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Can my wife claim medical expenses that we pay jointly on her return alone?

Posted 20 August 2014

Both my wife and I are employed taxpayers. Her gross salary is in the order of 24000/month and mine is in the order of 34000/month as of January 1st of next year (it's slightly less at the moment). Our medical aid payment is about R1900/month. Last year, I didn't get any benefit for this on my tax return, since the total contributions were less than 7.5% of my salary. Is it legal and acceptable for me to stop claiming any medical expenses on my tax return, and having her claim it all on hers? If my calculations are correct, the total is more than 7.5% of her gross salary, so at least she would get some benefit from the money we're paying every month. Also, should we shift the membership to her name or can we keep it in my name and just claim it back on her return?

TaxTim TaxTim says:
22 August 2014 at 14:06

You should still have received a credit for the contributions to medical aid, these are not the same as the 7.5% threshold, that is for out of pocket expenses. On your IRP5, you should have seen something under the PAYE next to code 4116.

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