80D: Deduction for Premium on Health Insurance

As per taxation law, taxpayers are not allowed to deduct their personal expenses from their total income unless otherwise allowed. The government has provided some income tax relief under chapter VI-A. One of such relief is the deduction of expense on insurance premium taken on the health of assessee, family or parents.

Insurance premium for your health or for your family or parents is deductible expenditure from the total income under section 80D.

Q1: Who can take deduction u/s 80D?

An: Any taxpayer being individual or HUF(Hindu undivided family) can take the deduction under section 80D. Even non-resident individual/HUF are also allowed to take the deduction under section 80D.

Q2: Whose expenditure can be claimed u/s 80D?

An: An individual taxpayer can claim the deduction for health insurance premium or health expenditure(only for super senior citizen) paid by the individual out of his taxable income for (a) Himself/herself (b) FamilyFamily includes the spouse of the assessee and dependent children of the assessee (c) Parents.Parents means parent of the assessee whether dependent or not

A HUF can claim the deduction for health insurance premium or health expenditure(only for super senior citizenSenior citizen for this purpose mean a resident individual whose age at any time during the relevant previous year is at least 80 years ) paid by the HUF out of his taxable income for the members of HUF.

Q3: What are the expenses that can be claimed u/s 80D?

An: Under section 80D, you can claim the deduction for the following expenditure:

(a) Medi-claim insurance premium
(b) Contribution to any health scheme of Central Govt. or any other scheme notified by central govt. (HUF cannot take this)
(c) Payment on account of preventive health checkup (HUF cannot take this)
(d) Medical expenditure of a super senior citizen (80 years or above)

These expenditures should not be made in cash. However, payment on account of preventive health checkup can be paid in cash.

Q4: What are the maximum deduction available under section 80D?

An: From the financial year 2015-16 (AY 2016-17), maximum deduction under section 80D are:

For Individual taxpayers	Age Below 60 yrs	Age 60 yrs or above
Family (incuding assessee)	25,000	30,000
Parents	25,000	30,000

For HUF taxpayers				Age Below 60 yrs	Age 60 yrs or above
Family members of HUF				25,000	30,000

Therefore maximum deduction for an indivudial under section 80D is Rs.60,000/- if both family and parents are of age of 60 years or more at any time during the relevant previous year and for HUF maximum deduction u/s 80D is Rs.30,000/- only.

Q5: Is Medical expenditure allowed as deduction under section 80D?

An: Yes, medical expenditure for super senior citizen is allowed as expenditure u/s 80D if no payment has been made to keep in force an insurance on the health of such person. Maximum dedction for medical expenditure u/s 80D shall not exceed Rs.30,000/-.

However any expenditure as mentioned in Q3 shall not exceed the limit as provided in Q4’s answers.