Reader question: Can I deduct my medical expenses from my taxes?
Dear readers,
I have to pay tax in the Netherlands, that is not the problem (a pity). Still have health insurance in the Netherlands with Unive. The Universal complete policy with Thailand as the country of residence, issued from 2009. Paid in 2017: 572 Euro pm (a lot). Started in 2009 with 325 euros per month.
Wet finger work: from 2009 to 2017 an average of 450 euros per month is 12 x 450 x 8 = 43200 euros.
Have had 2x an expensive operation and chemotherapy after various examinations (including prostate and colon cancer 2010 and 2012). Moist finger work, the bills still have 55.000 euros.
Had keyhole surgery in September 2016 and shortly afterwards a CT-Scan, pre-check and result cost 65000 THB. Now I only have to do these tests in 2 years (happy), but every 1/2 year a check-up, but that is not the cost.
Now my question: if I cancel my health insurance, can I deduct the costs I incur from the tax if the case is (I hope not)?
Because as I read, the costs are only deductible if the insurance does not reimburse it. Once I'm out of insurance, UNIVE will no longer hire people with this insurance. And it is not possible to take out foreign insurance above the age of 70 and exclusions below the age of 70.
Can someone advise me if it is deductible?
Regards,
Hans
Do you mean the Dutch tax? No!
Whether the Thai tax law offers such a facility I do not know, but you could consult an expert in this country.
And why don't you stay with Unive? Seems better to me.
I'd keep the insurance if I were you. Especially now that the age is getting higher and more ailments can come. Only if you have a lot of savings at hand and can pay for any expensive procedures yourself can you consider canceling the insurance, but given your medical history I would not do that
Hi Hans,
For the Income Tax Return in the Netherlands, you can enter/deduct all incurred and non-reimbursed medical expenses. For the record, that does not include the premium for medical expenses!
Resume, if you do not have health insurance, you can enter all medical expenses incurred.
m.f.gr. Anja Woltering
Administration & Accounting office
WOLTERING
Anja, Hans lives in Thailand. He is therefore a non-resident taxpayer, without qualifying!
This means that the tax credits, the tax-free allowance in box 3 and all possible deductions within income tax have been canceled for him as of 1 January 2015.
He must file a tax return as a non-resident taxpayer. And that is a completely different story than a declaration as a resident taxpayer.
Lammert de Haan, tax specialist (specialized in international tax law).
As a non-resident taxpayer, no deduction is possible.
Dear Hans,
For God's sake, don't cancel your health insurance policy. Okay, you pay a lot, but you have it all
obtained for 100% verged? And which hospital do you have,. Do you also have extra insurance with Unive? mi
I am insured with ONVZ in Houten. I pay E. 2017,– for 5765, including one of the highest
additional insurance. Had lymphatic cancer in my neck and a heart problem for which I had every
month to hospital. No exclusion for this, but get everything reimbursed according to the Dutch
national rate. Contact Matthieu Heijligenberg in Hua Hin. AAHUA HIN Insurance He is one
authority in health insurance in particular and very open and honest. Good luck
Paul
Do you ever come to the Netherlands and are there some jobs that you can tackle? You can then consider going to the Chamber of Commerce to register as an entrepreneur. You are then, even if you live outside the EU, obliged to take out insurance through a Dutch health insurer, so that you are not bound by expensive private solutions.
Ferdi, this is completely incorrect information and this is why.
Hans is not a resident and in order to be insured under the Long-Term Care Act, you must perform work that is subject to wage tax (Article 2.2.2, under b of the Long-Term Care Act).
Because he does not fall under the scope of the Long-Term Care Act, he also falls outside the circle of insured persons for the Health Insurance Act (Section 2, paragraph 1, Health Insurance Act).
Incidentally, he is also not regarded as an entrepreneur by the tax authorities (think of the hours criterion, the number of clients, the ratio of this income to his other income, the entrepreneurial risk, etc.).
This income can therefore be regarded as 'income from other work', which is also not subject to payroll tax.
And then we are not talking about the cost of a ticket to earn a few euros in the Netherlands!
