Medical expenses tax relief

[Dagny Juel]

I was hoping that someone could please advise me whether it is ok to include costs for therapy sessions as part of my medical expenses tax relief. I can see on Revenue's website that I can claim for treatment from psychologist or psychotherapist if "the psychologist or psychotherapist is a practitioner". The person who I'm attending is described on the receipts as a 'counsellor' but they are a member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. My understanding of what is on Revenue's website is that I should be ok to claim but obviously I don't want to fall foul of the rules. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Paul O Mahoney]

I was hoping that someone could please advise me whether it is ok to include costs for therapy sessions as part of my medical expenses tax relief. I can see on Revenue's website that I can claim for treatment from psychologist or psychotherapist if "the psychologist or psychotherapist is a practitioner". The person who I'm attending is described on the receipts as a 'counsellor' but they are a member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. My understanding of what is on Revenue's website is that I should be ok to claim but obviously I don't want to fall foul of the rules. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I think they are allowed, Revenue can be very narrow in their guidance.
I'd claim them, if they dispute it, send in the receipts, if they dispute it again ask them why your counsellor is qualified.

 

[odyssey06]

Post Brexit, UK professional qualifications are no longer (automatically) recognised by EU member states reciprocally.
You might be ok for 2020 but unless the above changes not for 2021.

 

[Saavy99]

Does that include medicine/nursing qualifications

 

[odyssey06]

Does that include medicine/nursing qualifications

There's a process they need to go through - the recognition no longer appears to be automatic:

Authorities responsible for professional qualifications in the UK and EU member states will be able to submit joint recommendations to the UK-EU Partnership Council for profession-specific arrangements...
You don’t have to do anything if your qualification has already been officially recognised by the relevant regulator in an EEA country or Switzerland. The regulator’s decision to recognise your qualification will remain valid after the transition period.

Selling services to the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein

Guidance for UK businesses on rules for selling services.

www.gov.uk

 

[Dagny Juel]

Thanks for your advice, much appreciated. I never thought of the Brexit impact, so will look into this. Thanks again.

 

[Familyman77]

Dagny, I claimed OT and speech therapies for my son. Revenue checked the file on one occasion and deemed them ok for claims. Just a side note, if you do a lot of these therapies in a year it could be worth looking at private health insurance as the right plan could prove very cost effective. It certainly did in our case

 

[Paul M.]

There is guidance by Revenue in their tax and duty manual "Health Expenses – Qualifying Expenses Part 15-01-12", you want Section 2.3.

TLDR:- The definition of practitioner is limited to those who registered under either section 43 of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 or section 23 of the Dentists Act 1985.

You can check the register of medical practitioners on the Medical Council website.

 

[Mocame]

I asked Revenue if I could claim OT for my son. I was told no.

 

[RedOnion]

There is guidance by Revenue in their tax and duty manual "Health Expenses – Qualifying Expenses Part 15-01-12", you want Section 2.3.

TLDR:- The definition of practitioner is limited to those who registered under either section 43 of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 or section 23 of the Dentists Act 1985.

You can check the register of medical practitioners on the Medical Council website.

Hi Paul,

Your "TLDR" is not the complete picture, and might be misleading to others who 'didn't read'.

Some health treatments do not have to be carried out by a 'practitioner'. For example, speech and language therapy. There are specific meaning of speech and language therapist, outside the definition of practitioner.

Other treatments are allowable, if they have been prescribed by a practitioner. It's all covered in the manual you mention.

I can see on Revenue's website that I can claim for treatment from psychologist or psychotherapist if "the psychologist or psychotherapist is a practitioner".

You can also make the claim if you have been referred by a 'practitioner'. For example, if your GP referred you.

 

[Paul M.]

Your "TLDR" is not the complete picture, and might be misleading to others who 'didn't read'.

Apologies for any confusion then! My intention was only to give a TLDR of the definition of practitioner that Revenue use in order to answer the question in the original post in the thread. As you correctly point out, there are a number of alternative criteria under which an expense may qualify.

 

[Dagny Juel]

There is guidance by Revenue in their tax and duty manual "Health Expenses – Qualifying Expenses Part 15-01-12", you want Section 2.3.

TLDR:- The definition of practitioner is limited to those who registered under either section 43 of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 or section 23 of the Dentists Act 1985.

You can check the register of medical practitioners on the Medical Council website.

Thanks for this but this is very confusing. It appears that practitioners are limited to medical professionals. Given that doctors normally do not provide counselling or therapy, I'm not sure who this section of Revenue rules are meant to cover.

 

[Paul M.]

Thanks for this but this is very confusing. It appears that practitioners are limited to medical professionals. Given that doctors normally do not provide counselling or therapy, I'm not sure who this section of Revenue rules are meant to cover.

My guess would be that it’s meant to cover psychiatrists mainly. They’d be the only medical practitioners I can think of who also do counselling and psychotherapy on occasion.

 

[Early Riser]

Were you referred to this counsellor by a "practitioner", eg, GP ? If so, and you have a note to verify this and the person is a member of a reputable professional association, you should be fine.