Get Financial Support
PAYE taxpayers can claim health expenses by using Revenue’s myaccount online service. The myaccount service enables taxpayers to submit health expenses claims and request a Review/P21 balancing statement for any of the past four years.
There are two main types of Financial Support available for coeliacs in Ireland.
- Through the PAYE system for people who are working and paying PRSI
- For those on Social Welfare supports
Scroll down to find out about each option and decide which one best suits your needs.
Social Welfare/Protection Supports
For those who are not PAYE workers, especially those receiving any Social Welfare payment, you can apply for the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) at your local Social Welfare Office.
The SWA is a weekly payment given to people in Ireland who don’t have enough income to meet their own needs or their family’s needs. Click on the headings below to learn more about the SWA.
- If you have no income, you may be eligible for a basic SWA.
- If your weekly income is less than the SWA rate for your family size, you may receive a payment to increase your income to the appropriate SWA rate.
- If you’ve applied for a social welfare payment or pension but haven’t received it yet and have no other income, you may receive SWA while you wait for your payment.
- You must live in the State.
- You must pass the means test.
- You must have applied for any other social welfare benefits or allowances you may be entitled to.
- If you’re of working age, you must have registered for work with your local Intreo Centre.
- You must meet the habitual residence condition.
- The maximum personal rate is €218 a week.
- In Budget 2024, it was announced that people receiving the maximum rate of SWA will get an increase of €12 per week from January 2024.
The SWA Scheme also provides other financial supplements for certain expenses you may not be able to meet, including emergency situations. These include Rent Supplement, Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, and Heating Supplements.
For more detailed information, visit the official pages on the Supplementary Welfare Allowance on the Citizens Information website and on the gov.ie website
Claiming Your Tax Back
YOU CAN CLAIM EVERYTHING IN THE CSI FOODLIST!
We have had successful engagements with the Revenue Commissioners since 2022 in relation to claiming relief on gluten-free food purchases. The Coeliac Society provides a copy of the annual Food List to Revenue so that it is readily accessible to Revenue’s compliance staff only.
Should you still have issues when seeking to make a claim for your gluten-free purchases please contact the Society and we will endeavour to help you.
Please make sure you read this section very carefully!
- If you are making a claim during the same year as the purchase, you will need to upload a copy of the receipt for the product.
- Claims for tax relief on qualifying health expenses made after the year end by way of filing an Income Tax Return do not require the provision of receipts at the time of the claim.
- You MUST keep your receipts for all gluten-free foods purchased – it is at the discretion of the Revenue Commissioners who they decide to audit and when.
- You MUST keep all receipts you put forward on a claim for a minimum of four years.
- You can claim for foods on the Coeliac Society’s annual food list, but you MUST have proof of purchase.
- You can only claim for relief on gluten-free foods if you have a letter from your doctor confirming your diagnosis with coeliac disease.
Some members observed during 2023 that when completing the health expenses form on the Revenue website, it was necessary to upload receipts in the Receipt Tracker before a claim could be submitted. We requested clarification on this step that that uploading health receipts is a prerequisite for availing of a tax reclaim.
Revenue response: Claims for tax relief on qualifying health expenses, in this case the cost of foods that have been specifically manufactured to be gluten-free, can be made during the year the expenditure is incurred or, after the year end. The benefit of making a claim during the year, as opposed to after year end, is earlier repayment of tax relief. Claims during the year are made via Revenue’s “Real Time Credit” facility which can be accessed through a taxpayer’s “myAccount”. When a real time claim is made it is required that the taxpayer provides receipts at the time of claim via the “Receipts Tracker” service. Part 4.1.1 of Revenue’s Health Expenses Tax and Duty Manual Part 15-01-12, states “to claim tax relief in real time, taxpayers will be required to provide details of the qualifying health expenses and nursing home fees they have incurred, along with a readable image of their receipts”.
Some members experienced being told by Revenue Officials that the receipt must state that the product is gluten free.
