Tax experts say that it “beggars belief” that more people still don’t claim routine medical expenses in Ireland.
A little under six in ten Irish people did not claim tax refunds for medical expenses incurred in the last four years, according to a survey by Taxback.com.
The survey revealed that, despite the fact that medical expenses are “probably the most widely known of all tax refunds”, thousands of Euro worth of medical and non-routine dental expenses still go unclaimed on an annual basis.
One of the main reasons the expenses go unclaimed, according to Taxback.com, is that people find the process of claiming them to be time-consuming, even if it is far more straightforward than they might think.
Barry Flanagan, Senior Tax Manager at Taxback.com, recommended two habits that will assist people in making claims for their medical expenses on a yearly basis.
“We advise all clients to start keeping your receipts in a shoebox or a drawer in the future and if they have not done this to request copies of receipts from the GP/ chemist etc. – some practices charge a small fee for this but that should not be prohibitive i.e. you’re still going to get back more than you’ve spent,” Flanagan said.
“In addition, most pharmacies will be able to give you a “year-end” receipt, totalling your spending during the year. Some are even promoting this as a means of keeping customers.”
The Taxback.com survey asked 800 PAYE taxpayers through the country the following questions:
Have you claimed for medical expenses in last 4 years?
- Yes 44%
- No 56%
If you have claimed for medical expenses – what have you claimed for?
- GP/ Consultant 76%
- Prescriptions 49%
- Dental 44%
- Physio 20%
- Laser eye 3%
- IVF 3%
- Gluten free prods 1%
- Other 6%
Did you have medical expenses that you did not claim for?
- GP/Consultant 58%
- Prescriptions 57%
- Dental 39%
- Physio 17%
- Gluten free prods 9%
- Laser eye 4%
- IVF 2%
- Other 6%
The tax relief on medical expenses was introduced in 1967 and while it was reduced from a person’s marginal rate of tax to 20% in 2009, experts at Taxback.com say that it’s still a very lucrative tax relief and that it “beggars belief” that more people still don’t claim.
Refunds on medical expenses cost the Revenue €145.9 million in 2016, but Flanagan reckons that the figure could have been doubled had everyone claimed what they were entitled to.
“Most people incur medical expenses throughout the year – particularly parents with young children,” Flanagan added.
“Trips to the doctor’s surgery become commonplace for a lot of families over the years and every trip can cost someone anywhere from €40 to €70. So if a couple with three children takes even just five trips to their GP in a year that bill hits approximately €250 – you could get €50 of this back from the Revenue. It makes so much sense to claim…
“Last year refunds on medical expenses cost the Revenue €145.9 million but we would guess that if everyone claimed their entitlements this figure could be doubled. So our message is simply – get your receipts together and get what’s owed.”
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