level outcomes it is the program that he or she will follow. It lays out how and what the school will teach your child. In a sense, its your child's lifeline, from where he is now to where you hope and pray he will some day be. It is for that reason that the IPP appeal process is so important - what happens if you, as a parent, do not agree with what the school proposes to teach your child, where they propose to teach him or the methods that they propose to use? How do you get your say?

From a parental perspective its very important to know what steps you have to follow in order to initiate an appeal of your child' s IPP, how much time both the school board and Minister have to respond and set up an appeal hearing, what your rights are at such hearings and to be aware of potential pitfalls and hazards along the way.


SCHOOL BOARD APPEAL PROCESS
IPPs are to be designed and continuously modified to keep pace with the student=s development through the course of his education by the Program Planning Team. This team includes the student's teachers, educational and other specialists and the parents or guardians of the child. Therefore,as the parent or guardian of a special needs child, you are, by law, a member of your child's Program Planning Team.You are, by law, not only to be afforded the "opportunity to participate in the development of an IPP for your child"[Education Act, s.25 (2)] but also to have access to a procedure to appeal that document if you disagree with it.

The Education Act and Regulations, read together, provide that "the parent may make a request in writing to the Minister of Education asking the Minister to establish a Board of Appeal to provide a ruling on an existing or proposed IPP" where "the parent does not agree with the IPP that has been developed for the child; and the disagreement can not be resolved by a School Board appeal process."

Obviously this presupposes a school board appeal process. Policy 1.8 of the Special Education Policy Manual from the Department of Education mandates that Aeach school board shall develop and maintain "written policy and procedures to ensure that programming and services are designed for students with special needs". This policy is to include, among other things, "an appeal policy established by the board within the parameters of the provincial policy" .

In other words, each school board in this province is obligated to develop a written appeal policy which includes the appeal procedures to be followed in a case where the parent of guardian of a child with an IPP does not agree with the child's proposed or existing IPP. At the present time, it is unclear whether all of the school boards have complied with this directive or not.

The school board appeal policy must fit within the parameters of the provincial appeal policy.