Section 80D provides for tax deduction from the total taxable income for the payment (by any mode other than cash) of medical insurance premium paid by an Individual or a HUF. This tax deduction is available over and above the deduction of Rs. 1,50,000 under Sec. 80C.
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The deduction under Sec 80D is allowed for making a payment to effect or keep in force an insurance policy which:-
- In case of an Individual:- Is for the health of the assessee or on the health of the wife or husband, dependent parents or dependent children of the assessee, or
- In case of HUF: Is for any Member of the Family
How much Deduction is allowed under Section 80D
The Deduction that can be claimed under Sec. 80D at the time of filing of income tax return is the sum of the following:-
- In case the payment of medical insurance premium is paid by the assesse for himself, spouse, dependent children – Rs. 25,000. In case, the person insured is a Senior Citizen, the deduction allowed should be Rs. 30,000.
- In case the payment of medical insurance premium is paid by the assesse for parents, whether dependent or not – Rs. 25,000. In case the parents of the Assessee are Senior Citizens the deduction allowed under Section 80D should be Rs. 30,000. The deduction for senior citizens has been increased from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000 from Financial Year 2018-19 onwards (Announced in Budget 2018).
As the health insurance cover for elderly comes at a relatively higher price, it is necessary to encourage senior citizens to get themselves medically insured and accordingly, the quantum of tax deduction allowed under section 80D in case the person insured is a senior citizen is Rs. 30,000 as stated above.
Thus, the total maximum deduction that can be claimed under section 80D is as follows
| Description | Medical Insurance Premium paid in respect of | Total Deduction under Sec. 80D | |
| Self, Spouse & Dependent Children | Parents (whether dependent or not) | ||
| No-one has attained the age of 60 years | Rs. 25,000 | Rs. 25,000 | Rs. 50,000 |
| Assessee and his family is less than 60 years & parents are above 60 years of age | Rs. 25,000 | Rs. 30,000 | Rs. 55,000 |
| Assessee and his parents have attained the age of 60 years and above | Rs. 30,000 | Rs. 30,000 | Rs. 60,000 |
The balance income of the taxpayer after allowing deductions would be taxable as per the income tax slabs of the taxpayer.
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Illustrative example on Section 80D
An Individual Assessee pays during Financial year 2017-18, medical insurance premium as under:-
- Rs. 24,000 as insurance policy premium on his own health &
- Rs. 29,000 as insurance policy premium on the health of his parents
In the above mentioned scenario the assessee would be allowed a deduction of Rs. 49,000 (Rs. 24,000 + Rs. 25,000) in case neither of his parents is a senior citizen. However, if any of his parents is a senior citizen, he will be allowed a deduction of Rs. 53,000 (Rs. 24,000+ Rs. 29,000)
Further in the above example, if the cost of insurance on the health of the parents is Rs. 29,000/-, out of which Rs. 17,000 is paid by the son and Rs. 12,000 is paid by the father (who is a senior citizen), out of their respective taxable income, the son will get a deduction under Section 80D of Rs. 17,000/- (in addition to Rs. 24,000 on his health) and the father will get a deduction of Rs. 12,000.
*The deduction for senior citizens has been increased to Rs. 50,000 with effect from Financial Year 2018-19 onwards.
Special Deduction for Super Senior Citizens
Super Senior Citizens are those citizens who are above the age of 80 years. Practically, there are very few insurers who provide medical insurance to people who are above the age of 80 years. And therefore, super senior citizens are unable to get medical insurance and are also not able to claim the benefit of Section 80D.
To ensure that the super senior citizens are also able to take the benefit of this section, an amendment was introduced in Section 80D in Finance Act 2015 which allowed deduction under Section 80D to senior citizens for all the medical expenses incurred by them.
After the introduction of this amendment, the total deduction allowed to super senior citizens for payment Medical Insurance Premium + Medical Expenses is Rs. 30,000. This limit has been increased to Rs. 50,000 with effect from Financial Year 2018-19 onwards.
Section 80D: Deduction for Preventive Health Check-up
A new deduction that has been allowed under this section is deduction for Preventive Health Check-up. A deduction of Rs 5000 would be allowed under Section 80D for payment of preventive health check-up of either the individual himself or his family members which include parents and dependent children.
This deduction of Rs. 5000 is not in addition to the deduction of Rs. 25,000/Rs 30,000/Rs. 50,000 stated above but is included in the above deduction.
It is important to be noted that Rs. 5000 is the maximum total deduction allowed. This deduction is not per person but in total. So if a person pays any amount for preventive health check-up of himself + dependent children + parents, the gross total deduction allowed would be Rs. 5000. This deduction will apply from Assessment Year 2013-14 and onwards.
