Pension Plans Or Group Registered Retirement Savings Plan
Do you contribute to an employees RRSP? That cost, as well as any related administration fees, is taxable. However, that same employer contribution made to a Pension Plan or Deferred Profit Sharing Plan is not considered to be a taxable benefit to your employees.
These are just a few of the most common taxable benefits in Canada. If youre ever unsure whether a benefit qualifies, the Canada Revenue Agencys guidelines can help.
What Is Long Term Disability Insurance
Long term disability insurance is a kind of insurance policy that makes you tension-free at your dangerous time. That means when you become physically injured and, as a result, can not join your regular works, you probably rush into a great disappointment for not getting your regular income or wages.
Long term disability insurance policy assures you in getting your income at that time. They provide you with handsome financial support replacing your income. The long term disability is excellent support, you can say in your bad times. The insurance will provide you economic support as long as you are considered physically disable to rejoin or back to your works.
Normally, these insurance policies people buy in groups like in a business. Some partners buy a policy in a group. It is also available individually, but that is rare. Only self-employed business people can buy a long term disability insurance policy individually.
What Are Your Responsibilities
If you provide benefits to your employees, you always have to go through the same steps. If a step does not apply to you, skip it and go on to the next step:
- determine if the benefit is taxable
- calculate the value of the benefit
- calculate payroll deductions
In this guide, employee includes an individual who holds an office, unless otherwise noted.
Determine if the benefit is taxable
Your first step is to determine whether the benefit you provide to your employee is taxable and has to be included in their employment income when the benefit is received or enjoyed.
Whether or not a benefit is taxable depends on whether an employee or officer receives an economic advantage that can be measured in money, and whether that individual is the primary beneficiary of the benefit.
For more information on the term primary beneficiary, see paragraphs 2.14 and 2.23 to 2.25 of Income Tax Folio S2-F3-C2, Benefits and Allowances Received from Employment. For some common examples of taxable benefits, see Chapters 2 to 4 of this guide.
The benefit may be paid in cash , or provided in a manner other than cash, such as a parking space or a gift certificate. For more information and examples, go to Pensionable and Insurable Earnings.
The manner in which you pay or provide the benefit to your employee will affect the payroll deductions you have to withhold. For more information, see Calculate payroll deductions.
Calculate the value of the benefit
You do not have to include the GST/HST for:
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Filling Your Position In Your Absence
There may be the potential that your position could be filled on a permanent basis while you are on leave without pay. This generally happens if your period of leave exceeds one year. Your manager will be in contact with you if this occurs.
Your manager will regularly re-examine your situation to ensure that continuation of leave without pay is warranted by current medical evidence. Such leave without pay situations are to be resolved within 2 years of the leave commencement date, although each case must be evaluated on the basis of its particular circumstances.
Refer to Appendix B of the Directive on Leave and Special Working Arrangements for additional information.
If You Run Out Of Paid Leave
Depending on your circumstances, you may request that sick leave credits be advanced to you to cover the period of your absence. This type of leave request is covered to the limit prescribed in your collective agreement or terms and conditions of employment.
You may also request leave without pay for illness or injury. Refer to Appendix B of the Directive on Leave and Special Working Arrangements for additional information.
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How Does Disability Insurance Work
If you become disabled, you file a claim. After your claim is approved, there is a waiting period. The waiting period is the number of days from the date youre disabled until the benefit start date. This waiting period, chosen at the time you apply, can be anywhere from 30 days to a year. After this period is fulfilled, your monthly benefit would begin.
The monthly benefit replaces a percentage of your paycheque when an illness or accident stops you from working. Your payments stop when your benefit period ends, or you return to work. Your payments depend on how much coverage you choose to purchase and is approved by us at the time you apply. You will work closely with your advisor to help determine this amount.
Your Responsibilities When Illness Or Injury Prevents You From Working
Administering sick-leave benefits is complex. You need to work closely with your manager, your departmental human resources team and the Pay Centre to ensure that:
- leave records are accurate and up-to-date
- you receive information of your options and benefits
- forms are filled out accurately
- forms are sent to the appropriate organization in a timely manner
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Spreading Out Social Security Backpay To Lower Your Taxes
One bright spot is that the IRS allows disability recipients to apportion disability backpay to previous years’ tax returns, which often lowers or eliminates the taxable portion of the lump sum. Moreover, disability recipients need not file amended returns for previous years the situation can be addressed on one’s current tax return. For more on this method, consult IRS Publication 915: Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits. In practice, most individuals and couples whose only income comes from disability benefits will face little to no taxes if their lump sum is apportioned to previous years.
