Tax refund for eye lens surgery if not employed

@Steven_Barrett: My income tax bill may be zero, but I pay tax, multiple different taxes (VAT, excise duty, carbon tax, insurance levy etc.) practically every day of the year .

Also, if I was long-term unemployed, and had enough savings to pay for medical treatment, I would be treated in a (tax) regressive manner i.e. the person who needs the relief most does not get the tax refund.
 
But the drug payments schemes is for certain items only. Just like free eye treatment is for certain items only.

Maybe apply for a medical card? Since you’ve zero income. But there are savings that are taken into account.

There are all items such as non-routine dental treatments that qualify for tax relief again if you’re not a taxpayer, you don’t get the tax relief.

The solution is to get a job and earn just enough to pay 2000 in tax.
 
Life is full of unfair items, but bear in mind that a lot of medical treatment is provided free of charge at the point of consumption.

This one doesn’t happen to be and it seems the medical practitioner has suggested a workaround for you
 
By the way, not all medical type items are treated this way. You can get the VAT back on certain medical appliances, such as a hospital style bed an access ramp for your house, et cetera..
That is a straightforward vat Refund after you incur the cost.
Would that be available, is there a VAT charged by the hospital?
 
stuffit_ire said:
@Steven_Barrett: My income tax bill may be zero, but I pay tax, multiple different taxes (VAT, excise duty, carbon tax, insurance levy etc.) practically every day of the year .

Also, if I was long-term unemployed, and had enough savings to pay for medical treatment, I would be treated in a (tax) regressive manner i.e. the person who needs the relief most does not get the tax refund.
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The refund applies to income tax only, not to other forms of taxation. You have no income tax to claim back. 20% of zero is zero.
 
stuffit_ire said:
I have paid tax for 30 years.

If I had surgery 2 years ago, I would have received a tax refund. However my eyes were fine then.
However because I want a medical procedure in a year that I'm not working I am penalised.

In both scenarios I've paid the same amount of Income Tax.


I now understand why people go abroad for medical treatment. If I do this, or don't have the procedure, the Irish economy is losing out on 10K that will never be spent here. With VAT, velocity of money etc. the government is worse off by discriminating against those outside the tax net.
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It seems your tax planning was insufficient.
 
Ask 4 tax paying friends to pay 2500 euro each for your surgery
(They can each claim a tax refund of 500 euro.)

You have no tax liability for any of these gifts.

At their next birthdays give each a present of 2000 euro.
 
This may be surgery but it is not a medical treatment for a disease. You are choosing to have an elective cosmetic procedure.

Would you be happy for me to get tax relief on my €2k of botox a year...?
 
Steven Barrett said:
The refund applies to income tax only, not to other forms of taxation. You have no income tax to claim back. 20% of zero is zero.
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Exact same complaints were made about the Help To Buy scheme. People coming back from Dubai having paid no income tax anywhere, never mind in Ireland, and could not accept that they weren't entitled to an income tax refund.
 
arbitron said:
This may be surgery but it is not a medical treatment for a disease. You are choosing to have an elective cosmetic procedure.
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As people age their lens can harden and their vision deteriorates, eventually a cataract forms and they lose sight in their eye.

Having lens replacement is not cosmetic surgery.
 
S class said:
As people age their lens can harden and their vision deteriorates, eventually a cataract forms and they lose sight in their eye.

Having lens replacement is not cosmetic surgery.
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Cataract surgery is free under the HSE and is usually covered under private insurance for a very small co-payment.

Even if you are paying for it all yourself privately (self-pay) without health insurance in the fanciest clinic it should not cost €8-10k.

They are either having the most expensive cataract surgery going or they are getting some form of clear lens replacement +/- a laser treatment to minimise the use of spectacles.

In which case it would absolutely be an elective, cosmetic procedure.

OP, please clarify if I'm off the mark.
 
Not everyone gets cataracts. It’s not inevitable.
And treatment is free with HSE

The OP said the HSE would probably offer crappy glasses. For their typical middle aged eye issues.
But it’s not clear if they sought treatment in a public hospital or not,

I have middle aged eyes, I wear glasses. Eye tests are free. I don’t know if the glasses are as my employer pays for them as they are specific to using a computer screen.
 
@stuffit_ire

It is in effect open to everybody as everyone has a friend or family member with an income tax liability.

If Revenue/DoF had wanted to limit the scheme strictly to taxpayers themselves they would have designed it that way.

They didn’t.
 
stuffit_ire said:
I'm got typical middle aged eye issues.
I could have surgery to get new lenses implanted.
This would cost somewhere between 8K-10K

A tax refund is usually available for these procedures i.e. you claim back 20% in the following tax year.

However I'm not working, not claiming benefits. I'm on a sabbatical, living off my savings and might never work again.

How do I get the tax refund if I'm not actually paying income tax?

The clinic says get a relative or friend to pay and they can claim the refund. Is this allowed?

Thanks
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Could get a nice pair of glasses or contacts and avoid a surgery risk for €200
 
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