Who can claim tax refunds on Health Expenses?
Tax refunds on Health Expenses can be claimed by those who are employed or self-employed.
Firstly, you’ll have to have paid Tax/USC for the year to be able to claim a tax refund on Health Expenses. If you’ve not paid any Tax/USC in the year in question you won’t get a refund.
Secondly, if you’ve worked and lived in Ireland anytime over the last four years (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) and paid Tax/USC, you may be due a tax refund on health expenses for the last four years.
How much tax refund will I receive?
You can claim Health Expenses for all of the following people if YOU pay the expenses.
- you
- a family member
- any other person
Health Expenses tax relief is 20%
Nursing Home Expenses tax relief is 20% or 40% (40% if you are a high tax payer)
If you spend €1,000 on health expenses in 2019, you can apply for a tax refund in 2020. You will receive a tax refund of €200 – provided you have paid at least €200 Tax/USC in 2019.
What health expenses can I claim?
I’ve summarised a table of health expenses below. If you need further guidance please visit Revenue Health Expenses guide.
Health expenses you can claim tax back on
| Qualifying Health Expenses | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Doctor visit fees, consultant fees | ||
| Drugs, medicines and items | prescribed by a doctor or consultant | |
| Care and treatment in a hospital or clinic or a nursing home | ||
| Home nursing provided by qualified nurses | prescribed by practitioner | |
| Special diet expenses for coeliacs and diabetics | ||
| Specialised dental work | veneers, crowns, bridge work, root canal, surgical extraction, orthodontist work etc | |
| Physiotherapist, Chiropractor | prescribed by a practitioner | |
| Acupuncture | carried out by qualified practitioner | |
| Chiropodist, Podiatry | prescribed by a practitioner | |
| Laser eye surgery and orthoptic treatment | prescribed by a practitioner | |
| Routine maternity care, IVF treatment | ||
| Speech and language therapy for a qualifying child | ||
| Educational psychological assessments for a qualifying child | ||
| Psychologist or Psychotherapist | by a qualified practitioner or referred by a practitioner | |
| Certain expenses for a child suffering from a serious life-threatening illness | ||
| Cost of any medical appliance used on the advice of a practitioner | Hearing aid, Wheelchair, Wheelchair lift, Orthopaedic bed/chair, Exercise bicycle etc | |
| Cost of employing a qualified nurse at home | ||
| Transport by ambulance | ||
| Treatment received outside Ireland | reasonable accommodation and travel | |
| Kidney patients' expenses | ||
Can I claim for private Medical Insurance premiums which I paid directly to my insurer?
No, if you’ve paid Medical Insurance directly to your insurer, you cannot include it in your Health Expenses claim.
Your Tax Relief was given to you at Source (TRS) which means your policy premium was discounted by the lesser of
- 20% of the cost of the policy
or
- 20% of €1,000 adult (20% of €500 child)
Can I claim for private Medical Insurance premiums paid by my employer?
Yes, you can claim you/your family Medical Insurance premiums paid by your employer.
Tax Relief will not have been given to you at source, instead you will be taxed on the Gross amount of your medical insurance policy through your wages.
Should your employer only pay a portion of your Medical Insurance, you can only claim the portion your employer pays, as anything you pay directly will already have been discounted.
Don’t add your Medical Insurance amount to your Health Expenses amount because there’s a separate category within Tax Credits for Medical Insurance premiums.
You can claim this relief during the year or after the year has ended.
- Add Tax Credits >
- Health Expenses >
- Medical Insurance Relief >
- Gross amount paid by employer >
- Number of adults covered by policy? > Amount paid for adult
- Number of children covered by policy? > Amount paid for child > DOB > Add
What health expenses can’t I claim?
Routine dental care; check-ups & scaling, extractions, filings, dentures etc
Routine eye care; eye tests, lenses and glasses
Cosmetic surgery (unless it corrects a health issue)
What if I received a refund from my Insurer or Health Board?
Refunds recovered from your Health Insurer or Health Board must be deducted from your overall health expense claim.
Check for any refunds you received during the year, you will have to enter this amount in your claim.
Do I need to keep receipts?
Yes, keep your receipts as Revenue have the power to ask you for them at any time. If you are claiming dental expenses, you should ask your dentist for the Med 2 from, keep this also.
How do I claim my medical expenses myself?
Step 1 Add up your
- Medical Expenses – include expenses you previously claimed from your Medical Insurer or Health Board
- Dental expenses
- Refunds received from your Medical Insurer or health board
Step 2
- sign in to myAccount, if you don’t have a ‘myAccount’ you can follow Step 1 in our blog ‘How to Claim Tax Back in Ireland‘.
- ‘Review your tax’ >
- ‘PAYE Services’ >
- request Statement of Liability >
- ‘Complete Income Tax Return’ >
- Next on Personal details page (if details are correct)
- Next on PAYE income page (if details are correct)
- Next on Non-PAYE income page (if details are correct)
- ‘Health’ on the ‘Tax credits & Reliefs’ page
- Health Expenses
- Non routine dental expenses = enter your dental expenses (see 2)
- Other medical expenses = enter all other medical expenses (see 1)
- Dental/medical expenses refunded = enter refunds received (see 3)
- Click Add
- Tick the box next to the tax credits you wish to claim
- Click next
- Submit the form
Visit Revenue’s website to read more about this Tax Credit
