<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>


Hi,
Several people asked for this summary.  Here are  the responses I received.  We have been asked to produce receipts and proof so for those of you who responded saying you don't do it - my warning is be prepared it can happen.  Thanks for the responses.  Carol


You have to make a detailed list of items purchased.  Say you purchase a package of gf flour, you have to also include the price of gluten flour and subtract the difference.  It is very time consuming, and in the end you don't get to take that big of a deduction.
But, if you have medical expenses (flex-spend) held out of your check by your employer, you can use that money to purchase GF food.  You can search www.celiac.com for a detailed discription of how this works.  I believe the author is Dwight Senne.


You basically have to gather all your grocery receipts for the year and then for all the GF bread you bought you add that up and compare to the price of a NGF bread.  The difference you write down.  You do this for every product that is GF that you bought that is a specific GF product, i.e. one that a non GF person would not eat.  For GF flours and xanthan gum you claim the whole amount as there is no equivalent.

Now, here is the catch.  This difference amount when calculated is placed under medical deductions on your Federal Income Tax return.  To qualify for a medical deduction the medical amounts must be greater than 3% of your taxable income (I think it is taxable not net).  SO for most people their medical deductions do not exceed 3% and so it is worthless to do the deduction.  I did the process for about 3 years and my GF costs were $300-400 so I stopped doing it.  We have 2 incomes in my household, however even when it was just 1 income I still did not qualify.

There is more information at:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/clc-eng.html


Here is a page which may help.

http://www.penny.ca/Disability.htm

It has only been the last few years that I have kept track of GF purchased foods and
claimed it on my income tax.  So far it has been simple.   I use the suggested form
and keep all my receipts.  As I file electronically it isn't necessary to send in
receipts.  I will however keep all records for at least seven years in case they
decide to audit.  Todate no audit has been requested.
 
If I were to submit my income tax through the mail then all documentation such as the
completed form and receipts would be included.  I don't see a need for any other
information.  Based on past experiences CRA are simply asking for forms and receipts.

I find it almost impossible.  How do you compare one timy GF loaf with a 
large ordinary loaf and claim the difference.  Also there are more expensive 
things I buy because I can eat them, but they aren't GF per se.
 
I did find that when I did the tax myself over the net, I just claimed the 
whole amount of GF food.  I didn't realize one had to claim the difference. 
They accepted it fine, but then I switched to H&R Block and they queried 
everything.


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