Here is the 2011 Tax Return Checklist to assist in the preparation of your 2011 Tax Return.

Checklist 2011

The threshold for the Medical Expense Tax Offset has changed for 2011 and future tax years.

Net medical expenses are the medical expenses you have paid less any refunds of these expenses which you or any other person has received, or are entitled to receive, from Medicare or a private health insurer.

When calculating your medical expenses you can include only an amount paid for your dependants who were Australian residents for tax purposes (see Are you an Australian resident? in Completing Individual information on your tax return for an explanation of this).

The medical expenses must be for:

• you
• your spouse, regardless of their income (see the definition of spouse in Special circumstances and glossary)
• your children who were under 21 years old (including your adopted children, stepchildren, ex-nuptial children or children of your spouse) regardless of their income
• any other child under 21 years old who was not a student, whom you maintained, and whose adjusted taxable income (ATI) for the period you maintained them was less than
  • the total of $282 + $28.92 for each week you maintained them for the first child under 21 years old, or
  • the total of $282 + $21.70 for each week you maintained them for any other child under 21 years old who is not a student.

(for the definition of ATI and how it is calculated, see Adjusted taxable income (ATI) for you and your dependants)

• a student under 25 years old whom you maintained and whose ATI was less than the total of $282 + $28.92 for each week you maintained them
• a child-housekeeper, but only if you can claim a tax offset for them at item T1 on your tax return, or
• an invalid relative, parent or spouse’s parent, but only if you can claim a dependant tax offset at item T10.

You and your dependants must be Australian residents for tax purposes, but you can claim medical expenses paid while travelling overseas.

You can include medical expenses relating to an illness or operation paid to legally qualified doctors, nurses or chemists and public or private hospitals. However, expenses for some cosmetic operations are excluded.

To find out which operations, dental services and treatments are cosmetic and whether you can include your payments for them, visit our website www.ato.gov.au or phone the Individual Infoline on 13 28 61.

Medical expenses include payments:

• to dentists, orthodontists or registered dental mechanics
• to opticians or optometrists, including for the cost of prescription spectacles or contact lenses
• to a carer who looks after a person who is blind or permanently confined to a bed or wheelchair
• for therapeutic treatment under the direction of a doctor
• for medical aids prescribed by a doctor
• for artificial limbs or eyes and hearing aids
• for maintaining a properly trained dog for guiding or assisting people with a disability (but not for social therapy)
• for laser eye surgery, and
• for treatment under an in-vitro fertilisation program.

Expenses which do not qualify as medical expenses include payments made for:

• cosmetic operations for which a Medicare benefit is not payable
• dental services or treatments that are solely cosmetic
• therapeutic treatment where the patient is not formally referred by a doctor – a mere suggestion or recommendation by a doctor to the patient is not enough for the treatment to qualify; the patient must be referred to a particular person for specific treatment
• chemist-type items, such as tablets for pain relief, purchased in retail outlets or health food stores
• inoculations for overseas travel
• non-prescribed vitamins or health foods
• travel or accommodation expenses associated with medical treatment
• contributions to a private health insurer
• purchases from a chemist that are not related to an illness or operation
• life insurance medical examinations
• ambulance charges and subscriptions, and
• funeral expenses.