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In previous years, you were able to claim out of pocket expenses for certain medical expenses in your tax return. As of 1 July 2019, the ATO has stated that medical fees are no longer claimable as a tax deduction. However, you may still be able to claim expenses for previous tax years between 2015-2016 and 2018-2019.
If you do have some medical expenses from a previous eligible year that you would like to claim for income years from 2015-2016 to 2018-2019, you can claim a percentage of the following:
You are allowed to claim the total eligible net expenses, minus any refunds that you might receive from your private health insurer or the NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme).
Unfortunately, if your medical expenses are not related to aged care, disability care or attendant care expenses, they can not be included as part of your tax deductions.
From the 2019-2020 tax year, the medical expense tax offset has been phased out, which means that out of pocket expenditures are no longer eligible to be claimed. Only previous expenses that fall in the eligible periods are able to be claimed.
The percentage that you can claim back will depend on how much you earn, how much your out-of-pocket costs were and whether or not you have a spouse. To see how much might be claimable, you can take a look at the ATO’s
medical expenses tax offset calculator. Alternatively, if you want help with figuring out how much you might be eligible for, you can always utilise the skills of a licensed accountant who will be able to give you a definitive figure.
You can either claim online when you’re submitting your previous years’ tax refunds and include the information as part of your deductions, or you can get your accountant to help you with claiming the expenses.
The world of tax returns and how best to claim expenses can be confusing at the best of times. If you want to be sure that your tax returns are being completed properly and your previous medical expenses have been claimed correctly, you should always utilise the services of a professional tax accountant.
Get in touch with us today and we can help you complete your tax return in a swift and professional manner.
Do you still have questions about claiming medical expenses? Feel free to give us a call on 1300 454 174 and we can answer any queries you might have.
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