Tax refund for eye lens surgery if not employed

S

stuffit_ire

Registered User
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I'm got typical middle aged eye issues.
I could have surgery to get new lenses implanted.
This would cost somewhere between 8K-10K

A tax refund is usually available for these procedures i.e. you claim back 20% in the following tax year.

However I'm not working, not claiming benefits. I'm on a sabbatical, living off my savings and might never work again.

How do I get the tax refund if I'm not actually paying income tax?

The clinic says get a relative or friend to pay and they can claim the refund. Is this allowed?

Thanks
 
stuffit_ire said:
So someone who is unemployed or not working is discriminated against.
Forced to pay more for medical treatment.
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No. They pay the same (or if unemployed their medical card may well cover it.)
You can only claim a tax refund if you have paid tax.
You may have the option of working this year, incurring a tax liability, and being refunded part of it on foot of the eye treatment cost.
 
Yes, technically they cost the same - at the point of sale.
But in total, no they do not. There is a huge price difference. Anyone not working is seriously disadvantaged.

And I doubt that medical card would pay for elective surgery. At best it would give you a cheap pair of eyeglasses for free.
 
I think you can only claim tax relief for medical treatment for yourself or a dependent. So I don’t see how a Friend relative could claim the relief even if they paid.
 
Annieindublin said:
I think you can only claim tax relief for medical treatment for yourself or a dependent. So I don’t see how a Friend relative could claim the relief even if they paid.
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That is incorrect. You can claim tax relief on medical expenses for anyone provided the person who paid for the expenses is claiming the tax relief. The requirement for the expenses to be for a relative etc was removed years ago
 
So...

I give my sister 10K
Sister pays for the procedure
Next year she claims a 2K tax refund
She then returns 2K to me

Does any of this count as a gift? Which would also have tax implications.
 
stuffit_ire said:
Yes, technically they cost the same - at the point of sale.
But in total, no they do not. There is a huge price difference. Anyone not working is seriously disadvantaged.

And I doubt that medical card would pay for elective surgery. At best it would give you a cheap pair of eyeglasses for free.
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You are not paying the tax so relief is not applicable. How is that disadvantage from someone paying thousands in taxes and getting a small percentage back in terms of relief.
 
stuffit_ire said:
So...

I give my sister 10K
Sister pays for the procedure
Next year she claims a 2K tax refund
She then returns 2K to me

Does any of this count as a gift? Which would also have tax implications.
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Your sister can gift you €3k per annum without any tax implications for either of you. Not sure whether Dept of Social Welfare will take it into consideration for your social welfare payments. Probably best that you would split the gift of €10K to your sister over 3 to 4 years so she avoids a tax obligation. Better still only gift her €8K of the €10K over 3 years and then she can apply for the €2k tax rebate without a further money exchange with you.
 
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bish123 said:
You are not paying the tax so relief is not applicable. How is that disadvantage from someone paying thousands in taxes and getting a small percentage back in terms of relief.
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I have paid tax for 30 years.

If I had surgery 2 years ago, I would have received a tax refund. However my eyes were fine then.
However because I want a medical procedure in a year that I'm not working I am penalised.

In both scenarios I've paid the same amount of Income Tax.


I now understand why people go abroad for medical treatment. If I do this, or don't have the procedure, the Irish economy is losing out on 10K that will never be spent here. With VAT, velocity of money etc. the government is worse off by discriminating against those outside the tax net.
 
stuffit_ire said:
I have paid tax for 30 years.

If I had surgery 2 years ago, I would have received a tax refund. However my eyes were fine then.
However because I want a medical procedure in a year that I'm not working I am penalised.

In both scenarios I've paid the same amount of Income Tax.


I now understand why people go abroad for medical treatment. If I do this, or don't have the procedure, the Irish economy is losing out on 10K that will never be spent here. With VAT, velocity of money etc. the government is worse off by discriminating against those outside the tax net.
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There is no point in arguing with contributors here just because you don't like receiving bad news. None of us set tax policy.
 
I understand why it is annoying but there isn’t really a solution. Like any tax relief it can only be granted to a tax payer. And you can’t get a discount at the private hospital based on your personal choice not to be working.
 
BTW there are other reliefs you can’t get when you aren’t a taxpayer…. Bike to work, relief for nursing home costs.. tuition fees.. flat rate expenses reliefs for tools bought for work, uniforms too I think.
 
@stuffit_ire is correct that the tax system is not a good way to subsidise things, it’s more transparent and fairer to do it directly via expenditure.

Politicians however love tax reliefs.
 
The O.P. states that if the surgery was had 2 yrs ago tax relief would have been claimable.

(S)he can still claim reliefs for allowable medical expenses for tax years 2020 to 2023, no?
 
stuffit_ire said:
I have paid tax for 30 years.

If I had surgery 2 years ago, I would have received a tax refund. However my eyes were fine then.
However because I want a medical procedure in a year that I'm not working I am penalised.

In both scenarios I've paid the same amount of Income Tax.


I now understand why people go abroad for medical treatment. If I do this, or don't have the procedure, the Irish economy is losing out on 10K that will never be spent here. With VAT, velocity of money etc. the government is worse off by discriminating against those outside the tax net.
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You are not being penalised. Your tax bill is zero so you cannot claim relief.

Are you expecting a zero tax payer to net out a €2,000 contribution from the State while not working and paying taxes?

How about this for a solution? Wait until you go back to work to get the surgery done and then claim the relief?
 
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