60% of Irish People Not Claiming Medical Expenses
Are you claiming your medical expenses? Because according to our research, around 60% of Irish people aren’t claiming tax back on their medical expense refunds.
What is a medical expense?
Whether you’re a PAYE (Pay as You Earn) or self-assessed worker, you’re entitled to claim tax relief on qualifying medical expenses you’ve paid for. This includes things like prescriptions, doctor’s fees, and specialist dental work.
In the case of a qualifying expense, you can claim back 20% of the cost of the expense back as a refund following the end of the tax year in which you had the expense. You can also go back 4 years to claim a refund of expenses you had in previous years.
Our senior tax manager Barry Flanagan explains how it works in this video:
Expenses you can claim
You can claim the relief on qualifying expenses you pay for yourself or on someone else’s behalf. However you can’t claim any relief on expenses reimbursed by the state, private health insurance or by some other compensating body.
Owed medical expenses?
Qualifying medical expenses
• Doctor and consultant’s fees
• Treatments/items prescribed by a doctor or consultant
• Specialised dental treatment
• Treatment in a nursing home
• Laser-eye surgery
• Ambulance transport
• Routine maternity care
• In-vitro fertilisation
• Specific items for a qualifying child with a lifelong serious illness
• Educational psychologist’s assessments for a qualifying child
• Qualifying kidney patient’s expenses
The following if prescribed by a doctor:
• Medicines/drug treatments
• Cost of gluten-free food for coeliacs
• Wheelchair or wheelchair lift
• Hearing Aids
• Physiotherapy/podiatry
• Diagnostic procedures
• Orthopaedic bed or chair
• Glucometer medicine for diabetic
• Engaging a qualified nurse in the case of serious illness
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can I claim medical expenses from abroad?
A. Yes you might be able claim for:
• Qualifying treatment from a GP
• Qualifying hospital treatments from a qualifying medical practitioner
Owed medical expenses?
Q. Can I claim on the full cost of the expense?
A. Yes, you can claim 20% relief on the full amount of the unreimbursed expense.
Q. What is the rate of tax relief?
A. Relief for most expenses is at the standard rate of tax at 20%. Relief for something like nursing home expenses can qualify for the higher rate where applicable.
Q. When can I claim?
A. You can claim at the end of the tax year on 31 December. So for example if you had medical expenses in 2016, you can claim in 2017.
Q. How long do I have to make a claim?
A. You must claim within 4 years after the end of the tax year in which the claim relates. So if you want to claim relief on qualifying expenses from 2014, you should claim them by 31 December 2017.
Q. What if I had an expense and paid for it a year later?
A. You can submit an expense for the year in which you incurred the expense or the year you paid for it.
Q. Can I claim medical insurance tax credits?
A. You may get a tax credit if you’re in a health insurance scheme. However this is usually granted by your health insurance company so you won’t even notice it.
This is called Tax Relief at Source (TRS). However, in some case TRS doesn’t apply, for example in the case where your employer pays health insurance on your behalf so you may be able to apply for tax relief.
Owed medical expenses?
Q. How can I claim?
A. Fill out a Med 1 form for medical expenses and submit it to Revenue. Keep all your receipts in a safe place to back up your claim. In the case of dental expenses you should fill out a Med2 form which your dentist can supply.
Q. Need help with your claim?
A. If you want to claim medical expenses or find out if you’re due a tax refund for any other reason, you can get a free no-obligation refund estimate from Taxback.com.
Or simply fill in the short form!
Owed medical expenses?
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