You must have receipts for any of the expenses you wish to claim relief on, and can claim for the last four years. If you have private health insurance, you can claim tax relief on the portion that is not covered by your insurer, i.e. your “excess”.
If you are self-assessed, you submit your claim when completing you annual Income Tax return on Revenue Online Service through Form 11. If you are a PAYE employee, you can claim expenses relief through your “MyAccount” on ROS by clicking on ‘Review your tax’ and filling out the Health Expenses form in ‘Tax Credits and Relief’.
You don’t have to submit your receipts at the time of making a claim, but you must keep them for 6 years in case your claim is selected for checking by Revenue. There is, however, a way of storing your receipts online in ROS with the Receipts Tracker. That way you don’t have to worry about searching through papers if required.
Tax relief on the cost of health insurance is automatically applied and reduces your premium if you pay for health insurance directly. If your employer pays for your health insurance, it is deemed a benefit in kind and you can apply for tax relief of up to 20% directly to Revenue.
Tax relief on medical expenses is broad sweeping and covers a lot of ground, from doctor’s fees and prescriptions to hospital and clinical costs, nursing home or at-home nursing care, psychological care, acupuncture and some specialised dental care as well as maternity health care. It is worth doing your research and applying for every qualified expense you have paid out on.