6 Medical Expense Tax Review tax and accounting engagements in full — what the client came to us with, what we did, and what it was worth. Each one is specific to medical expense tax review work, not a general example.
Case Study 1 · Missed incentive claimed
$122,000 Credit Claim Filed And Accepted Without Adjustment — First-Time Home Buyer, Brampton
Client: A first-time home buyer · Where: Brampton, Ontario · Engagement: 7 weeks, fixed fee
Claim value$122,000
AcceptedWithout adjustment
RepeatableAnnually
The situation
A first-time home buyer in Brampton, Ontario assumed the credits did not apply to a business its size. Three years of returns filed without the slips that had been mailed to an old address meant they had applied all along.
What we did
We identified the qualifying activity, built the documentation to support it, and filed the outstanding T1135 disclosures under the voluntary disclosure route before the CRA raised them.
The result
$122,000 recovered. Because the eligibility analysis is on file, the same claim can be repeated each year with a fraction of the effort.
Case Study 2 · Scaling without breaking
Second-Province Expansion Handled, $98,000 Of Cash Released — Self-Employed Consultant, Moncton
Client: A self-employed consultant · Where: Moncton, New Brunswick · Engagement: 9 weeks, fixed fee
Cash released$98,000
New registrationsComplete on day one
Compliance gapsNone
The situation
Revenue at a self-employed consultant in Moncton, New Brunswick was up sharply and cash was tighter than ever. Underneath it sat three years of returns filed without the slips that had been mailed to an old address.
What we did
We reset the medical expense claim window, transferred credits between spouses, and applied the tuition and disability amounts to the return that used them. Every new obligation — registration, remittance frequency, provincial filing — was set up before it was triggered, not after.
The result
$98,000 of cash was released from the working capital cycle, and the expansion completed with every registration and filing obligation covered from day one.
Case Study 3 · CRA review defended
$19,000 Proposed Adjustment Withdrawn In Full — Employee with Foreign Investment, Calgary
Client: An employee with foreign investment accounts · Where: Calgary, Alberta · Engagement: 4 weeks, fixed fee
Adjustment withdrawn$19,000
File closed in4 weeks
Penalties assessedNone
The situation
An employee with foreign investment accounts in Calgary, Alberta received a proposal letter opening a review of medical expense tax review. The CRA had identified foreign accounts that had crossed the T1135 threshold two years earlier and proposed an adjustment of $19,000, with 30 days to respond.
What we did
We treated the response as an evidence exercise rather than an argument. We pulled the full slip history from the CRA record, refiled the affected years by adjustment request, and recovered the credits that had been missed, then indexed every supporting document against the specific line the auditor had questioned.
The result
The proposed adjustment was withdrawn in full — all $19,000 of it. The file closed in 4 weeks with no change to the assessed amounts and no penalty.
Case Study 4 · Planning that cut the bill
$13,000 Saved By Correcting What Prior Filings Had Missed — Two-Income Household with Rental, Hamilton
Client: A two-income household with rental property · Where: Hamilton, Ontario · Engagement: 7 weeks, fixed fee
Saving identified$13,000
RecurringYes
Positions documentedAll
The situation
A two-income household with rental property in Hamilton, Ontario asked for a second opinion on medical expense tax review after three years of rising tax. The review found RRSP room accumulated over eight years and never used in a high-income year.
What we did
We built the comparison first — current structure against two alternatives — and then carried the capital loss back against gains reported in the prior three years and generated a refund rather than a carry-forward balance.
The result
First-year saving of $13,000, with the same benefit recurring. Every position taken is documented and supported in the file.
Case Study 5 · Records and systems rebuilt
Books Rebuilt From Source, $15,000 In Unclaimed Input Tax Found — Gig-Economy Driver, Regina
A gig-economy driver in Regina, Saskatchewan could not answer basic questions about its own numbers, because a rental property reported without any capital cost allowance analysis sat between the bank statements and the ledger.
What we did
We filed the outstanding T1135 disclosures under the voluntary disclosure route before the CRA raised them, then documented the process so the work does not depend on any one person remembering how it was done.
The result
Records rebuilt and reconciled, $15,000 recovered in input tax credits that the old file could not support, and a documented monthly process now in place.
Case Study 6 · Cash and remittance control
$101,000 Of Working Capital Freed From The Tax Cycle — Commissioned Salesperson, Barrie
A commissioned salesperson in Barrie, Ontario was profitable on paper and short of cash every month. Medical expenses claimed on a calendar-year basis when a shifted window was worth far more explained most of the gap.
What we did
We reset the medical expense claim window, transferred credits between spouses, and applied the tuition and disability amounts to the return that used them and built a thirteen-week cash view so tax payments stopped competing with payroll for the same dollars.
The result
$101,000 was released back into working capital. Remittances have been on time every period since, and the forecast shows the tax outflow before it lands.
Reviewed for the 2025 tax year by Udit Gupta, Certified Tax Accountant. Figures describe representative engagements of this type; outcomes depend on your own facts. Client names and identifying details are omitted for confidentiality.
