To claim a Medicare levy exemption in Australia, work out which of the three exemption categories fits your situation, get a Medicare Entitlement Statement from Services Australia using Form MS015 if you were a temporary resident not entitled to Medicare, and then enter the exempt days on your tax return in myTax. Without that statement, the Australian Taxation Office will charge the full 2% Medicare levy on your taxable income.1Australian Taxation Office. What Is the Medicare Levy
Work Out Which Exemption Category You Fall Into
The ATO recognises three exemption categories, and only one of them requires the MS015 process.
Category 1 — medical conditions. You may claim a full or half exemption if you received a pension on the basis of blindness, were entitled to full free treatment for all conditions under Defence Force arrangements, or held a Repatriation Health Card (Gold Card) from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Whether the exemption is full or half turns on your dependants: no dependants (or all dependants themselves exempt or paying the levy) gives you a full exemption, while a dependant who is neither exempt nor a levy-payer reduces it to half.2Australian Taxation Office. Medical Exemption From Medicare Levy Category 1 is claimed directly on your return; no statement from Services Australia is required.
Category 2 — foreign residents. If you were a foreign resident for tax purposes for all or part of the year, you don’t pay the levy for those days. You claim this on your tax return without a Medicare Entitlement Statement, but keep records of your residency dates.3Services Australia. Medicare and Tax
Category 3 — not entitled to Medicare. This is the category that requires Form MS015. It covers people who lived or worked in Australia during the income year but were not entitled to Medicare benefits at any point, most often temporary visa holders without a permanent-residency pathway. You must have a Medicare Entitlement Statement in hand before claiming this exemption on your return.4Services Australia. Medicare Entitlement Statement
One important limit on Category 3: Australia has reciprocal healthcare agreements with Belgium, Finland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Ireland, Slovenia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.5Services Australia. About Reciprocal Health Care Agreements If you are a resident of one of those countries and enrolled in Medicare under the agreement, you are treated as entitled to Medicare for levy purposes and cannot claim the Category 3 exemption.
Gather Your Documents Before You Start
Missing paperwork is the main reason MS015 applications stall. Have the following ready:6Services Australia. How to Get a Medicare Entitlement Statement
- A clear copy of the passport page showing your name and photo.
- A copy of the visa you held during the financial year (or each visa, if more than one).
- If you applied for permanent residency during the year, the letter from the Department of Home Affairs showing the date your application was received, granted, refused, or withdrawn.
- If your permanent residency application was refused and you appealed to the Administrative Review Tribunal, Federal Court, or High Court, proof of the appeal or of any ministerial intervention request.
- A copy of your European Health Insurance Card or other overseas health insurance, if relevant.
- Your tax file number, so the statement can be linked to your tax records.
If you’re sending copies rather than originals, they must be certified by an authorised person, such as a justice of the peace, a pharmacist or other registered health practitioner, a police officer, an Australia Post manager, or a practising solicitor. The list of authorised witnesses varies slightly by state.
Apply Online Through myGov
The fastest way to lodge Form MS015 is through the Medicare Entitlement Statement dashboard inside the Individual Healthcare Identifiers (IHI) service on myGov. If the IHI service isn’t linked to your myGov account yet, you’ll be prompted to create an IHI or link the service during the process. You must be physically in Australia when you first set up the IHI, because Services Australia verifies your identity at that step.6Services Australia. How to Get a Medicare Entitlement Statement
Applications open from 1 July each year. Inside the dashboard, start a new application for the relevant financial year, upload your supporting documents, and track the claim’s status. You can opt in to myGov inbox notifications for updates. When the statement is ready, you download or print it from the dashboard.
Uploaded documents must be PDF, JPG, PNG, GIF, or BMP. Each file must be under 5 MB, and the total upload cannot exceed 10 MB. PDFs must not be password-protected, and every page must be clearly legible.
If you can’t use the dashboard because you’re overseas, Services Australia offers a separate online application form on the same web page. A tax agent authorised by you can also submit through the dashboard on your behalf.
Apply Using the Paper Form
Download and print Form MS015 from the Services Australia website.7Services Australia. Application for a Medicare Entitlement Statement Form (MS015) The form asks for your full name, date of birth, current residential and mailing addresses, tax file number, and the financial year you’re claiming. You’ll also list every visa you held during that year with the exact dates of entry and departure from Australia. If you held multiple visas, list each period of stay separately; Services Australia cross-references these dates to work out the precise number of exempt days.
