Insights
Any individual can claim tax relief on the cost of medical and health expenses. The health expenses claimed for can be for you, for any family member, or in fact any individual. The main stipulation is that you have paid for these expenses yourself.
Relief cannot be claimed for any amounts that you will receive, or have already received from any of the following sources:
· Any Insurance Policy
· A Public or Local Authority, for example, the H.S.E.
· Any other source, for example, a compensation payment
To qualify for relief, your health care must be carried out, or advised, by a registered practitioner such as a doctor, consultant, or dentist. In certain circumstances, tax relief can also be claimed for health care received outside of Ireland.
As with other tax refunds, it is important to note that the ‘Four Year Rule’ applies to medical and health expenses. So, for example claims for 2018 should be made before the end of 2022.
The main medical and health expense exclusions for tax relief are as follows:
· Routine dental care
· Routine eye care, such as eye tests
· Cosmetic surgery, where there is no underlying health issue being corrected
Do not overlook the Higher dd saving for Nursing Care expenses
While there has been a regular focus on the importance of claiming for medical expenses, when it comes to our income tax liabilities in Ireland, it is less widely known that a much higher tax saving can be made for Nursing Care expenses.
Currently, the standard Tax rate of 20% applies for general medical and health expenses.
However, Nursing Home and Nursing Care expenses qualify for the highest rate of tax (up to 40%).
Nursing Home and additional Nursing care expenses
Income Tax relief can be claimed on Nursing Home expenses and additional Nursing Care expenses, which are paid for by you.
To qualify for the Nursing Home relief, the care must be provided on-site in a Nursing Home, on a 24-hour care basis.
Additional Nursing Care expenses relate to two other situations where a person is receiving Nursing Care.
Firstly, the person may suffer from a serious illness and rather than stay in a Nursing Home or Hospital, they require Home Nursing. In this scenario you will have employed a qualified nurse, on the advice of a medical practitioner, to provide nursing care at home.
Secondly, where the person is in a Nursing Home, but due to the nature of their illness, they require extra Nursing Care above what is normally provided.
These Tax reliefs can be claimed as a deduction from your total income. Therefore, depending on the amount of tax you pay at either rate (20% or 40%), this will determine the amount of relief you will receive. So, for anyone paying Tax at the 40% rate, they will see a greater reduction in the overall Tax amount they pay.
Another benefit of this type of Tax relief, is that it can be claimed in real time during the tax year for PAYE taxpayers. This can be done using by the ‘Real Time Credit’ facility within Revenue.ie’s myAccount portal.
How does the Fair Deal scheme impact on Tax relief? The H.S.E.’s Nursing Home Support and Ancillary State Support Schemes (Fair Deal), can offer assistance with the cost of Nursing Home Care.
In such cases, Tax relief can only be claimed on the amounts that you pay, and not on amounts paid by the H.S.E.
In the case of users of the Fair Deal Loan Scheme, Tax relief can only be claimed after the loan amount is repaid
Claiming your Health expenses
You can claim for Tax relief for Medical and Health expenses through your Income Tax return, using myAccount, or Revenue Online Service (ROS).
You can only claim for expenses for which you have receipts. If you have private health insurance, you can claim relief on the portion of expenses not covered by your insurer.
We hope that you found this article helpful. If you need any assistance on tax-related queries, please contact [email protected]