Mouth guard covered under Revenue tax relief?

Space Dog

Was wondering if anyone knows whether you can claim tax relief on the costs of a mouth guard? Mouth guards are not listed under under dental expenses section on revenue.ie. Or would that fall under general health expenses?

Fitz II

Space Dog wrote: »

Was wondering if anyone knows whether you can claim tax relief on the costs of a mouth guard? Mouth guards are not listed under under dental expenses section on revenue.ie. Or would that fall under general health expenses?

It is an orthodontic appliance, its covered.

Space Dog

Fitz II wrote: »

It is an orthodontic appliance, its covered.

Great, thanks!

Hitchhiker85

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/115406492#Comment_115406492

Hey, thanks for this.

However, I recently asked the practice manager at my dental clinic about this and she said: "Unfortunately night guards do not qualify for tax relief. For full details on what qualifies see below link. https://www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/health-and-age/health-expenses/dental-expenses.aspx ". That form doesn't seem to explicitly call out night guards.

To complicate matters, I got my first night guard / mouth guard / splint in 2017 from a different dentist and they signed the Med2 form but they categorised the night guard as "G Periodontal Treatment" on the form (not "H Orthodontic Treatment").

For the life of me, I am unable to find an authoritative statement online to: (a) Show my new dentist that the treatment qualifies for income tax relief, and (b) To clearly state which category the treatment sits under e.g. "G Periodontal Treatment" or "H Orthodontic Treatment".

For clarification, the night guard / splint / mouth guard I have used and the new mouth guard I am in the process of getting are used to prevent damage to my teeth at night as I grind them. It is not used for changing the position or angle of teeth.

Thanks in advance if you can help. :)

Fitz II

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117923855#Comment_117923855

Your dentist will have to advise, but I class hard nightguards as retainers that hold the position and integrity of the teeth and class them as orthodontic appliances, your clinic may feel that is a push. Your mileage may vary.

Space Dog

Just to weigh in on this again: After reading the comment from Fitz II I asked my dentist for a Med 2 form when I was in for my check-up and he said it doesn't qualify for tax relief, even though I mentioned that another dentist had told me it did 🤷‍♂️

Very strange that there are no clear guidelines for this.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117952904#Comment_117952904

Its classification is open to interpretation, personally I have never thought of a night guard as an orthodontic retainer as that is not its primary function nor the reason why people have them made. But now that Fitz has suggested this interpretation, I will be using it going forward.

There is clear guidance on what is eligible for tax relief, night guards are not in it, but orthodontic appliances are.

Fitz II

Just to be clear I would not class a soft splint as an orthodontic appliance (I dont class them as bite splints either, but thats another discussion)

Matt, are you a dentist, in Ireland? The advice you have just given above is completely wrong.

Fitz II

Spambot I think Davo