Private ruling: Medical expenses
Published: November 2011
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 2011
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2010

Ruling: Q1: Can you include the costs of a therapeutic mattress and bed ensemble as a medical expense in calculating the medical expenses tax offset? | A1: No.


Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 Section 159P.

Reasons for decision: Summary: 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. The medical expenses tax offset is 20% of the amount by which the net medical expenses exceed $2,000 for the 2010-11 income year. Medical expenses are defined in subsection 159P(4) of the ITAA 1936 to include payments in respect of a medical or surgical appliance prescribed by a legally qualified medical practitioner. Taxation Ruling TR 93/34 explains the meaning of a medical or surgical appliance for the purposes of the medical expenses tax offset. The ruling states that a medical or surgical appliance is an instrument, apparatus or device which is manufactured as, or distributed as, or generally recognised to be an aid to the function or capacity of a person with a disability or an illness. This definition looks to the character of the appliance, not the purpose for which it is prescribed or used. TR 93/34 states that it is not sufficient that a medical practitioner prescribes an appliance for medical or surgical ends, and that generally, a household or commercial appliance is not a medical or surgical appliance. Paragraph seven of TR 93/34 includes also that the mere fact that an item gives therapeutic treatment, in that it relieves, heals or prevents a medical condition, does not make it a medical or surgical appliance. Paragraph eight of TR 93/34 includes the following among the examples of a 'medical or surgical appliance': bath seats used by invalids or aged persons, car controls for the disabled, crutches, hearing aids, neoprene bandages/wraps to provide support, invalid chairs and wheel chairs. While the list is not exhaustive and does not include all items which qualify as a 'medical or surgical appliance', it gives guidance as to the types of items which qualify. As mentioned above, in considering whether an item is a medical or surgical appliance, it is the character of the item which is determinative, not the purpose for which it is prescribed or used. While it is acknowledged that the mattress may aid the function of a person with a disability or illness, the items themselves retain their domestic function of being a place to sleep in a household setting. The character of the mattress and bed ensemble remains in essence that of a piece of household furniture rather than a medical or surgical appliance. Therefore the expenditure for the bed ensemble and therapeutic mattress is not an eligible medical expense.

Please check this edited version to be sure that there are no details remaining that you think may allow you to be identified. If you have any concerns about this ruling you wish to discuss, you will find our contact details in the fact sheet. | Relevant facts: You have a medical condition and have been referred by your doctor to physiotherapy. | The physiotherapist attending to you recommended the use of a therapeutic mattress to help with pain. | You have included a copy of a letter from your physiotherapist. | On this advice you purchased a therapeutic mattress and bed ensemble.