Health Expenses

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You can claim relief on the cost of many health expenses for yourself or for someone else, as long as you paid for them and weren't reimbursed.

You receive tax relief for health expenses at your standard rate of tax, 20%. However, nursing home expenses are given at your highest rate of tax, up to 40%.

You can’t claim relief for:

Expenses repaid by insurance companies, the Health Service Executive (HSE) or any other body
Expenses you receive compensation for
Routine dental or ophthalmic (eye) care

**Table: You can claim relief on medical expenses like**
Doctors' bills
Consultants’ fees
Maintenance or treatment in the hospital
Prescribed drugs and medicines
Non-routine dental expenses
Treatment in a hospital or a nursing home
Speech and language therapy
Ambulance
Educational psychological assessments
Certain items for a child suffering from life-threatening illness
Kidney patient expenses (up to a max amount)
Specialised dental treatment
Routine maternity care
In-vitro fertilisation

**Table: The following, where prescribed by a doctor, qualify for medical expenses relief**
Drugs and medicines
Diagnostic procedures
Orthoptic or similar treatment
Hearing aids
Orthopaedic bed or chair
Wheelchair or wheelchair lift
Glucometer machine for a diabetic
Engaging a qualified nurse in the case of a serious illness
Physiotherapy, chiropody/podiatry services or similar treatment
Cost of a computer where there is medical evidence that it's necessary to help a person with a severe disability to communicate
Cost of gluten-free food for coeliacs
If your dependent lives in a nursing home and you contribute to the fees, you may be entitled to claim some of the expenses. The only requirement is that the hospital, nursing home or similar institution must provide 24-hour nursing care onsite. There is no relief available for routine dental and routine ophthalmic care expenses.

How to claim:

You should claim for any relief after the year has ended. If more than one person paid for health expenses, each person can individually claim their portion of relief.

Remember you can claim for expenses from 4 years back, so if you have expenses for previous years, you can claim them now!

If you’re married/in a civil partnership and jointly assessed, then you’ll share the relief if you’ve both paid tax.

It’s really important that you keep your receipts (for at least 6 years) if you’re claiming health expenses. While they’re not required when claiming, they may be at a later date if your claim is checked by Revenue.

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