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Medical expense tax credit calculator

Estimate the federal credit for medical expenses on a Canadian tax return, including home changes such as a ramp and devices such as grab bars or a walker. Enter the costs and a net income to see what the credit may be worth.

This calculator is a planning tool. It gives an estimate, not tax advice. It simulates the rules in a simple way, so your actual credit may be different. Only expenses that meet the CRA's rules count. For your real numbers, ask an accountant or other tax professional. Figures last checked October 23, 2026.

Which tax year?

You can claim expenses paid in any 12-month period that ends in the tax year, if they weren't claimed before [1].

Whose expenses are these?

Your family means you, your spouse or common-law partner, and your or your spouse's children who were under 18 at the end of the year. A relative you support is, for example, a parent or an adult child who depended on you for support [1]. Work out each relative separately.

Line 23600 of your tax return. If your spouse or partner will claim instead, enter their net income. For 2026, use your best estimate.

Changes such as a ramp, wider doorways or lower cabinets, for a person with a severe and prolonged mobility impairment. Leave out any GST/HST rebate and any part paid back to you [2]. From 2026, leave out any cost you'll claim for the Home Accessibility Tax Credit instead [9].

Such as grab bars, bath rails, a walker, a hospital bed, a stair lift or a wheelchair. All of these need a prescription to count except a wheelchair [1] [2]. Leave out any part paid back to you.

Such as prescription drugs, dental care, glasses, hearing aids and premiums for a private health or dental plan [1] [2]. They're added to the same total before the threshold comes off. Leave out any part paid back to you.

Your estimate

Enter the net income and at least one expense to see the estimate.

How this is calculated

  • Add up the eligible medical expenses paid in a 12-month period that ends in the tax year. Only the part that nobody has paid back, or will pay back, counts [1].
  • Take off a threshold: 3% of net income or a dollar amount set each year, whichever is less. The dollar amount is $2,834 for 2025 and $2,890 for 2026 [1] [3]. So the threshold is 3% of net income unless net income is above about $94,467 for 2025 or $96,333 for 2026 (our calculation).
  • For your family's expenses, the threshold uses the net income of the person who claims them. For a relative you support, it uses that relative's net income, and each relative is worked out separately [1] [7] [8].
  • If the expenses are less than the threshold, the result is $0. The shortfall doesn't come off any other medical expense claim [6] [7].
  • The federal credit is what's left times the lowest federal tax rate: 14.5% for 2025 and 14% for 2026 [4] [5] [6].
  • The credit is non-refundable. It can lower the federal tax you owe, but only down to zero [2] [4].
Figures used by the calculator
Tax yearMost the threshold can beFederal credit rate
2025 $2,834 14.5%
2026 $2,890 14%

What the calculator leaves out

  • Provincial and territorial credits. Your province or territory gives its own credit for these expenses, and its amounts may be different [2]. You claim it on your provincial or territorial Form 428, or through Revenu Québec if you live in Quebec [1].
  • The top-up tax credit for 2025 to 2030. It keeps the old 15% rate on non-refundable credit amounts above the first tax bracket threshold: $57,375 for 2025 and $58,523 for 2026 [4] [5]. Finance Canada says it's for very rare cases, such as a large one-time medical expense [4]. It's claimed on line 34990 of the return [5].
  • The refundable medical expense supplement, a refundable credit for working people with low incomes and high medical expenses [1]. Our medical expense tax credit guide explains who can get it.

Which expenses count

The CRA keeps a list of common medical expenses that shows which ones need a prescription [1]. Home safety items on it include:

  • bathroom aids such as grab bars, grips and rails, with a prescription [1]
  • walking aids such as canes and walkers, with a prescription [1]
  • a hospital bed, with a prescription [1]
  • a power-operated chair for a stairway, including installation, with a prescription [2]
  • wheelchairs, crutches, and scooters used instead of a wheelchair, with no prescription needed [1] [2]

Renovations count when they give a person access to their home, or more mobility or functioning in it, because the person has a severe and prolonged mobility impairment or lacks normal physical development. The costs must be reasonable. The work must not normally be expected to raise the home's value, and it must not be work that people without the impairment would normally have done [2]. The CRA's examples are ramps for a person who can't use stairs, wider halls and doorways, and lower kitchen or bathroom cabinets. Take off any related rebates, such as GST/HST rebates, and get a breakdown of the costs [2].

Our guide to the medical expense tax credit for home modifications and devices has a table of home safety items and what each one needs. If a program pays part of the cost, such as Ontario's Assistive Devices Program, enter only your share [1]. See Funding in Canada for other programs.

Who can claim

  • Your family (line 33099). You or your spouse or common-law partner can claim expenses paid for yourselves and for your or your spouse's children who were under 18 at the end of the year. Either of you can claim them. The CRA notes it may be better for the one with the lower net income to claim, because their threshold is smaller [1].
  • A relative you support (line 33199). You can also claim expenses you or your spouse paid for a relative who depended on you for support. That includes your or your spouse's children who were 18 or older at the end of the year, and grandchildren. It also includes your or your spouse's parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces, if they were residents of Canada at some point in the year [1]. Work out each relative separately, using their net income [1] [7]. Their expenses must be from the same 12-month period as your line 33099 claim [7].
  • Records. Keep the receipts, which must show who was paid, and any prescription the CRA's list calls for. Don't send them with your return. Keep them in case the CRA asks [1].

This credit and the Home Accessibility Tax Credit

Some renovations could count for both credits. The Home Accessibility Tax Credit is for renovations for someone who is 65 or older at the end of the year, or eligible for the disability tax credit [11]. For 2025, the CRA says an expense that qualifies for both can be claimed for both [2] [11]. From 2026, the law has changed: an expense claimed as a medical expense can't also be claimed for the Home Accessibility Tax Credit [9] [10]. So for 2026 you choose one credit for each expense.

Our Home Accessibility Tax Credit calculator estimates the other credit, and our medical expense tax credit guide compares the two for a ramp. A tax professional can help you choose.

Sources

  1. Lines 33099 and 33199: Eligible medical expenses you can claim on your tax return. Canada Revenue Agency. Accessed October 23, 2026.
  2. Medical Expenses 2025 (Guide RC4065). Canada Revenue Agency. Accessed October 23, 2026.
  3. Indexation adjustment for personal income tax and benefit amounts. Canada Revenue Agency. Accessed October 23, 2026.
  4. Report on the Impact of Reducing the Lowest Marginal Personal Income Tax Rate on Non-Refundable Tax Credits. Department of Finance Canada. Accessed October 23, 2026.
  5. Personal income tax: What's new for 2025. Canada Revenue Agency. Accessed October 23, 2026.
  6. Income Tax and Benefit Return 2025 (Form 5000-R), Step 5. Canada Revenue Agency. Accessed October 23, 2026.
  7. Federal Worksheet 2025 (Form 5000-D1), line 33199. Canada Revenue Agency. Accessed October 23, 2026.
  8. Income Tax Act, section 118.2: Medical expense credit. Justice Laws Website, Department of Justice Canada. Accessed October 23, 2026.
  9. Income Tax Act, section 118.041: Home accessibility tax credit. Justice Laws Website, Department of Justice Canada. Accessed October 23, 2026.
  10. Bill C-15, Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, as assented to March 26, 2026 (section 42). Parliament of Canada. Accessed October 23, 2026.
  11. Line 31285: Home accessibility expenses. Canada Revenue Agency. Accessed October 23, 2026.