Does It Matter If My Benefits Come From Ssi Or Ssdi
Yes. If you are disabled and receiving SSI benefits, you are already established as belonging in the low-income tier, and you probably wont be taxed on ANY of your income. If you are receiving SSDI benefits, and you have significant income from other sources, then you can be taxed on up to half of your SSDI benefits.
This makes sense because SSDI payments are entitlements with no income limits to qualify, while people whose income is low enough to qualify for SSI payments already dont have enough income to pay taxes.
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Offsets And Integration Of Benefits
Its common for insurance companies to reduce your disability benefit if you get other payments. In other words, they offset their payment usually dollar-for-dollar. For example, lets say you get a CPP disability payment of $900 per month. In this case, your insurance company reduces their payment by $900 per month.
Other offsets include money you get from workers compensation, personal injury settlements, severance payments, or CERB payments, to name a few.
To read more about the steps you can take when your insurer has overpaid you, read our article: LTD Overpayment because of CPP Disability Retroactive Payment: What are my options?
Is Disability Insurance Taxable
Disability benefits may or may not be taxable. You will not pay income tax on benefits from a disability policy where you paid the premiums with after tax dollars. This includes:
- A policy you bought yourself with after-tax dollars
- A employer sponsored policy you contributed to with after-tax dollars. These rules apply to both short-term and long-term disability policies. Income from social security disability isnt taxable if your provisional income isnt more than the base amount. Provisional income is your modified adjusted gross income plus half of the social security benefits you received. The base amount is:
- $25,000 if youre filing single, head of household, or
- $32,000 if youre
- $0 if youre married filing separately and lived together with your spouse at any point in the year
- Your modified AGI includes all other income without subtracting exclusions for:
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How Much Will It Cost To Sue My Insurance Company
Roger Foisy, as do most disability insurance lawyers, works on a contingency fee basis. This means that the lawyer only collects their legal fee if they are successful in your claim. In addition, Roger R. Foisy Professional Corporation offers an initial free consultation to potential clients. For a helpful explanation on how fees are determined please see my video blog How Ontario Injury Lawyer Fees are Determined.
I Just Received A Letter From My Insurance Company Terminating My Benefits What Should I Do
It is important that you try to find out why your benefits have been terminated. Carefully reading over the letter that your insurance company sent you may provide this information. For example, if your benefits were terminated because you did not send the insurance company the proper documentation contact your insurance provider and arrange for the necessary forms and documentation to be sent to them as soon as possible.
However, if the reason for your termination is that the insurance company no longer finds that you are disabled enough as to require benefits even though your doctor maintains that you are still disabled, contact a disability insurance lawyer.
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Social Security Disability Insurance
Income from Social Security disability isnât taxable if your provisional income is less than the base amount. Provisional income is your modified adjusted gross income plus half of the Social Security benefits you receive. The base amount is $25,000 for individuals and $32,000 for joint filers.
If your provisional income exceeds your base amount, up to 50 percent of your Social Security benefits can be taxable. You can also be taxed on 85 percent of benefits is the base amount is at least $34,000 for individuals and $44,000 for joint filers.
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How Long Do I Have To Wait To Collect Long Term Disability Benefits
Once you have made a claim how long you have to wait in order to collect your disability benefits depends on your policy as your claim must be evaluated, approved and a mandatory waiting period must be completed. If your employer has a Short Term Disability plan the waiting period to access the benefits under your plan is usually within 5 days.For long term disability benefits, you will need to be off of work for several months before you can collect benefits. This waiting period is called an elimination or qualifying period and it can range from 90 to 180 days. Consult your policy and your employer for clarification.
There are alternatives if you do not have access to a short term disability plan. Instead you may qualify for Employment Insurance or Sickness Benefits through the Government of Canada. This can provide up to 15 weeks of sick benefits.
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Who Pays For Long Term Disability Coverage
Long term disability insurance can be purchased privately by individuals through an insurance broker or directly through an insurance company. Long term disability insurance can also be made available for purchase through your employer through a group disability insurance policy. In cases of group insurance through your employer, the insurance premiums could be paid by the employer, the employee or shared between the employer and the employee. Depending on what applies to you there are different implications for tax purposes.
If the employee pays the premiums for the long term disability insurance then disability payments are not taxable. If the employer pays for the disability insurance premiums then when the payments are made to the disabled employee they are taxable. The law is more complicated when the premiums are shared between an employee and employer.
