Parents - Difficult Financial Situation - Advice on Medical Bills

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Dunnepaj

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My parents receive the non-contributory pension weekly which I believe is circa €400. They have a small private pension on top of that but it's less than €150 per month.

They've had a number of medical issues (in their late 70's) in the last 2 years and in some instances they have chosen to go private given the delays with the HSE.

Is there any way at all they can claim tax relief on these bills? Clearly they are not working but is there anything they can do to reclaim some of this cost?

They are struggling financially and I'm just trying to see if there is anything we can do to help them.

Many thanks
 
If they don't pay income tax then they can't reclaim it.

Do any of their children pay any of the bills?
 
Dunnepaj,
Sorry to hear your parents are under pressure. If you or another family member were to pay any medical expenses for them you can claim back tax relief as far as I know.
 
Not presently but I was thinking about that. Maybe we should start doing that and then claiming permitted allowances?
Any issues doing that?
 
Have you considered taking out a tax covenant for your parents. I did this some years back for my Mum. You agree to pay, e.g. €4000 annually & they receive the the tax you would have paid on that amount. I may be explaining this badly, but I'm sure someone more conversant with tax issues can advise.
 
If anyone pays the medical bills on their behalf that person can claim the tax relief.

Re the covenant you need to be careful if they are on a non contributory pension that you don't affect the amount they are getting as the non contributory is means tested. The benefit of a covenant is that as above poster says they can claim back the tax you paid on it, so if you covenant 2k to them each year, then you actually give them €1,600 and they claim back the €400 standard rate tax paid. If you are a higher rate taxpayer you can get some extra relief too.

Biggest problem there though is if the pension is affected by the amount of extra income.
 
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