Soldier wants to claim for glasses post-op

Cape Town - To help make the filing process as seamless as possible Fin24 has joined forces with the SA Institute of Tax Professionals (SAIT), to answer users' tax questions as far as possible.

User question: I am a soldier and had an eye operation. I made glasses, but the Defence Force only paid a portion of the expenses and I had to pay the balance.
 
Can I claim the money back which I paid out of my own pocket?

Piet Nel, SA Institute of Tax Professionals responds:

For the 2015 year of assessment individuals can no longer make a deduction (from income) of qualifying medical expenses.  They are, however, entitled to a rebate which, depending on their age, would reduce the tax payable. 

For an individual under the age of 65 at the end of February 2015 it would be 25% of so much of the aggregate of—

(i) the amount of the fees paid by the person to a medical scheme as exceeds four times the amount of the medical scheme fees tax credit to which that person is entitled and the amount of qualifying medical expenses paid by the person,

as exceeds 7.5% of the person’s taxable income (excluding any retirement fund lump sum benefit, etc).  

You must capture the amount of the qualifying medical expenses on the return of income and SARS will then determine on assessment what the amount of the deduction is.  

* Have a question? Send it to us and we will find an expert to answer.

PLEASE NOTE: The important deadline dates in the 2015 tax season are:

September 30 2015: Manual/postal submissions
November 27 2015: At a SARS branch (non-provisional)
November 27 2015: eFiling (non-provisional)
January 29 2016: Provisional taxpayers via eFiling

ALSO SEE previous tax questions from users:

Can interns claim for travel expenses?

Home care and medical rebates

What to do when tax docs burn

Expat receiving pension from SA: Do I pay tax?

What are the limits on claiming travel expenses?

Can I claim for using my own car for work?

Temp teaching for 6 months, must she pay tax?

Working in Saudi, do I also pay tax in SA?

Can I claim for travel expenses?

Tax filing: No financial records yet, what now?

Filing returns for an education trust

Disclaimer: Fin24 cannot be held liable for any investment decisions made based on the advice given by independent financial service providers. Under the ECT Act and to the fullest extent possible under the applicable law, Fin24 disclaims all responsibility or liability for any damages whatsoever resulting from the use of this site in any manner.