Cosmetic Ear Surgery? Tax relief??

LegacyUser

hey folks , im thinking about getting the ol' ears pinned back and the price comes in at about 4000euro, soft money for a couple hours work.
Id be interested to know if there is any tax relief available for this, considering its not really necessary in a way.

Anyone who has had this done id be grateful if you could share your experience regarding healing times, peoples reactions, pain etc.
thanks.

26yr old male

Nmeol

I'm sure elective surgery is tax eligible for tax relief. i had laser eye surgery and put in for tax back and got it.

the form you need is called a Form Med 1. It's available from www.revenue.ie or from your local tax office. There used to be a 125.00 excess on it ie: the first 125.00 euro you spend on medical fees in a year you can't claim for, but that's gone now you can claim for all your medical expenses.

if you are getting it done this year ie before 31.12.08 you can apply for the tax back in jan. If you're not getting it done till 2009 you will have to wait to apply in jan 2010.

hope this helps somewhat.

Oh an i'm not sure exactly how much you get back but my understanding of it is that you get back the percentage of the tax you pay. ie if you're in 22% bracket you get 22% of the cost of the surgery back - which is nothing to be sniffed at.

best of luck with it. hope it all works out for you

bnagrrl

Tax relief is not allowed on cosmetic surgery so unless you can submit a doctor's letter saying you need the surgery for whatever reason it is unlikely you will get relief on it.

Mr. Incognito

Tax relief is not allowed on cosmetic surgery so unless you can submit a doctor's letter saying you need the surgery for whatever reason it is unlikely you will get relief on it.

This is incorrect. Really, where do people get these ideas from.

Best place would be to pop this over in accountancy. I've tried on numerous occasions to get a tax forum set up but, well I'm shouting down a well it seems.

ALL unreimburced medical expenditure is liable to have tax relief granted at your marginal rate. Fill out a Med 1 and fire it into Revenue. By unreimburced this means that VHI etc are not covering the cost. Seeing as this is elective I would doubt that they are but I think VIVAS used to cover some elective treatments. There is a reqirement that it has to be carried out by a registered practicioner i.e a doctor.

It's a credit against PAYE paid so if you do not pay tax you will not get the relief.

If you're really curious tax briefings 33 and 55 on the Revenue website give details.

bnagrrl

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

This is incorrect. Really, where do people get these ideas from.

Best place would be to pop this over in accountancy. I've tried on numerous occasions to get a tax forum set up but, well I'm shouting down a well it seems.

ALL unreimburced medical expenditure is liable to have tax relief granted at your marginal rate. Fill out a Med 1 and fire it into Revenue. By unreimburced this means that VHI etc are not covering the cost. Seeing as this is elective I would doubt that they are but I think VIVAS used to cover some elective treatments. There is a reqirement that it has to be carried out by a registered practicioner i.e a doctor.

It's a credit against PAYE paid so if you do not pay tax you will not get the relief.

If you're really curious tax briefings 33 and 55 on the Revenue website give details.

I happen to work in the tax office. I know for a fact that cosmetic surgery does not qualify for said reliefs unless you can get a doctor's note saying it is necessary for a certain reason.

Mr. Incognito

Good for you. Nice to see the Revenue haven't dented your sense of helping people and public service.

The legislation is S 469 of the TCA. It states diagnostic procedures carried out on the advice of a practitioner. Revenue have interpreted this in their tax briefings as on a doctors prescription however the only procedures specifically denied by legislation as "health care" are routine ophthalmic treatment and routine dental treatment.

However, as this sort of cosmetic procedure is times carried out by a registered doctor Revenue will have a tough time denying the relief though bless them, they'll try. Anytime Revenue have been brought to court on the definition of health relief they have lost all attempts to narrow the definition. For instance the costs of travel to and from hospitals for kidney dialysis were held to be health expenses.

In any case it's not going to be hard to get a letter from a doctor mate to cover yourself if the Revenue come knocking.

As our esteemed public servant above will tell you Med 1's run through the Revenue like water. 4,000 us a bit high and will probably get a desk audit from a delightfull clerical officer like our friend above.

Get the letter and cover yourself. I would argue that it's not even needed and the practices of certain districts is incorrect, and believe me this is not a universal Revenue approach. I've run elective procedures through districts before but hey, look, why bother arguing. Get a "sick note" for 50 bucks and save yourself 800. No brainer.

