The SARS medical expense claim documents checklist
A practical checklist of which documents SARS needs for a medical expense claim, from your scheme's tax certificate to the bank statement that proves you paid.
SARS medical tax credit · codes 4005 · 4020 · 4034
Your medical scheme’s tax certificate stops at code 4020.
Every medical bill you paid yourself and never submitted to your scheme is invisible to SARS. We turn a year of those receipts, invoices and bank statements into a verified, SARS-ready claim under code 4034.
Read by private, local AI, never a third-party cloud AI service.
We prepare supporting documents, not tax advice.
FNB Cheque Account
12 Jul · Dr M Naidoo-1,240.00
19 Jul · Clicks Pharmacy-368.50
03 Aug · Debit order-899.00
Tax Invoice
#003842Specialist consultation, not on the scheme certificate
R 1,240.00
R177,459.64Code 4034 · additional out-of-pocket
Verified68 line items from 155 documents. One real case.
The gap most people miss
Your medical aid certificate doesn’t show everything you spent.
A medical expense claim is made up of three SARS codes. Two of them arrive on a PDF from your scheme every July, because the scheme saw those amounts. The third covers what never reached the scheme at all, and it only exists if someone works through a year of receipts against what the scheme already knows about.
Code 4005
What you paid your scheme
Your contributions for the year. This one is printed on your tax certificate, so it's easy.
Code 4020
Already on your certificate
Claims your scheme processed but didn’t pay, including your self-payment gap and upfront deductibles. Printed for you, if you know where to look.
Code 4034
What you have to find yourself
Every invoice and till slip you paid yourself and never submitted to your scheme. It never entered the claims system, so no certificate lists it.
One real, SARS-verified case
One box of receipts became a claim SARS accepted.
155Documents sorted
68Line items on the schedule
R177,459.64Verified Code 4034 claim
None of it appeared on any medical scheme certificate. It was found by matching invoices and till slips against bank statements, month by month, for a full tax year. Almost nobody has time to do that by hand. One real case, and everyone’s year is different, so treat it as an example rather than a promise.
How it works
You gather the paperwork. We do the matching.
Send what you already have. We classify every document, match it to a bank payment and check the sums. You only get asked about the handful of items that need a human decision.
See the full process- 01
Send your documents
Receipts, invoices, your medical scheme tax certificates and bank statements for the tax year.
- 02
We read and match
Private, on-device AI classifies every document and matches it to the payment on your bank statement.
- 03
You check what's flagged
Only unclear or low-confidence items come to you. The rest is already verified.
- 04
You get your pack
A numbered, submission-ready schedule and cover letter, under 5MB, ready to file.
Who this helps most
What you get back depends on your age and situation.
Under 65
25% credit on qualifying spend above 7.5% of taxable income.
A big medical year clears that bar more often than people think. An operation, a new baby, a long stretch of specialist visits.
65 and older
33.3% credit, with no income threshold at all.
From the year you turn 65, the income test falls away. The same medical spend is worth a lot more.
Living with a disability
The same 33.3% and no threshold, for you, a spouse or a dependant.
You need an ITR-DD form on file. The receipts are usually spread across specialists, therapists and equipment suppliers.
From the blog
All articles The medical tax credit, in plain English.
The medical expenses tax credit threshold: why most people miss it
A year of medical receipts never adds itself up. See how the same out-of-pocket spend clears SARS's 7.5% medical expenses tax credit threshold differently, depending on what you earn.
What is the disability medical tax credit?
If you, your spouse, or a dependant has a SARS-confirmed disability, the medical tax credit formula changes in your favour. Many people who qualify never claim it.
See what your receipts might be worth.
The free estimator uses SARS’s own medical tax credit formula. Type in your numbers and get a first idea in a minute or two. No documents needed.