Tax season

To complete and submit your South African income tax return for the 2020 tax year, you need your medical aid scheme tax certificate. As a LA Health member you will receive your tax certificate via email, or a SMS-link, prior to the financial year-end. You can also download the certificate from our website here.

This certificate details exactly how much was paid to the medical aid for you and your dependents over the course of the tax year (1 March 2019 to 29 Feb 2020). The tax certificate also details how much money you paid for medical expense –such as any medicine or doctor’s expenses–, which you claimed for but your medical aid did not cover. This information is important for your tax return and the information included can improve your chances of getting a tax refund when you submit your return.

What is shown on your tax certificate and how is it calculated?

On your tax certificate, you are provided with the following necessary information to complete your tax return:

• Medical scheme contributions from 1 March 2019 to 29 February 2020 for this tax period only. Any backdated changes that apply to this tax period and were made after this certificate was created will be included on the tax certificate for the next tax period. When you receive an IRP5 from your employer, you should rather refer to the contribution amount on that IRP5 when completing your tax return. As a pensioner you will receive an IT3(a) certificate from your pension fund.
•  “Own portion paid on claims” refers to claims we did not cover, for example, if claims exceeded the benefit limits. We have included claims for 2020 with service dates processed up to 29 February 2020.

Please note: This “own portion paid” includes shortfall amounts for all claims processed and paid by the Scheme, whether the claims were paid from the risk benefits or from your Personal Medical Savings Account (PMSA) if you have one.

• A breakdown showing the total number of active members – main member and active dependants – each month in 2019 and 2020 (you need to list these on your tax return).

How are contributions from 1 March 2019 to 29 February 2020 calculated?

Your tax certificate shows the full contribution the Scheme received as this is what the South African Revenue Service (SARS) populates on their eFiling system. We may; however, in some cases show the split in contribution and point you to supporting documents like IRP5s or IT3(a), in the case of pension funds, as the source document of what was deducted.

Find out more about submitting your tax return this tax season here.

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