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Do You know that you can claim medical expenses from your tax , as long as the total out of pocket expenses is more than $1500 in a financial year?

You can claim a tax offset of 20% of your net medical expenses over $1,500, and You can only claim medical expenses for those of your dependants who were Australian residents for tax purposes. For your information, Net medical expenses are the medical expenses you have paid less any refunds you got, or could get, from Medicare or a private health insurer.

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
• any other child aged under 21 years – not a student – whom you maintained and whose separate net income (SNI) was less than $1,786 for the first child and less than $1,410 for the second child and any subsequent children.
• a student aged under 25 years whom you maintained and whose SNI was less than $1,786
• a child housekeeper, but only if you can claim a tax offset for them.
• an invalid relative, parent or spouse’s parent, but only if you can claim a dependant tax offset.

Medical expenses which qualify for the tax offset also include payments:

• to opticians or optometrists, including for the cost of prescription spectacles or contact lenses
• to dentists, orthodontists or registered dental mechanics
• 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 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 medical aids prescribed by a doctor
• for treatment under an in-vitro fertilisation program.

Medical Expenses which do not qualify for the tax offset include payments made for:

• cosmetic operations for which a Medicare benefit is not payable
• dental services or treatment 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.

What you need to Claim Tax on medical Expenses?

• Details of the medical expenses you can claim
• Details of refunds you received, or are entitled to receive, from Medicare or a private health insurer.

To help you work out what you can claim for medical expenses you paid in 2008–09, you can ask for an itemised statement from:

• Medicare
• your private health insurer
• chemists where you had prescriptions filled.

Please confirm with your accountant before you lodge  your tax return to make sure above information about tax on medical expenses  is still accurate by the time you lodge your tax return.