What is health expenses relief?
You can get Income Tax relief on qualifying health expenses you paid for yourself or for another person. For most qualifying costs the relief is 20% of the amount you paid, after taking away anything reimbursed by health insurance or another source.
Which costs qualify?
Qualifying costs generally include fees paid to doctors and consultants, prescribed medicines, hospital charges, and non-routine dental treatment such as crowns, root canal treatment and orthodontics.
Routine dental care, such as scaling, fillings and extractions, does not qualify. Nursing-home costs are treated differently and can get relief at your highest rate of Income Tax, up to 40%.
How much is the relief worth?
Suppose you paid €600 for qualifying treatment and your health insurer reimbursed €100. Your net cost is €500, and 20% relief is worth €100, provided you had at least that much Income Tax to reduce.
What records should I keep?
Keep receipts showing the provider, the date, the treatment and the amount paid, plus any reimbursement statements from your insurer. Keep them for six years. A receipt alone does not prove that a cost qualifies.
How do I claim?
PAYE workers claim in Revenue’s myAccount, either during the year or after it ends. Self-assessed taxpayers claim on their Form 11. Check what you have already claimed for the year so the same expense is not counted twice.
What Flint’s estimator covers
The free estimator calculates 20% relief on general qualifying health expenses for single PAYE employees. It does not calculate nursing-home relief or check whether each treatment qualifies.