Written answers

Wednesday, 13 January 2021

Photo of Danny Healy-RaeDanny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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207. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will address a matter (details supplied) regarding tax relief for dental expenses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1762/21]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The rationale behind income tax relief for health expenses is broadly intended to provide assistance for those expenses of a significant or exceptional nature.

Expenses for treatment of a routine nature or minor nature are therefore typically excluded. An example of this is that routine dental treatment does not attract the relief, though orthodontic treatment would.

Consistent with this rationale, tax relief in respect of qualifying health expenses is provided for in section 469 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.

Routine dental treatment is explicitly excluded under the legislation and is defined as "the extraction, scaling and filling of teeth and the provision and repairing of artificial teeth or dentures".

However, an individual can claim tax relief in respect of non-routine dental care provided by a registered practitioner. A comprehensive and indeed non-exhaustive list of relevant procedures is available on the Revenue website. This list includes major interventions such as periodontal treatment for gum disease and orthodontic treatment to provide braces.

The exclusion of expenses incurred in respect of routine dental treatment has been in place since the relief's inception in 1967 and I am satisfied that the legislation as drafted and implemented provides sufficient flexibility for expenses that should qualify. There are no plans to change these arrangements at this time.

In this regard I note that tax relief for medical expenses is a commonly availed of relief – the most data from 2018 highlights that 522,800 taxpayer units utilised the relief at an Exchequer cost of €156m.

If routine dental expenses, such as dentures, were tax relieved, it would inevitably lead to calls for other treatments to similarly qualify for relief. This could greatly increase the overall cost of the tax relief and given the current challenging fiscal environment, I am not predisposed to such a potential cost increase.

However, the Deputy will be aware that in recent years there has been an increase in the level of dental benefits available through the social insurance system administered by the Department of Social Protection. In this regard it is noted that tax relief is only of assistance to individuals who have sufficient tax liability and so direct expenditure may be a more effective way of targeting assistance to those who may need a specific support.

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