I am filling out the Krankheits- und Unfallkosten part of the ZH Tax Forms and I have some questions:
1. Can costs of the following be deducted assuming that I attach the bills but I don't have any written confirmation from the doctor that these were required (some of these were recommended years ago by a doctor in my home country):
- contact lenses
- eye drops
- vitamins
- diet supplements
- mouth guard and toothpaste recommended by the dentist
- COVID tests taken abroad
- creams and washing gels recommended by the dermatologist
2. How to determine the exchange rate for the costs paid abroad?
3. Assuming that costs of diet supplements can be deducted, can I deduct also the customs duty costs paid when ordering these from abroad?
As others mentioned there is a min and a max to deduct. If you are using the online tool, I would start by putting roughly the amount you are optimistically trying to deduct and see what the tool says - if the deduction is still 0, you saved yourself the hassle of answering all other questions
You get a statement from your insurer and you can add the costs that are written there which are your portion. Pretty sure you cannot deduct vitamins....
For tax rate for similar stuff I have always used 31/12 tax rate and just specified what I used.
Basic health insurance in Switzerland does not cover contact lenses. I have not sent these bills to the insurer and hence they are not included in the statement from the insurer. Am I allowed to deduct bills for contact lenses even if they were prescribed to me by a doctor in my home country many years ago I and do not have that prescription any longer but I have the bills from 2021?
You can try it. Worse comes to worse they will be excluded. You do not get fined if you make a mistake in the tax declaration so no harm trying it out.
What happens if I try to deduct something which I attach bills for but it turns out to be non-deductible? Do they just calculate the higher tax or would they add a penalty?
In canton Vaud you can't deduct medical bills unless they're astronomical (something like 20% of the taxable income or something like that), but they do get deducted from the federal tax, so I laboriously list them all in my tax declaration, get 0 deduction on the cantonal/communal tax bill, but a fairly significant amount on the federal.
Remember you're in Switzerland, so each canton will do its own thing. I doubt non-prescription medications will go anywhere.
I think the lower limit is 3% of your income in Zurich, and you will deduct the excess after that.
It's easier if you send everything to your insurance anyway so that their document will list the non-reimbursed medical expenses at the end of they year, but otherwise you simply attach the bills.
Don't you get a document detailing such costs from your health insurance? I always use that. Of course it does not include things like self bought meds etc so maybe should include those ...