You may deduct medical expenses from your income in your income tax return. This deduction is part of the personal allowance. It is deducted from your income from work and home (box 1). If your deduction is higher than your income in box 1, you may deduct it from your income from savings and investments (box 3). And if there is any deduction left over from your income from substantial interest (box 2). The personal deduction, which you keep over in one year, you may effectuate in a subsequent year.
Specific healthcare costs
You cannot deduct all expenses, which you incur in connection with illness or disability. The deduction is limited to healthcare costs specifically mentioned in the law. Costs that do not burden you, for example because they are reimbursed, you may not deduct.
The specific healthcare costs listed in the law are:
- medical and surgical assistance (except eye laser treatments to replace glasses or contact lenses);
- transport;
- pharmaceutical devices, but only if provided on a doctor's prescription;
- other aids, insofar as they are mainly used by sick or disabled persons;
- additional costs of a diet held on medical prescription (lump sums are set for this purpose);
- extra clothes and bedding;
- travel in connection with regular sick visits of persons, nursed for a month or more, with whom you had a joint household.
Sports subscription
In a case in which the North Holland District Court recently ruled, the interested party wanted to deduct the cost of her sports subscription at Basic-Fit and the cost of pilates classes as specific healthcare costs. She had selected the medical and surgical assistance category for this purpose. It is clear from the law that this category must involve treatment:
- by a doctor or designated paramedic;
- prescribed and supervised by a doctor or paramedic.
As no statements from a doctor or paramedic were submitted for exercising at Basic-Fit, nor was it shown, that exercising takes place under the supervision of a doctor or paramedic, the court cannot but decide that there are no deductible specific healthcare costs.
Transport costs
The deduction of transport costs is also at issue in this case. The interested party claims deduction for 2,349 kilometres driven to visit a psychotherapy practice. She uses a kilometre rate of €0.35. The number of kilometres was not questioned by the Tax Office. But the advocated kilometre rate is too high. The court corrects that to €0.226. That is the average kilometre price determined by the Tax Office, based on the car driven.