Start here
You do not have to work out where to begin.
This whole process is more confusing than it needs to be, and that is not your fault. Tell us where you are and we will point you at the one thing to do next — not a list, one thing. Everything here is free, and we never take a share of anything.
Where are you right now?
Pick the one that sounds most like you.
I don’t know whether I qualify
Almost everyone starts here, and being unsure is normal. Eligibility is not about a diagnosis — it is about the effect on your daily life, which is a different question and a more hopeful one.
Do this next See what the CRA actually asks
I think I qualify and I want to apply
The application is one form, T2201, with your half and your doctor’s half. The hard part is not the paperwork — it is describing your situation well enough. So do that part first, in your own words.
Do this next Write down how it affects you
Nothing you type there leaves your own browser. Then see the whole process when you are ready.
I started and got stuck
Usually it is one of three things: waiting on a doctor, a reference number about to expire, or the CRA website itself. All three are fixable, and none of them mean you have done anything wrong.
Do this next Find the step you are stuck on
It lasts 12 months and can only be used once. If yours is getting old and your practitioner has not filed Part B yet, chase them now rather than later — that is the single most common way an application quietly dies.
I was turned down
A refusal is a decision about the paperwork that was in front of the CRA, not a judgement about your life. Very often the impairment does qualify and the form simply did not describe it well enough. There are two free routes back, and there are deadlines.
Do this next See your two options and the dates
If reading any of this feels like too much today, that is a completely reasonable place to be. Write to info@zerocuttaxsociety.ca in whatever words you have — a sentence is enough — and a person will write back. There is no fee, no form to fill in first, and no catch.
Getting through the CRA website
This is the part people find hardest, so it is worth setting out honestly. None of it is difficult exactly — it is just slow, and it fails in ways that do not explain themselves.
Setting up a CRA account can involve waiting several days for a security code to arrive in the post. If you are working towards a deadline, start this part first and do everything else while you wait. People routinely discover this at the worst possible moment.
What to have beside you
- Your social insurance number
- Your date of birth and current postal code
- A copy of a recent tax return — you will be asked for a specific dollar amount from it to prove who you are. This catches people out more than anything else.
- Somewhere to write down whatever the site gives you, especially a reference number
Signing in, and the three ways to do it
The CRA offers more than one route in, and they are not equally painful:
- Through your bank — often the least painful, because you use a login you already have and remember.
- A CRA user ID and password — you create one, and this is usually where the mailed security code appears.
- A provincial digital ID, where your province offers one.
If one route asks for something you cannot produce, try another before giving up. They are genuinely different processes, and failing one does not lock you out of the others.
The CRA’s own sign-in page lists the current options — they change from time to time, and the CRA is the authority on which exist today.
Once you are in
The Disability Tax Credit application is not on the front page and is not always called what you expect. Look for a disability tax credit section, or use the site’s own search for DTC or T2201. When you find it, you are completing Part A only — your medical practitioner does Part B separately.
Say yes to adjusting previous years. There is a question asking whether the CRA should automatically reassess your earlier returns if you are approved. Saying yes is what turns an approval into an actual refund, and it can reach back up to ten years.
Write the reference number down somewhere safe. Your practitioner cannot file their half without it, it works only once, and it expires after twelve months.
When the website beats you
Government sites time out, lose what you typed, and reject things without saying why. If that happens, it is the website failing, not you. You have two ways round it:
- Use paper instead. The whole application can be done on the printed form. Just remember that Part A and Part B must both go the same way — if you go paper, your practitioner must too.
- Ask us. We will sit with it and work out what it wants. That is a large part of what this society exists to do.
We cannot sign in as you, and you should never give your CRA password to anyone — including us. Anyone who asks for it is not helping you. What we can do is talk you through each screen, explain what a question means, and help you write the answers.