I regularly have foreign entrepreneurs under my care for the accounting, turnover tax returns and income tax returns and then from all corners of the world (South America and many European countries). They then come to the Netherlands for a short period of time to earn the 'big money' and do not register with a Dutch municipality. I will have them registered with the Chamber of Commerce. In doing so, they do meet the criteria that apply to being an entrepreneur for the Tax and Customs Administration. As entrepreneurs but non-residents, they also do not fall under the Long-Term Care Act and the Zkw and do not accrue any rights to an AOW benefit. However, as far as I get it, they are insured in their home country.
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/zorgverzekering/vraag-en-antwoord/ben-ik-verzekerd-voor-de-zorgverzekering-als-ik-in-het-buitenland-woon
is otherwise quite clear:
“Do you live abroad and work in the Netherlands? Then you must take out health insurance in the Netherlands.”
Whether someone can meet the criteria to be an entrepreneur is something I cannot judge from here. Neither do you I assume.
I can imagine that someone who is here for 3 weeks a year, for example, does not meet this requirement, while someone who is here for 2 or 3 months can meet this requirement.
The Chamber of Commerce uses “criteria” and “indicators”. The IRS has different rules.
If anyone has any hard numbers on when/when not, I'd love to hear it.
And otherwise it might be an idea to maintain an employment relationship here?
It may not be of any use to Hans, but it may be a consideration for others who are in the Netherlands for less than 4 months a year (and therefore do not have to/are not allowed to be registered with the municipality).
And the cost of a ticket? These may not be too bad if you compare Dutch health insurance (approximately €110 per month + percentage of income) with premiums of €500 to €600 per month. Especially if you already go to the Netherlands every year for holiday/family visits, it can be worthwhile to also work here.
Ferdi, the Long-Term Care Act and the Health Insurance Act are much clearer about this. And in the end you have to deal with that! Since you did not take the trouble to read the articles of law I cited, I am posting them here.
Long-term Care Act (Wlz)
§ 1. The circle of insured persons
Article
• 1 Insured in accordance with the provisions of this law is the person who:
is a resident;
o b. is not a resident, but is subject to wage tax in respect of work performed in the Netherlands or on the continental shelf.
Health Insurance Act (Zvw)
Section 2.1. The insurance obligation
Article
• 1 Anyone who is legally insured under the Long-term Care Act and the regulations based on it is obliged to insure or have insured under a health insurance policy against the risk referred to in Article 10.
Now the questioner Hans.
He is not a resident of the Netherlands and will carry out entrepreneurial activities here. As an entrepreneur, you are not subject to payroll tax. In other words: he is not covered by the Wlz!
Because he does not fall under the Wlz, he does not fall under the Zvw by operation of law and therefore cannot take out Dutch health insurance.
On the other hand, he also does not owe a Wlz premium and an income-related Zvw contribution.
Hans is a non-qualifying non-resident taxpayer and lives in a country with which the Netherlands has not concluded a treaty regarding healthcare costs. He therefore cannot insure himself for this via the National Health Care Institute, as is the case if you live within the EU and a few other countries.
The Tax and Customs Administration uses the term 'working in the Netherlands' for working as an employee (ie with deduction of wage tax) but not for doing business. Admittedly: the information from the Tax and Customs Administration often leads to confusion (I am confronted with it almost every day). But on the other hand: if they were also required to substantiate all this type of information sufficiently legally, then this type of information would also become unreadable for many. And I still understand that.
The fact that you cannot assess whether he will meet the requirements for being an entrepreneur for income tax purposes does not mean that I cannot do that either. I can do that. and also from here!
I don't expect him to reach the 1.250 hours of work per year for the company.
After that, he has to go to the Netherlands quite a number of times (6 to 7 times?) to get the required number of clients. Every time he comes back he must have another client.
In addition, I know “to a reasonable degree” his income in order to be able to assess the importance of his (possible) profit from business with his other income.
If you enter the amount of your provisional assessment for 9 in Thailandblog on January 2017, including the reason for this, then as a tax specialist I will know within a few seconds what kind of income you should have!
