Medical expenses you can deduct

I would like to know the following: let us say you don't have a medical aid can you claim from Sars for dental expenditures and other medical bills if their total is greater than 7.5% of your taxable income. Let's say my salary is R20 000 before tax monthly (1st question).

(2nd Question) - Let us say my son is under my wife's medical aid but the funds are exhausted and I pay for the bills and personally do not have medical aid can I claim that money back from Sars?

Answer by Muneer Hassan, project director at Saica

If the taxpayer is younger than 65 years he may claim medical expenses (qualifying medical expenses) incurred on himself, on behalf of his wife or children provided he paid for the expenses.

The amount that may be claimed as a deduction is the amount as exceeds 7,5% of taxable income.

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Claiming Medical Expenses when TAX Certificate bears your wife's name! No Muneer, you are wrong, it appears that if SARS has anything to do with it, then you cannot claim the medical expenses if your wife is the main member of your 2 member medical aid, even if you made all the payments!!! SARS has rejected my claim because . .more the "Summary of healthcare expenditure" certificate is in my wife's name and not in my name!! This has happened even though I uploaded a letter to SARS explaining the situation! . .less by John on August 04 2011, 09:46 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Medical Expenses Not Recovered From Your Medical Scheme The performance of SARS gets worse by the day!! Now, whatever amount you enter next to Item 4020 i.e. medical expenses not recovered from your medical scheme, SARS will only accept the amount that the Medical scheme prints in its certificate. Item 4020 . .more now becomes "Medical fund expenses not recovered from medical fund" (it says so in the ITA34 Notice of Asssessment). So, if you have medical expenses, but don't subscribe to any medical scheme, or if there are medical expenses paid in the form of levys by dentists and doctors (they don't submit these levies to the medical aid) or selfmed when your limit has been exceeded, then you simply cannot claim these medical costs as a deduction!!! . .less by John on August 04 2011, 11:13 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

An addition to the answer above You can claim the medical expenses PAID. For SERVICES (appointments, etc with the practitioner) it would help (in addition the receipt proof) to have an invoice/statement addressed to you or your wife/child if the receipt doesn't have this info. For . .more SUPPLIES such as medication from pharmacy it MUST BE PRECRIBED by the practitioner. @John... Of course you can't claim medical contributions if the wife is the member and you paid on her behalf. She can only claim. The Act says contributions made by you. So if you pay on behalf of the wife then that would be deemed to have been paid by the wife to the medical scheme (the scheme contract is between your wife and the scheme - and not you). @John... Regarding code 4020 on eFilling have you tried to tick "yes" that you incurred medical expenses and leave 0 for each month & then put the amount under 4020 (that is if you didn't contribute to medical scheme but paid qualifying medical expenses)? I never had a problem with this code but your problem must have to do with capturing rather than the application of the Act. . .less by BraDarkie on August 04 2011, 20:58 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Addition to the above answer You can claim the medical expenses PAID. For SERVICES (appointments, etc with the practitioner) it would help (in addition the receipt proof) to have an invoice/statement addressed to you or your wife/child if the receipt doesn't have this info. For . .more SUPPLIES such as medication from pharmacy it MUST BE PRECRIBED by the practitioner. . .less by BraDarkie on August 04 2011, 21:17 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

@John... Of course you can't claim medical contributions if the wife is the member and you paid on her behalf. She can only claim. The Act says contributions made by you. So if you pay on behalf of the wife then that would be deemed to have been paid by the . .more wife to the medical scheme (the scheme contract is between your wife and the scheme - and not you). Regarding code 4020 on eFilling have you tried to tick "yes" that you incurred medical expenses and leave 0 for each month & then put the amount under 4020 (that is if you didn't contribute to medical scheme but paid qualifying medical expenses)? I never had a problem with this code but your problem must have to do with capturing rather than the application of the Act. . .less by BraDarkie on August 04 2011, 21:17 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Dear John On the SARS website there is a very nice guide "TAX GUIDE ON THE DEDUCTION OF MEDICAL EXPENSES" {All Publications/Income Tax (Legal & Policy)} it stipulates what may or may not be claimed. Where the medical aid is in someone else's name, it is . .more very difficult to prove that it was paid by yourself - have you tried sending bank statements to this effect? I think you are mistaken with your second problem. You can claim for qualifying expenses that were paid by you and not recovered from a medical aid - irrespective of whether you belonged to a medical aid or not. (As long as you can prove that they qualify and that they were paid) I've tried it on eFiling and had no problem. . .less by Carla on August 11 2011, 10:25 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Medical expenses not recovered Why does SARS not take medical expenses paid but not recovered by the medical aid into account when calculating your tax even if it is above 7.5% your taxable income by Luella on July 16 2012, 15:50 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

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