ATO & Medical expenses refund
Just got a pretty damn high quote from my dentist. My private health cover won’t cover it. I can upgrade my policy but then have a 12 mth waiting period to get back about 13%..
Then I remembered about the ATO medical expenses refund. Looking up their website I found the following – I’ve highlighted in red the parts I thought were relevant and of interest.
After speaking to the ATO & Medicare, my conclusion is that no one in Australia is eligble to claim anything – does anyone have any experience / suggestions on this type of thing ?
Surely it can’t be that hard ? This is what I got from the ATO website, looked simple to me:
Did you have net medical expenses over $1,500 in 2009–10? Medical expenses do not include contributions to a private health insurer, travel or accommodation expenses associated with medical treatment, or inoculations for overseas travel.
Yes Read below.You need to know
Net medical expenses are the medical expenses you have paid less any refunds of these expenses which you or any other person has received, or are entitled to receive, from Medicare or a private health insurer.
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.
When calculating your medical expenses you can include only an amount paid for your dependants who were Australian residents for tax purposes (see Are you an Australian resident? in Completing Individual information on your tax return for an explanation of this).
The medical expenses must be for:
you your spouse, regardless of their income (see the definition of spouse in Special circumstances and glossary)
your children who were under 21 years old (including your adopted children, stepchildren, ex-nuptial children or children of your spouse) regardless of their income
any other child under 21 years old who was not a student, whom you maintained, and whose adjusted taxable income (ATI) for the period you maintained them was less than
the total of $282 + $28.92 for each week you maintained them for the first child under 21 years old, or
the total of $282 + $21.70 for each week you maintained them for any other child under 21 years old who is not a student.
(for the definition of ATI and how it is calculated, see Adjusted taxable income (ATI) for you and your dependants)
a student under 25 years old whom you maintained and whose ATI was less than the total of $282 + $28.92 for each week you maintained them
a child-housekeeper, but only if you can claim a tax offset for them at item T1 on your tax return, or
an invalid relative, parent or spouse’s parent, but only if you can claim a dependant tax offset at item T10.
You and your dependants must be Australian residents for tax purposes, but you can claim medical expenses paid while travelling overseas.
You can include medical expenses relating to an illness or operation paid to legally qualified doctors, nurses or chemists and public or private hospitals. However, expenses for some cosmetic operations are excluded.
To find out which operations, dental services and treatments are cosmetic and whether you can include your payments for them, visit our website www.ato.gov.au or phone the Individual Infoline on 13 28 61.Medical expenses include payments:
to dentists, orthodontists or registered dental mechanics to opticians or optometrists, including for the cost of prescription spectacles or contact lenses
to a carer who looks after a person who is blind or permanently confined to a bed or wheelchair
for therapeutic treatment under the direction of a doctor
for medical aids prescribed by a doctor
for artificial limbs or eyes and hearing aids
for maintaining a properly trained dog for guiding or assisting people with a disability (but not for social therapy)
for laser eye surgery, and
for treatment under an in-vitro fertilisation program.
Expenses which do not qualify as medical expenses include payments made for:
cosmetic operations for which a Medicare benefit is not payable
dental services or treatments that are solely cosmetic therapeutic treatment where the patient is not formally referred by a doctor – a mere suggestion or recommendation by a doctor to the patient is not enough for the treatment to qualify; the patient must be referred to a particular person for specific treatment
chemist-type items, such as tablets for pain relief, purchased in retail outlets or health food stores
inoculations for overseas travel
non-prescribed vitamins or health foods
travel or accommodation expenses associated with medical treatment
contributions to a private health insurer
purchases from a chemist that are not related to an illness or operation
life insurance medical examinations
ambulance charges and subscriptions, and
funeral expenses.
Speaking to the ATO, they the person jumped dirclty on "csometic" and having to "prove" it wan't and having to check with medicare, if they do not refund anything, it's not an eligible deduction ...
