Paying VHI for Elderly Relative: Can I claim tax relief on this payment ?

I pay the VHI bill for my mother-in-law, who lives alone.
Her only income is her pension, so she is not liable for tax.
Can I claim tax relief on this payment ?

I already get relief on my own VHI through the scheme at work.

I think you can do this if you claim here as a dependent relative but you should check the revenue website for more details.

You could also look into setting up a deed of covenant on an annual basis to cover these bills. More info on http://www.revenue.ie

If she was a dependent then I would imagine so but since she lives alone I'm not so sure. Maybe www.ageaction.ie might be able to advise?

Post crossed with extopia's.

The VHI payment she makes is already net of standard rate tax under Tax Relief at Source so relief has already been given whether she is a taxpayer or not and no further relief is due.

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Do check though if she is in a group scheme. If not, then it might be possible to amend her registration to a group one and thereby save 10% on the VHI premium. There are many group schemes, Credit Union etc. as an example.

However, also for 2007, as she is a non-taxpayer, if there are unreimbursed Medical Expenses then you can pay them and get tax relief on them. This is a change to the old MED scheme where there used to be a minimum excess of €125 ( now gone) and the person had to be related to you.

Graham_07 said:

The VHI payment she makes is already net of standard rate tax under Tax Relief at Source so relief has already been given whether she is a taxpayer or not and no further relief is due.

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Doh! Good point...