Medicare entitlement statement requests now online

A Medicare Entitlement Statement (MES) tells you the period during a financial year that you weren’t eligible for Medicare.

If you weren’t eligible, you might be exempt from paying the Medicare levy in your tax return.

You need a MES to apply for the Medicare levy exemption in your tax return. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will decide if you need to pay the Medicare levy.

You must get a new MES each year you claim a Medicare levy exemption. Just because you claimed the exemption before, doesn’t mean you’ll get it every year.

Before you apply for a MES, check that you weren’t eligible for Medicare. Even if you don’t have a Medicare card, you may still have been eligible. Read more about enrolling in Medicare.

If you were eligible for Medicare for the whole financial year, you can’t get a MES.

You may get a MES if you were any of the following:

• an Australian permanent resident and lived outside Australia for 12 months or more

• a temporary visa holder and you hadn’t applied for permanent residence

• a temporary visa holder, and you’re not eligible for Medicare under a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement

• a New Zealand citizen who spent less than 6 months in Australia within a 12 month period

• an Australian citizen living overseas for 5 years or more.

You can apply for MES online using your myGov account.

If you don’t want to complete the MES online form, you can follow these steps:

• download the MES application form

• complete the application

• upload it to myGov with your supporting documents.

If you can’t upload the form and supporting documents to myGov, you can either:

• email them to servicesaustralia

• post them using the details on the form.

We as the tax agent can apply for you as well.