Just got a pretty damn high quote from my dentist. My private health cover won’t cover it. I can upgrade my policy but then have a 12 mth waiting period to get back about 13%..
Then I remembered about the ATO medical expenses refund. Looking up their website I found the following – I’ve highlighted in red the parts I thought were relevant and of interest.
After speaking to the ATO & Medicare, my conclusion is that no one in Australia is eligble to claim anything – does anyone have any experience / suggestions on this type of thing ?
Surely it can’t be that hard ? This is what I got from the ATO website, looked simple to me:
Did you have net medical expenses over $1,500 in 2009–10? Medical expenses do not include contributions to a private health insurer, travel or accommodation expenses associated with medical treatment, or inoculations for overseas travel.
Yes Read below.You need to know
Net medical expenses are the medical expenses you have paid less any refunds of these expenses which you or any other person has received, or are entitled to receive, from Medicare or a private health insurer.
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.
When calculating your medical expenses you can include only an amount paid for your dependants who were Australian residents for tax purposes (see Are you an Australian resident? in Completing Individual information on your tax return for an explanation of this).
The medical expenses must be for:
you your spouse, regardless of their income (see the definition of spouse in Special circumstances and glossary)
your children who were under 21 years old (including your adopted children, stepchildren, ex-nuptial children or children of your spouse) regardless of their income
any other child under 21 years old who was not a student, whom you maintained, and whose adjusted taxable income (ATI) for the period you maintained them was less than
the total of $282 + $28.92 for each week you maintained them for the first child under 21 years old, or
the total of $282 + $21.70 for each week you maintained them for any other child under 21 years old who is not a student.
(for the definition of ATI and how it is calculated, see Adjusted taxable income (ATI) for you and your dependants)
a student under 25 years old whom you maintained and whose ATI was less than the total of $282 + $28.92 for each week you maintained them
a child-housekeeper, but only if you can claim a tax offset for them at item T1 on your tax return, or
an invalid relative, parent or spouse’s parent, but only if you can claim a dependant tax offset at item T10.
You and your dependants must be Australian residents for tax purposes, but you can claim medical expenses paid while travelling overseas.
You can include medical expenses relating to an illness or operation paid to legally qualified doctors, nurses or chemists and public or private hospitals. However, expenses for some cosmetic operations are excluded.
To find out which operations, dental services and treatments are cosmetic and whether you can include your payments for them, visit our website www.ato.gov.au or phone the Individual Infoline on 13 28 61.Medical expenses include payments:
to dentists, orthodontists or registered dental mechanics to opticians or optometrists, including for the cost of prescription spectacles or contact lenses
to a carer who looks after a person who is blind or permanently confined to a bed or wheelchair
for therapeutic treatment under the direction of a doctor
for medical aids prescribed by a doctor
for artificial limbs or eyes and hearing aids
for maintaining a properly trained dog for guiding or assisting people with a disability (but not for social therapy)
for laser eye surgery, and
for treatment under an in-vitro fertilisation program.
Expenses which do not qualify as medical expenses include payments made for:
cosmetic operations for which a Medicare benefit is not payable
dental services or treatments that are solely cosmetic therapeutic treatment where the patient is not formally referred by a doctor – a mere suggestion or recommendation by a doctor to the patient is not enough for the treatment to qualify; the patient must be referred to a particular person for specific treatment
chemist-type items, such as tablets for pain relief, purchased in retail outlets or health food stores
inoculations for overseas travel
non-prescribed vitamins or health foods
travel or accommodation expenses associated with medical treatment
contributions to a private health insurer
purchases from a chemist that are not related to an illness or operation
life insurance medical examinations
ambulance charges and subscriptions, and
funeral expenses.
Speaking to the ATO, they the person jumped dirclty on "csometic" and having to "prove" it wan't and having to check with medicare, if they do not refund anything, it's not an eligible deduction ...