After Being Unable To Work At My Own Job For Two Years Can My Insurance Company Stop Paying Me My Benefits
For most policies you are entitled to claim long term disability benefits for the first 2 years of being unable to perform the essential duties of your own job. This is called the Own Occupation Test. After this 2 year time period your eligibility for long term disability benefits will likely change. It will then be based on whether you are unable to perform any occupation for which you are reasonably qualified, or could become qualified for, by taking into consideration education, training or experience. This is called the Any Occupation Test.
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If The Insurance Company Agrees That I Am Still Entitled To Benefits What Are The Different Ways That My Settlement Can Be Paid To Me
If your disability benefits claim goes to court and is successful then you will be awarded some or all of the outstanding disability benefits that you should have, plus interest and costs, all of which is paid by the insurance company. The judge hearing your case may also order that the insurance company continue to pay for your benefits into the future as long as you are entitled to receive such benefits under your policy.
However, many cases settle on the basis of an agreed amount of money that represents a full and final payment to you for past and future benefits. This agreed amount is determined between you and the insurance company.
If your LTD has been denied or terminated, contact us for a free consultation. Call us at or fill out our form on this page.
Common Questions About Long
For people who believe they may qualify for long term disability benefits through the Canada Pension Plan, there are many questions that need to be answered.
- How does the CPP define disability?
The government defines disability as severe and prolonged and must keep a person from returning to work on a regular basis, or is likely long term and may lead to death.
- How do I know if Im eligible?
- Disability benefits are for people under 65, those who had to quit work because of a medical condition, someone who paid into the Canada Pension Plan four of the last six years, or someone who paid into the plan for 25 years and made contributions for three of the last six years.
- How can someone apply?
- A person who wishes to apply must fill out an application form, which they can receive through Service Canada. It includes: application forms for the applicant and any dependents, a questionnaire, a medical report to be filled out by a doctor, a consent form, and a child rearing provision form. Keep in mind that all forms must either be mailed to a local office or hand delivered. Emailed forms arent accepted.
- How long does the approval process take?
- Generally, CPP will render a decision within 120 days, or within 48 hours if the applicant is terminally ill.
- How much will I receive?
- The most a person can receive through a long term disability benefit is $1,362.30 each month through the age of 65 in 2019. Other benefits also are available to spouses and surviving children.
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Why Has My Long Term Disability Claim Been Denied Why Have My Long Term Disability Benefits Been Terminated
An insurance company may deny your long term disability claim or terminate your long term disability benefits for a variety of reasons. Some of these might have a simple solution, such as making sure that they have all the necessary forms and documentation, but in other cases it might require the assistance of a lawyer to help you in your claim against the insurer in order to get the benefits that you are entitled to.
Issues may arise if you are not examined by insurance company approved doctors, you exceeded the time limitation in submitting a claim, there was a misrepresentation on the application as you had a pre-existing condition that you did not mention, there is surveillance evidence that contradicts your claim, there was a failure to have your injury or condition properly documented by your physician, you have not mitigated your losses by maintaining your treatment regimen, or there was a failure of your employer to provide the necessary documentation.
Similarly, insurance companies may argue that you do not have a claim or that you are partially or residually disabled . Instead, you are able to work part-time or with modified tasks. It may also consider your loss of earnings as a result of the medical condition. However, the benefits you would receive would be less than if you were receiving long term disability benefits.
Watch these videos explaining the top 10 reasons why an insurance company might deny your long term disability claim :
How Long Do The Long Term Disability Insurance Benefits Last
The duration of your long term disability insurance plan depends on the policy you have purchased. Some have a set time frame such as 5 or 10 years, while others can last until you are 65 years old. There are policies that also have a lifetime benefit which usually pays a percentage of what you were receiving up to age 65 and then a lesser amount for the next 5, 10, 15 years or even for life.
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How Does Long Term Disability Insurance Work
We have already discussed that for getting long-term disability insurance benefits. You must be eligible by providing sufficient evidence of your physical injuries that make you disable for a long time. Moreover, it would help if you were covered or included in a group insurance policy or an individual insurance policy purchased earlier.
Group insurance policy serves so many purposes at a time. Like, if you are covered under a group long-term disability insurance policy, you will enjoy short-term disability insurance benefits, medical facilities and many more.
Individual insurance policy is less popular than group policies. So you need to purchase your own insurance policy directly from the broker. And you can buy it safely when you are a sad employed businessman. Otherwise, its a bit tough to handle.