Medical Expenses Tax Refund

Medical Expense Tax Refund

Net medical expenses represents medical expenses, less any related refunds received, or any refunds entitled to be receive from Medicare or a private health fund.

In addition, medical expenses paid directly by your employer do not qualify for the tax offset.

You can claim a tax offset of 20% - 20 cents in the dollar - of your net medical expenses over $1,500. There is no upper limit on the amount you can claim.

Please note that from 1 July 2010 the threshold has increased to $2,000.

Medical expenses, which are eligible for the offset, are:

Payment to a doctor, nurse or chemist, or a public or private hospital in respect of an illness or

An operation

Payment to dentists for dental services or treatment or the supply, alteration or repair of artificial teeth

Payments to dental mechanics for the supply, alteration or repair of artificial teeth

Therapeutic treatment at the direction of a doctor

The purchase of artificial limbs, eye, or hearing aid

Medical/surgical appliances prescribed by a doctor

The testing of eyes, prescription of glasses by a qualified person, or cost of glasses

Expenses for an attendant to look after a blind person or person permanently confined to a bed or

An invalid chair and

Payments for an appropriately trained guide dog for a blind person.

Expenses, which can not be claimed, are:

Cosmetic operations for which a Medicare benefit is not payable, and

Dental services and treatment which is solely cosmetic.

The medical expenses must be for:

You

Your spouse - married or de facto - regardless of their income

Your children who were aged under 21 years, including adopted and stepchildren, regardless of their income

A student aged under 25 years whom you maintained and whose separate net income was less than $1,786

An invalid relative, parent or spouse's parent, but only if you can claim a dependant tax offset.

There is no requirement that the expenses be paid in Australia or that they be paid to a resident of Australia. This means that where medical expenses are paid during a trip abroad, the expenses may qualify for the tax offset.

However, a taxpayer cannot claim that he or she has paid medical expenses where all that they can show is that they paid weekly maintenance to the former spouse who may have used the money to pay for medical expenses for the children.