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Edited version of private ruling
Authorisation Number: 1011674696937
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Ruling
Can the cost of your home care attendants be included as an eligible medical expense in the calculation of a medical expenses tax offset?
Yes.
This ruling applies for the following period
Year ended 30 June 2009
Year ended 30 June 2010
Year ending 30 June 2011
Year ending 30 June 2012
The scheme commenced on
1 July 2008
Relevant facts
You are an Australian resident for income tax purposes.
You have been diagnosed with a medical condition and are permanently confined to a bed.
You have been assessed by your doctor as requiring 24 hour care and they have provided you with a referral for home care services.
You are provided with home care services. The care provided is personal care with some basic domestic services.
Agency A attendants are legally qualified registered nurses, who provide live in care on a 24 hour basis. These nurses also administer your medication.
Agency B attendants are qualified registered nurses, who attend your home daily to assist with your bathing/showering.
Copies of invoices from the agencies have been provided, and there is no administration fee listed on the invoices.
You are invoiced by agency A and agency B on a fortnightly basis and you pay them fortnightly.
Your net medical expenses exceed $1,500, and you have evidence to support your claim.
Relevant legislative provisions
Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 Subsection 159P(1)
Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 Subsection 159P(4)
Reasons for decision
A medical expenses tax offset is available to a taxpayer under subsection 159P(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936) where the taxpayer pays medical expenses in an income year for themselves or a dependant who is an Australian resident, to the extent that they are not reimbursed, or are eligible to be reimbursed, from a government or public authority or a society, association or fund.
Paragraph (h) of the definition of medical expenses in subsection 159P(4) of the ITAA 1936 includes payments made as remuneration of a person for services rendered by them as an attendant of a person who is blind or permanently confined to a bed or an invalid chair.
The requirement that the services be provided as an attendant 'of a person' necessitates that the services provided by the attendant (to a person who is blind or permanently confined to a bed or an invalid chair) are primarily to assist the person with their personal care, for example bathing, washing, dressing and feeding.
In order to qualify as a medical expense, paragraph (h) of the definition does not require that the payment be made to a specific person but rather that it be paid 'as remuneration of a person' for services the person provides as an attendant. There is no requirement therefore that the payment be made directly to the person who provides the care.
In your case you suffer from a medical condition, are permanently confined to a bed and require 24 hour care. Agency A and Agency B provide you with personal care attendants who are registered nurses in your own home. Even though they perform some basic household tasks, the main duty of the attendants is to provide you with personal care.
The fortnightly payments made to agencies A & B qualify as eligible medical expenses. Therefore, you are entitled to include these expenses in your calculation of the medical expenses tax offset.