EDIT

I'm sure elective surgery is tax eligible for tax relief. i had laser eye surgery and put in for tax back and got it.

Just saw this. Will confirm what I've said above, arguably this could even fall under the definition of ophthalmic treatment which is specifically excluded and yet the relief was given. You should be fine, unless you get our friend above's district

Hooked

Ch-ears for that Mr Incognito (see what I did there). I had this performed last year and have only just realised that such a form/tax relief exists... Having "never" been sick, hospitalised and in general great health (touch wood), I never had to claim any medical expenses back before,

I'm off over to revenue.ie for my Med 1 to claim my share of 3,500 euro. I had originally replied to another query on this procedure last week and just dismissed the idea of an entitlement to tax back...

You learn something new every day, eh?

To the OP - drop me a Pm and I'll fill ya in on all the gorey details regarding the surgery.

CHEERS again Mr. Incognito.

Kaldorn

yeah i was called all this and more more years and I had it done when i was 17,My Parents paid for it thank god! it was the best thing i ever did..boosted my confidance no end..the pain only lasts for a week or two and then the bandage comes off..best idea is to get it done in winter cause you can cover the bandage with a big wooly hat and not look like a freak walking around otherwise you'll be stuck indoors,i would highly recomend it,the pain is minimal and the rewards are great

Sleepy

And we wonder why the public finances are in the doldrums whilst giving tax relief for cosmetic surgery?

OP - you may or may not be able to get this through your tax office but tbh, I hope you've enough morality not to do so.

doctor_gonzo

I don't believe the OP's morals are really in question here, he was asking a valid question and as a citizen and a taxpayer whether he is entitled to claim on this.
OP I'm sure your doc might have an idea about this, or at least could provide you with a letter. My doctor is a fountain of knowledge on these things so they might be able to shed some light on it!

Mr. Incognito

Sleepy,

Wake up.

You can claim tax relief on a whole range of things, medical expenditure, service charges to local authorities, fees for education, dental expenses, rent relief, rent a room etc.

Most people are ENTITLED to these reliefts. If you are too lazy to go educate yourself on information that is readily available with one click on the revenue website then you get exactly what you deserve, nothing. I'd rather have tax relief available to those that work and have their PAYE refunded back to them than subsidise those that do not work at all because they couldn't be arsed.

This is not a moral issue. You are not STEALING from the Revenue, you are CLAIMING legitimate reliefs. Anyone on socail welfare is also claiming legitimate relief. It is only a moral issue when you are claiming relief you are not entitled to.

bnagrrl

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Good for you. Nice to see the Revenue haven't dented your sense of helping people and public service.

The legislation is S 469 of the TCA. It states diagnostic procedures carried out on the advice of a practitioner. Revenue have interpreted this in their tax briefings as on a doctors prescription however the only procedures specifically denied by legislation as "health care" are routine ophthalmic treatment and routine dental treatment.

However, as this sort of cosmetic procedure is times carried out by a registered doctor Revenue will have a tough time denying the relief though bless them, they'll try. Anytime Revenue have been brought to court on the definition of health relief they have lost all attempts to narrow the definition. For instance the costs of travel to and from hospitals for kidney dialysis were held to be health expenses.

In any case it's not going to be hard to get a letter from a doctor mate to cover yourself if the Revenue come knocking.

As our esteemed public servant above will tell you Med 1's run through the Revenue like water. 4,000 us a bit high and will probably get a desk audit from a delightfull clerical officer like our friend above.

Get the letter and cover yourself. I would argue that it's not even needed and the practices of certain districts is incorrect, and believe me this is not a universal Revenue approach. I've run elective procedures through districts before but hey, look, why bother arguing. Get a "sick note" for 50 bucks and save yourself 800. No brainer.

EDIT

Just saw this. Will confirm what I've said above, arguably this could even fall under the definition of ophthalmic treatment which is specifically excluded and yet the relief was given. You should be fine, unless you get our friend above's district

I don't know why you are taking such pleasure in making a personal attack on me or the job I happen to hold. I never said the OP cannot claim the relief, I simply stated that unless he has a doctor's note to cover himself he may not get the relief.
Everyday I see claims for boob jobs, tummy tucks, hair replacement surgery etc rejected on the grounds that they are not backed up by a GP note.
A doctor would probably even give you the note for free. It's not that big a deal, Mr Incognito.
Maybe you can get Health Expenses relief for that big chip on your shoulder you seem to have against me.