If a tax agent or migration agent is handling the application, complete the authorisation section and have both parties sign. Post the form and certified supporting documents to the address printed on the form, and keep a copy of everything you send.
How Long Processing Takes
Applications lodged between July and November can take up to eight weeks, because that window overlaps with tax season and is the busiest time of the year.8Services Australia. After You Apply for a Medicare Entitlement Statement Applications outside that window are generally quicker, though Services Australia doesn’t publish a guaranteed timeframe for the quieter months. Online applicants get the outcome through myGov; paper applicants receive a letter.
The statement specifies the exact number of days during the financial year you were not entitled to Medicare. You need a separate statement for each financial year you want to claim, and your spouse needs their own statement if they were also ineligible during the same period.3Services Australia. Medicare and Tax
Because the eight-week window can push into late October, apply as soon as possible after 1 July. If your statement hasn’t arrived by the time you need to lodge, using a registered tax agent typically extends your filing deadline to the following May, which buys time. Alternatively, you can lodge and pay the levy now, then amend the return once the statement arrives, though that means extra paperwork and a temporary overpayment.
Enter the Exemption in Your Tax Return
Once you have the statement, open your return in myTax and go to the “Medicare and private health insurance details” section, then select “Add/Edit.” Under the Medicare levy exemption heading, indicate that you were in an exemption category during the income year. You then enter two numbers: the count of days you qualify for a full 2% exemption, and the count of days for a half exemption, if applicable. When you claim full exempt days as a temporary resident, myTax asks you to confirm that you hold a Medicare Entitlement Statement from Services Australia.9Australian Taxation Office. myTax 2025 Medicare Levy Reduction or Exemption
The Australian financial year runs from 1 July to 30 June, so a full year of exemption is 365 days (366 in a leap year).10Australian Taxation Office. Preparing Your Tax Return If you were ineligible for only part of the year because your visa status changed mid-year, enter only the days your statement covers. The ATO calculates the levy reduction proportionally.
The Medicare Levy Surcharge Is a Separate Charge
An exemption from the standard 2% levy doesn’t necessarily protect you from the Medicare levy surcharge, which is a different charge that catches many people off guard. Temporary residents who qualify for a Category 3 exemption are still potentially liable for the surcharge if their income exceeds the thresholds and they don’t hold appropriate private hospital cover.11Australian Taxation Office. Paying the Medicare Levy Surcharge
The surcharge applies when your income for MLS purposes exceeds $101,000 as a single or $202,000 as a family and you don’t hold appropriate private patient hospital cover for yourself, your spouse, and your dependants for the full year. For the 2025–26 income year the rates are 1% (Tier 1: singles $101,001–$118,000, families $202,001–$236,000), 1.25% (Tier 2: singles $118,001–$158,000, families $236,001–$316,000), and 1.5% (Tier 3: singles above $158,000, families above $316,000). The family threshold rises by $1,500 for each MLS dependent child after the first.12Australian Taxation Office. Medicare Levy Surcharge Income, Thresholds and Rates The surcharge isn’t withheld from your pay; it’s calculated when you lodge. Cancelling your private cover while overseas, even briefly, can also trigger the surcharge for that period.
Low-Income Reduction Is a Different Path
If none of the exemption categories fit, you may still pay a reduced levy or nothing at all if your taxable income is below certain thresholds. For the 2024–25 income year, individuals earning $27,222 or less paid no levy, and those eligible for the Seniors and Pensioners Tax Offset had a higher threshold of $43,020.13Australian Taxation Office. Medicare Levy Reduction for Low-Income Earners The reduction is calculated automatically in myTax with no separate form, so check whether you qualify before assuming you owe the full levy.
What Happens If You Claim Wrongly
Claiming an exemption you’re not entitled to creates a shortfall on your return, and the ATO treats that like any other false or misleading statement. The base penalty is 25% of the shortfall for failure to take reasonable care, 50% for recklessness, and 75% for intentional disregard. The ATO can increase or reduce the base penalty depending on the circumstances, and may remit it entirely where that is considered fair and reasonable.14Australian Taxation Office. Penalties for Making False or Misleading Statements If you used a registered tax agent and gave them the correct information, the safe harbour rule generally protects you from penalties caused by the agent’s own error.
The practical point: don’t tick the exemption box on your return until the Medicare Entitlement Statement is actually in your hands.