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During pregnancy and as a parent, you are entitled to tax relief on a number of things. This section looks at these tax reliefs such as: medical expenses, medical insurance, health insurance, carers allowance, single parent allowance, maintanance payments and more.

Premiums paid under permanent health insurance schemes are allowed as deductions for income tax purposes. The relief is granted at your highest rate of tax. The amount on which relief is granted cannot exceed 10% of your total income for the tax year.

Where you have a child who is physically or mentally incapacitated in some way, in most cases you will be eligible for extra tax relief and can claim certain expenses. It is available for adult children where the condition was diagnosed as a child and it prevents them taking an active part in the work force.

You can avail of 20% off the cost of Medical Insurance through the Private Medical Insurance Tax scheme. If you pay for Medical Insurance directly or it is paid by you through your employer, this tax relief is granted at source i.e. you are only charged a reduced premium (80% of the gross amount) by the insurer.

Tax relief may be available on certain maintenance and child support payments. However, this is a complex area and the facts of each separate case would have to be examined.

If you get married, both you and your spouse continue to be treated as single people for tax purposes in that year. If, however, the tax you pay as two single people is greater than the tax that would be payable if you were taxed as a married couple, you can claim the difference.

You are entitled to a weekly one-parent family payment if you satisfy the following conditions: The one-parent family payment is payable regardless of your age, and whether or not you are living at home with your family. Apply for the one-parent family payment as soon as possible after the birth of your baby.

A Home Carer is where one of a married couple cares for a dependent person. A married couple may claim the allowance where one spouse (the home carer) cares for one or more dependent persons. A dependent person includes: To get the full tax allowance the Home Carer's income must not exceed €5,080 in the year.

If you have paid for medical expenses in the course of the year, at the end of that year you can get a refund of part of that expense through a tax claim. This is allowed for most medical expenses that are not going to be covered by Medical Insurance or any other agency such as the health board.

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