Originally Posted by chris955 (Post 10783883)

Holy crap, that is a ridulous amount of money, how can it be justified?

Originally Posted by chris955 (Post 10783883)

Holy crap, that is a ridulous amount of money, how can it be justified?

Originally Posted by macy (Post 10783773)

Just for those that have children that will need braces on their teeth. We are about to embark on the process and are paying $1500 upfront and then $63 per week for 18 months so around $6k.

This doesn't include the $2k of work he needed doing before the braces were to be fitted, ie. filings and extractions poor thing... after living here so long we were not that shocked by the price...

Originally Posted by h2oskineil (Post 10783987)

You can claim 20% tax back on anything over $2060.00.
http://www.etax.com.au/blog/tax-tips...-tax-deduction

Originally Posted by old.sparkles (Post 10783888)

It's considerably more than the UK - you can only get nhs braces in severe cases, but private was quoted as £1800 for young spark. Not sure on follow up appt's as we decided against it at the time as he only has a slight underbite.

Originally Posted by chris955 (Post 10784036)

I have been reading up on braces through the NHS and they seem to be widely available and definitely not just for severe cases. It was thought one of my boys might need them and we were told it wasnt a problem getting them but fortunately his teeth are correcting themselves.

Originally Posted by h2oskineil (Post 10783987)

You can claim 20% tax back on anything over $2060.00.
http://www.etax.com.au/blog/tax-tips...-tax-deduction

For tax purposes, the Australian Tax Office lumps dental expenses together with other medical expenses. Unfortunately, this means you can’t claim back your dental expenses ‘dollar for dollar’ – but there are some savings to be had.

If you have more than $2060 net medical expenses (your total medical expenses minus Medicare and private health rebates) within one tax year, you can claim 20% of the amount above $2060 as a deductible expense.

Example 1:




John spends a total of $2500 on dental and medical bills in the tax year
John received a total of $450 back from Medicare and $900 back from private health insurance
John’s net medical expenses = $2500 minus $450 (Medicare rebate) minus $900 (private health) = $1150
Because John’s net medical expenses are less than $2060, John can’t claim any medical expense deduction on his tax return

Example 2:

Mary spends a total of $7000 on dental and medical bills during one tax year
Mary received $875 back from Medicare and $2500 back from private health insurance
Mary’s net medical expenses = $7500 minus $875 (Medicare rebate) minus $2500 (private health) = $4125
Mary’s net medical expenses are more than $2060, so she can claim 20% of the amount above this threshold as a deduction
$4125 (net medical expenses) minus $2060 (ATO threshold) times 20% = $413
Mary can claim $413 as a tax deduction on her tax return

What you can claim:

Payments to dentists, orthodontists or registered dental mechanics
Payments to optometrists, including prescription glasses and contact lenses
Payments for medical aids prescribed by a doctor
Payments for laser eye surgery
Payments for artificial limbs or eyes and hearing aids
What you can’t claim:

Payments to a private health provider for insurance
Travel or accommodation expenses associated with you dental treatment
Dental services that are purely cosmetic
Non-prescription, chemist-type items sold 'over the counter' such as tablets for pain relief.

Originally Posted by old.sparkles (Post 10784037)

Well I only know what I was told when young spark went to see the orthodontist - they had photos of severe cases, and we were told that he would have to be in that category to get nhs funded braces.

Originally Posted by chris955 (Post 10784137)

Dont know, maybe some regional variation although there shouldnt be. They are only available if needed for a medical reason (overcrowding etc) which is fair enough and not for purely cosmetic reasons.