Travel insurance can be expensive, particularly if you travel for extended periods of time, have pre-existing health conditions, or are a more mature traveller.

Fortunately, Canadian travellers may be eligible to recoup some of the cost of your travel medical insurance premium by claiming it for a CRA Medical Expense Tax Credit on your income tax return.

Medical Expense Tax Credits allow you to reduce your income tax liability by claiming travel medical insurance premiums and other eligible medical expenses on your tax return and meeting certain eligibility requirements.

Make sure you speak to your accountant to get professional advice on claiming your travel medical insurance premium as a Medical Expense Tax Credit:

In the meantime, here are a few things to keep in mind about Medical Expense Tax Credits:

• Only travel medical insurance is eligible to be claimed. Other types of travel insurance like trip cancellation/interruption insurance and baggage insurance are not eligible for Medical Expense Tax Credits.
  
  If you have an all-inclusive travel insurance policy that covers medical, cancellation/interruption and baggage, only the amount related to the medical portion of your premium is eligible for the credit.
  
  If you purchased your policy from Snowbird Advisor Insurance, you can find your total premium in the confirmation package you received at the time you purchased your policy.
• You’ll need a copy of your travel medical insurance receipt/confirmation to prove to CRA how much your premium cost and that your insurance policy was eligible for a tax credit.
• You can claim other eligible medical expenses you incur inside and outside Canada, as long as you were not reimbursed for those expenses (i.e. under an insurance plan).
• Only medical expenses that exceed a minimum dollar value threshold prescribed by the government are eligible for the tax credit.
• Any tax credit you receive won’t be for the full amount of your eligible expenses, as the government only allows you recoup a percentage of your expenses.

The bottom line is that while you won’t be able to recoup the full amount of your travel medical insurance premiums by claiming them on your tax return, it can still be a fast and easy way to save some money.

You can learn more about Medical Expense Tax Credits here.