Hans, you now have 'foreign insurance' with Univé for your medical expenses. If I were you I would continue this one, especially given your health care picture and the costs associated with it in the past. Be glad you're in there. With your age and history, you will not be able to take out such an insurance policy in Thailand.
As far as your question about the income tax deductibility of your medical expenses is concerned, only one answer is possible and that is: NO.
You do not fall within the circle of insured persons for the Health Insurance Act now that you live in Thailand. This means that, in addition to the monthly contribution to a Dutch health insurance company, you also do not pay a premium under the Long-Term Care Act and no income-related contribution under the Healthcare Insurance Act.
In addition, as of January 1, 2015, the tax credits, the tax-free allowance for box 3 and all deductions for income tax will no longer apply if you live in Thailand, among others.
By the way, and you read that correctly, if you live in the Netherlands but without health insurance, even then the medical expenses are not deductible for income tax up to the amount that would fall within the basic health insurance. This only applies to the excess of medical expenses. But you do not live in the Netherlands and this does not apply.
medical expenses can only be deducted above the threshold, I thought 1,65% of the gross salary or pension
Medical expenses and premiums are not deductible in both the Netherlands and Thailand.
Switching to insurance in Thailand VERY DON'T.
All your current ailments can then no longer be insured.
Moreover, a comparable insurance policy here costs approx. 70 Thb per year at age 200.000.
Hans van Mourik says.
I have read all the advice carefully.
In any case, will remain in ZKV this year, because I have already paid for the entire year.
With 3 advice I continue TZT. continue to embroider, that is profit
1) Van Lammert de Haan,
2) Anja
3) W. van der Hooft. This one may well be right because when I filled in my tax for 2016 in 2015
Is in medical expenses that are not reimbursed by insurance, I can enter as items and I think there is also a threshold;
What I miss is that someone can give me an article that contains it, or that someone has already done it once.
I can accommodate 8 Dutch people here in Changmai, of which only 2 are insured incl. me
Hans van Mourik
Hans, because you didn't read it properly (or didn't understand it properly) then just one more time in short:
1. You live in Thailand and are therefore a non-qualifying foreign taxpayer.
2. As a result, from January 1, 2015, you will no longer have the option to deduct anything for income tax.
Do not be blinded by the reaction of Anja Woltering of Administration & Accounting Office WOLTERING. This comment hits the spot! This also applies if you were still living in the Netherlands. Even then you may only deduct SPECIFIC HEALTHCARE COSTS in your income tax return and not, as Anja writes: “enter all incurred and non-reimbursed medical expenses (?)”, even if you do not have health insurance.
Are you allowed to live in the Netherlands, for example, the costs for premium for your insurance, the statutory deductible, costs of childbirth and maternity assistance, the expenses for a walker, wheelchair, mobility scooter, etc. ect. Jerk off? NO.
And you may not deduct costs that you have not been reimbursed because you have not taken out insurance. That seems perfectly logical to me!
I wear glasses, but these costs are not deductible either. However, if I become so visually impaired that I need a cane or a guide dog for the blind, then these costs are deductible. So not a walker, but a cane for the blind: that is the Netherlands!
I hope that the review of the tax and benefits system (Van Dijk Committee) will bring some order to this total chaos.
What you read when filing your 2015 income tax return about the deduction of specific healthcare costs (and the threshold) is still completely on my mind: the tax program kept getting stuck because you constantly tried to complete a return for resident taxpayers . When you then found the program for non-resident taxpayers on my amendment and went to fill it in, you no longer encountered the question about this. After all, these costs are not deductible to you at all. Forget?
I could still help you with documentation regarding the deductibility of specific healthcare costs, but that is of no use to you because it does not apply to you.
“Van Dijk Committee” should of course be “Van Dijkhuizen Committee”. I even wrote a whole article about it yesterday and today in response to unjustified alarming messages in the press (and in forums). If you live abroad, there is even a lot of 'money to be made' after implementation of this report because of the total taxation of the AOW.
Did you use the correct form ???
This question does not appear in the form for non-resident taxpayers.