Revenue response: A taxpayer may be asked to provide additional documentation in support of his or her claim. Revenue does not specify the exact form such additional documentation should take, although it should contain sufficient information to satisfy the Revenue. officer dealing with the claim that the costs incurred by the taxpayer relate to foods which have been specifically manufactured to be gluten free.
In verifying claims for tax relief on gluten free food, Revenue officials may therefore accept:
- i) a chemist or supermarket receipt;
- ii) evidence from food packaging; or
- iii) an annual statement from a multiple, in support of a claim, if the information provided clearly demonstrates that the foods purchased have been specifically manufactured to be gluten free and show details of the expenditure incurred.
We emphasised with the Revenue Commissioners that products listed in our Food List may not always bear the label ‘gluten-free’ on the receipt. We re-affirmed that these products undergo a stringent evaluation process by our food experts to ensure they are indeed gluten-free, devoid of cross-contamination, and safe for consumption by our coeliac community.
However, some of our members experienced being told by Revenue Officials that the receipt must state that the product is gluten free and that they have never heard of the Coeliac Society of Ireland’s gluten free food list.
Revenue response: There may be administrative efficiencies if you could share this list (as updated) with Revenue and we could consider including this in the Health Expenses Tax and Duty Manual, so that it is readily accessible to our compliance staff, but we can redact it so that it is not visible outside Revenue if that’s your preference.
So we send a copy of the food list to Revenue every year to help them – issue solved!
In verifying claims for tax relief on gluten free food, Revenue officials may accept:
- (i) a chemist or supermarket receipt;
- (ii) evidence from food packaging: or
- (iii) an annual statement from a multiple
in support of a claim, if the information provided clearly demonstrates that the foods purchased have been specifically manufactured to be gluten free and show details of the expenditure incurred.
Revenue officials may also accept information from the Coeliac Society of Ireland’s annual Food List if it is provided by a taxpayer in support of his or her claim for tax relief, together with proof of the expenditure incurred.
Taxback & the Coeliac Society
Coeliac Society of Ireland have partnered with Taxback to help you claim your maximum tax refund easily online.
Their team will guide you through the process of claiming your tax entitlements. They will manage the paperwork for you and even transfer your money straight to your bank account. It really is that easy. So why leave your money with the taxman?
Here are five of the most common reasons you may be due a tax refund.
The good news is that tax relief is available on an extensive list of medical expenses.
So, if you have paid to visit a GP, consultant, physio or for maternity care or non-routine dental costs (such as braces or routine canal treatment) you are entitled to claim 20% of the fees back from the taxman as a refund.
In late 2022, the Irish government launched a new tax relief – the Rent Tax Credit – with the aim of supporting the thousands of property renters across Ireland.
The new Rent Tax Credit is worth €500 per year for a single individual and €1,000 for a married couple. And everyone who contributes towards the rent of a property is entitled to claim.
To avail of the tax relief, the first thing you need to do is to get a letter (a prescription will not suffice) from your doctor or GP which confirms your coeliac diagnosis.
Although you don’t need to upload receipts at the time of claiming your tax relief, you should still keep the receipts for all gluten-free products that you’ve purchased for 6 years, this is in case Revenue choose you for an audit.
Did you know that if you work from home you can claim tax back on your utility bills?
It’s true! Tax relief is available on electricity, heating, and broadband costs.
To qualify you must work from home either full or part-time and contribute toward the cost of the bills.
A Flat Rate Expense is a type of tax relief or tax credit that is available to thousands of workers in Ireland across a wide range of occupations.
The aim behind Flat Rate Expenses is to help with costs associated with work (for instance, uniforms, tools and equipment).
There is a set amount allocated to each occupation – and exactly how much you can claim will depend on your job.
For example, shop assistants are entitled to claim €121, bar staff can avail of €93 and nurses are due €526. So be sure to check out what you can claim.
