I have a client who has a son with a disability and needs to attend a remedial school. As such he wants to get claim these school fees which he has paid back from his tax. The taxpayer does not have a medical aid but pays these school fees. This child is
Important:
This answer is based on tax law year ending 28 February 2019.
Answer:
The first requirement that is relevant to your request is found in section 6B(3)(b) of the Income Tax Act. We copy the relevant part for your convenience:
“The amount of the additional medical expenses tax credit must be … where the person … is a person with a disability, the aggregate of 33,3 per cent of …”
The tax rebate (section 6B(3)(a) then) is the same for persons over 65 or where the person is someone with a disability (section 6B(3)(b)) – one third of the expenses will be a rebate.
The next issue is that the expenses must be “qualifying medical expenses”. This is defined in section 6B(1) of the Act. We copied the part we think may be relevant below:
“qualifying medical expenses” means—
(c) any expenditure that is prescribed by the Commissioner (other than expenditure recoverable by a person or his or her spouse) necessarily incurred and paid by the person during the year o (c) any expenditure that is prescribed by the Commissioner (other than expenditure recoverable by a person or his or her spouse) necessarily incurred and paid by the person during the year of assessment in consequence of any physical impairment or disability suffered by the person or any dependant of the person.
The emphasis is here on the words ‘paid by the person’. It therefore doesn’t matter if the child is on another medical aid – all that is required is that the expenses were paid by the taxpayer.
Remember that a person with a disability, must have been duly diagnosed as such (the ITR-DD form), by a specific medical practitioner (Psychiatrist or clinical psychologist). See the SARS guide – issue 9. This form may be used by both parents.
The SARS Guide on the Determination of Medical Tax Credits (Issue 9) states the following in this regard:
Expenditure in this category (the services category) “refers to expenditure incurred and paid by the taxpayer for services acquired by him or her which are required by a person with a physical impairment or disability so that he or she can function or perform daily activities.” The guide then gives the following examples, we submit that number 7 is relevant:
“7. Special education schools for learners with disabilities. Qualifying expenses will include –
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school assistant or classroom costs; and
school fees limited to the amount in excess of the fees that would have been payable if the person attended the closest fee-paying public school not specialising in learners with special educational needs.”