Healthcare expenses can have a toll on us. Although healthcare in Australia is subsidized, and you can get treatment for cheap, certain costs aren’t subsidized or supported by insurance claims. In order to make life easier for you, you can claim these medical expenses as tax deductions. 

However, tax deductions in Australia are relatively technical. There is a lot of paperwork involved. Even the slightest mistake can lead to our deductions being rejected and a lot of legal trouble. To make matters easier for you, we’re going to discuss when can you claim medical expenses on your tax return and how to claim them. Let’s begin!

Tax Return on Medical Expenses:

A tax return must be submitted for certain Australians and Australian residents if they’re eligible for any deductions or surplus. You need to submit adequate documents along with your tax return to receive these deductions in time.

In the case of medical expenses, tax deductions are available in three categories. These include disability aids, aged care, and attendant care. 

Types of Tax Deductions on Medical Expenses:

Disabled Care:

For disabled people, tax deductions are available on any product that’s catered for your disability. These include things such as a walking stick, aid dogs, hearing aids, and other similar equipment and tools. 

TheIn order to lodge a tax return on your health-related deductions, you have to be suffering from your condition for a minimum of six months or more. Furthermore, you have to fulfil specific criteria to be eligible for these refunds. For example, if your situation prevents you from working in certain fields, or if the problem is persistent in every condition. 

For example, suppose you have a vision impairment that can’t be corrected by glasses. In that case, you’re eligible for tax deductions on any equipment you buy for your aid. These include medication, glasses, guide animals, etc. 

However, you’ll only receive deductions on equipment based that help your disability. Regular household appliances and equipment won’t be taken into consideration for tax deductions.

Attendant Care:

If you have an attendant to help you with your day-to-day life due to your disabilities, you can get a deduction based on your attendant’s costs. Attendant cares refer to home nursing and maintenance, regular medication, and domestic services that you can’t perform due to your disabilities.

However, these services are only available for blind or bedridden people due to any disease or disability and don’t have anyone to help with routine household tasks.

Aged and Elderly Care:

For elderlies who require medical attention, they can get a registered aged care provider. The cost of the care provider and other costs can be eligible for a tax deduction as well. You can apply for deductions for costs such as care providers fees, additional service and accommodation costs, additional service charges, etc.

However, suppose you have a personal care subsidy or receive services under a grant or bond. In that case, you won’t be eligible for any tax deductions on your fees.

In order to be eligible for tax deductions, your aged care provider has to be registered and approved by relevant authorities. Furthermore, you have to be eligible for aged care under the Aged Care Act of 1997.

How Much of Your Medical Expenses can You Claim as Tax Deductions?

Although you can claim deductions for a specific part of your income, you might not be eligible for the entirety of your medical costs. Certain factors such as your family income, your investments and savings, superannuation, etc. are taken into consideration before you’re eligible for tax returns. 

You’d generally receive a higher if your adjusted taxable income (ATI) is less than 90,000 per year. In case of expenses higher than 90,000, check the tables for details:

For Whom Can You Apply for Deductions?

While you can apply for tax deductions for your own medical expenses in your tax return, there are certain situations when you can also ask for tax deductions for certain people in case you’re paying for their treatments. The list of people you can apply for deductions for are:

• Yourself
• Your spouse (married or separated)
• All of your children and/or stepchildren under the age of 21
• Any children under the age of 21 that’s under your custody whose ATI is less than 1,786AUD
• The student under the age of 25 who’s under your custody and has an ATI of less than 1,786 AUD
• Any care receiver under your supervision under the T6 listing in your tax record.

When can you claim medical expenses on your tax return?

Now, let’s answer the all-important question, when can you claim medical expenses on your tax return? Generally, you can claim medical expenses once the tax period is over. Once the fiscal year ends in Australia, you can apply for a tax return. 

When you’re applying for a tax return, you can simply add your medical expenses along with it. However, you have to be eligible according to the rules and regulations of the current taxation laws.

Conclusion:

Since tax returns are already complicated, and medical expenses are a recent addition to it, it’s understandable that you might find it challenging to pay tax returns for medical expenses. In order to make you understand the technicalities of taxes and help you understand when can you claim medical expenses on your tax return in eastern suburbs, we’ve discussed everything you need to know. We hope you find this helpful!