Medical emergencies always take us by surprise. It is always better to be safe than sorry, and it is no different when it comes to medical insurance.
The majority of the population in India are not covered under health insurance and depend on their savings or borrowing in times of medical emergencies. A must in your investment portfolio, the government encourages everyone to buy medical insurance and allows you to avail tax deductions on it under Section 80D.
Every individual or HUF can claim a deduction from their total income for medical insurance premiums paid in any given year under section 80D. This deduction is also available for top-up health plans and critical illness plans.
The deduction benefit is available not only for a health insurance plan for self but one can also take the advantage of buying the policy to cover spouse, or your dependent children or parent.
The best part is that it is over and above the deductions claimed under section 80C.
Deduction for medical insurance premiums as well as medical expenses for senior citizens is allowed to the Individual or HUF category of taxpayers only.
Individual or HUF taxpayers, insurance can be availed for :
Any other entity cannot claim this deduction, For example, a Company or a firm cannot claim deduction under this section.
An individual or HUF can claim deduction under section 80D for the below-mentioned payments:
The amount of deduction allowed under section 80Dm is Rs 25000 in a financial year. In the case of senior citizens, the deduction limit allowed is Rs. 50,000.
The below table captures the amount of deduction currently available FY 2020-21 and FY 2019-20 to an individual taxpayer under various scenarios:
Scenario | Premium paid (Rs) | Deduction under 80D (Rs) | |
---|---|---|---|
Self, family, children | Parents | ||
Individual and parents below 60 years | 25,000 | 25,000 | 50,000 |
Individual and family below 60 years but parents above 60 years | 25,000 | 50,000 | 75,000 |
Both individual, family and parents above 60 years | 50,000 | 50,000 | 1,00,000 |
Members of HUF | 25,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
Non-resident individual | 25,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
Individual:
HUF
Example:
Rohan is aged 45 years, and his father is aged 75 years. Rohan has taken a medical cover for himself and his father for which he pays insurance premiums of Rs 30,000 and Rs 35,000 respectively.
What would be the maximum amount he can claim by way of a deduction under Section 80D?
Ans: Rohan can claim up to Rs 25,000, for the premium paid on his policy. As for the policy taken for his father, who is a senior citizen, Rohan can claim up to Rs.50,000.
In the given case, the deduction is Rs 25,000 and Rs 35,000. Therefore, the total deduction that he can claim for the year is Rs 60,000.
The government introduced preventive health checkup deduction in 2013-14 to encourage citizens from being more proactive towards health. The idea of preventive health check-up is to identify the occurrence of any illness and mitigate risk factors at an early stage through frequent health checkups.
Section 80D includes a deduction of Rs 5000 for any payments made towards preventive health check-ups. This deduction will be within the overall limit of Rs 25,000/ Rs 50,000 as the case may be.
This deduction can also be claimed either by the individual for himself, spouse, dependent children or parents. The payment for preventive health check-ups can be made in cash.
For Example:
Rahul has paid a health insurance premium of Rs 23,000 for the insurance of the health of his wife and dependent children in the financial year 2019-20. He also got a health check-up done for himself and paid Rs 5,000.
Rahul can claim a maximum deduction of Rs 25,000 under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. Rs 23,000 has been allowed towards insurance premium paid, and Rs 2,000 has been allowed for a health check-up. The deduction towards preventive health check-ups has been restricted to Rs 2,000 as the overall deduction cannot exceed Rs 25,000 in this case.
Budget 2018 has introduced a new provision for claiming a deduction with regards to single premium health insurance policies. Under the new provision, where a taxpayer has made a lumpsum premium payment in a single year for a policy valid for more than one year, he can claim a deduction equal to the appropriate fraction of the amount, under Section 80D.
The appropriate fraction is arrived at, by dividing the lump sum premium paid, by the number of years of the policy. However, this would again be subject to the limits of Rs 25,000 of Rs 50,000 as the case may be.
There are many factors to be considered before purchasing health insurance. Here are some points to be considered from the standpoint of claiming deduction under section 80D and other general clauses before buying any medical insurance: