Red Oak Tax Refunds Blog

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Shopping for medical treatment

Posted on | October 9, 2009 | No Comments

Gone are the days when you would go to your local GP or dentist for all treatments, there is now a truly global industry in the provision of medical services. It doesn’t seem that long ago that pictures of Shane Warne’s newest hair transplant treatments were oddities that existed only in the sports pages of tabloids and down under!

Specialisations now exist in laser eye surgery, dental surgery and the different types of cosmetic surgery from invasive/non-invasive hair transplants treatments, botox, liposuction and so much more.

Smart Medical Shopping Tips

Here in Red Oak Tax Refunds we deal with a lot of clients who are great medicare shoppers and here are some of the tips we have learned from them.

Medical insurance

  1. Check your Insurance Coverage: Find out what’s available under your medical insurance.  most of the Irish insurance companies are broadly similar in what they cover, but small differences do exist, so check these to see what best suits your circumstances.  Which brings us to:
  2. Shop around for your medical insurance: Despite belief to the contrary, you do not lose any of your medical coverage by switching from one medical insurance scheme to another.  But you could save money.  Especially, if you have a child under one, get yourself re-insured for a year before their first birthday and your baby is free for a year!

Shopping for Medicare Abroad

  1. Get good recommendations: If you are going abroad, get your research in early.  Whether it’s for dentists in the UK, Doctors in Europe or British cosmetic surgery clinics, a name that constantly pops up regarding finding excellent medicare providers are Revahealth.com
  2. Know the Tax Implications on Price: Most people know that they can get tax refunds for medical treatment performed in Ireland, but many don’t know that this also applies to treatment anywhere in the EU.  So that means going to London in 2009 for dentistry will allow you to get a 20% tax refund, whereas getting the same treatment done in Turkey sadly will not get you a refund.

Know the Tax Implications

  1. Current year: As mentioned above, allowable medical treatments conducted anywhere in the EU (Ireland, UK, or elsewhere) can give you a tax refund of 20% of the cost.  So just make sure the treatment is allowable!
  2. Previous years: If you have medical treatment receipts from previous years, then you could be due more back.  Up to and including 2008 you can claim tax back at your highest tax rate (up to 42%).  You can still claim tax refunds for treatment back to 2005.

Medicare is a booming industry, the internet having taken the fear out of the decision through providing great information.  So make sure you use that info in making your choice.

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Category: Medical Insurance, Paye Tax, Tax Refunds
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Welcome to the Red Oak Tax Refund Blog, where we will discuss money matters, tax and in particular tax refunds relating to PAYE employment in Ireland. If you have any topics you would like discussed, send us a mail to refunds@redoaktaxrefunds.ie and happy reading!.

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