Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 September 2023
186. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Finance the number of taxpayers who make claims for unreimbursed medical expenses each year; whether the Revenue Commissioners have made any estimates of the amount of under-claiming in respect of medical expenses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40737/23]
View answerI am advised by Revenue that the number of taxpayer units who availed of tax relief on health expenses incurred is included in the ‘Cost of Tax Expenditures’ publication which is available on the Revenue website at
www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/documents/statistics/tax-expenditures/costs-tax-expenditures.pdf
For the Deputy’s convenience, the below table breaks down the number of taxpayer units and cost of health expenses relief for the years 2018 to 2021. It should be noted, that a taxpayer unit can be included in the totals for Health Expenses (excluding nursing homes expenditure) and Health Expenses (including nursing homes expenditure) claimants.
|
2021 €m Units |
2020 €m Units |
2019 €m Units |
2018 €m Units |
|
|
Health Expenses (Total) |
208.2 571,800 |
181.4 541,900 |
206.2 572,200 |
190.1 527,100 |
|
Health Expenses (Excluding Nursing Homes) |
172.0 567,900 |
145.8 538,000 |
169.0 568,200 |
155.5 522,800 |
|
Health Expenses (Nursing Homes Only) |
36.2 7,000 |
35.6 7,100 |
37.2 8,000 |
34.7 7,700 |
I am further informed by Revenue that health expenses claims that are submitted by taxpayers and their agents form the basis on which the tax relief is provided. Accordingly, there is no available data from which to estimate the quantum of health expenses that would be eligible for tax relief but for which the relief was not claimed.
