Eye laser tax relief

rj087

I'm thinking of getting eye laser and am curious about the 20% tax relief. I am a student working part time so the most tax I reckon I will pay this year will be about €200. Does this mean I am not eligible to claim the 20% of the surgery cost??

amtc

no, you get 20% of the cost of it - bears no relation to what you earn.

Mousewar

amtc wrote: »

no, you get 20% of the cost of it - bears no relation to what you earn.

It relates to how much tax you pay. As a part-time worker, paying that little tax, no the OP probably wouldn't be able to claim much back. However, as s/he is a student and depending on his/her age they could have a parent pay for it and have them claim the money back against their tax credits.
(I think)
You might get a better response in the taxes forum as that's really the issue here, not the surgery.

amtc

No it doesn't! IF you pay tax at all, you get 20% of it back. I queried this with my accountant.

phormium

Don't think that info is correct, you cannot claim back what you have not paid, it's not the same as TRS, if OP only pays small amount of tax in year then the credit will be applied against that but to get maximum benefit you would need to pay equal to or more than 20% of the procedure cost in tax.

Mousewar

amtc wrote: »

No it doesn't! IF you pay tax at all, you get 20% of it back. I queried this with my accountant.

It's tax relief on the taxes you paid. If you didn't pay enough tax to cover the 20% of the surgery, they're not just going to give you the whole amount anyway. It's a tax back scheme, not a free money from the government scheme. Given what the OP is paying in tax he'll either get nothing back or a few quid.

Charisteas

After a quick scan of the revenue website, I believe that you can claim back the full 20% regardless of if you work full-time, part-time, or unemployed.

The page doesn't mention anything about your work status affecting claiming tax on medical expenses. http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it6.html

And the MED1 form which you use to make your claim also doesn't specify whether the tax you pay through PAYE limits your claim - http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/forms/med1.pdf

Personally I would telephone the revenue and ask them. You will have to give your PPS number over the phone. You could also e-mail them but expect to wait 2 weeks for a reply.

I think it's fortunate that the revenue give back 20% tax on laser eye surgery considering that it's essentially a cosmetic surgery.

Mousewar

Seriously, it's tax-relief. If you don't pay it, you can't get relief on it.

Mousewar

Anyway, Charisteas, we're still waiting on that dairy...

dearg lady

it is of course capped at how much tax you've paid, as has been said, can't claim back what ya haven't paid!

Charisteas

Mousewar wrote: »

Anyway, Charisteas, we're still waiting on that dairy...

Ha, oh yeah I had forgotten about that diary. It's probably too late now because I have forgotten dates. The key points though were the fact that I have had zero side effects, not even dry eye which I was most worried about. I was told before the surgery that I had a very healthy tear duct so perhaps it's related to this.

I had LASEK in The Mater with O'Keefee, I won't lie, the pain in the following 2-3 days was excruciatingly unbearable, but not much you can do really except for drown your eyes with the drops they give you. Sleeping pattern was a problem, it was a case of just getting 3 hours here and there for the two weeks. I was in for aftercare on day 1, day 3, day 7 after each eye and had no problems at all.

But it was all worth it in the end. I'm better than 20/20 now and have another check up in 2 weeks.

Mousewar did I read that you had the surgery recently also, in the Wellington?

Semi-related to this claiming back tax; if your employer is going to deduct your salary due to sick leave, make sure you go to a GP and get a MC1 and an MC2 form to send to Social Welfare to claim back this money. I didn't know anything about this until I saw a €300 deduction in my payslip four weeks later. The Mater don't give out these forms, you need to get it from a GP.

Charisteas

Mousewar wrote: »

Seriously, it's tax-relief. If you don't pay it, you can't get relief on it.

That sounds right but I still think the OP should contact revenue to be 100% sure.

Mousewar

Glad it went well for you Charisteas.
I'm booked in at the Wellington for the week after next. Fingers crossed.

Charisteas

Good luck. LASEK I presume?

What made you choose Wellington over Mater?

Mousewar

Yep Lasek

Well I told you about my experience at the mater. but ultimately they both seem very good. in the end I just chose the 1 nearest to me.

capefear

Glad it went well. You can claim tax back at a rate of 20%. If you haven't paid enough tax to get a full refund get one of your parents to pay for the full procedure and they can claim the full rebate if they have paid enough tax