Tax deduction allowed for treatment of specified ailments

In order to claim this deduction, it is mandatory that expenditure should have been incurred for diseases specified by the Act


Personal Tax

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My father had a stroke last year and is completely bed ridden. He requires lot of medicines every month. Can we claim this under the deduction for disabled people? What proof do we need to show to claim this deduction – Parag Chaturvedi

The Income-tax Act provides deduction of the expenditure incurred in or after FY 2018-19 for treating certain specified diseases or ailment as specified in the Act (namely, neurological diseases, malignant cancers, etc, mentioned in Rule 11DD of the Income tax Rule, 1962), for an amount equals to Rs 40,000 or actual amount paid, whichever is less. The amount of Rs 40,000 shall increase to Rs 1,00,000 in case he is a senior citizen. However, such deduction shall be reduced by the amount, if any, received under an insurance from the insurer, or reimbursed by an employer for such medical treatment. Moreover, you shall be required to obtain the prescription of such medical treatment from such specialist. In order to claim this deduction, it is mandatory that expenditure should have been incurred for diseases specified by the Act.

Whereas, if the diseases is not a specified disease, deduction can be claimed under section 80D of the Income-tax Act for the medical expenditure incurred on the health of your father provided that there is no medical insurance policy existing in his name. Assuming your father is a senior citizen, the maximum amount of deduction permissible for this purpose is Rs 50,000 for the expenditure incurred on or after the FY 2018-19.

I am co-borrower of home loan taken by my son who is an NRI. Loan instalments are being paid by my son directly. My daughter transferred Rs 1.5 Lakh to my bank account which I paid for prepayment of my son's home loan as mentioned above. Will this transaction have any tax implication for me? – A D Dechaudhari

Any sum of money received from relative is treated as gift and is exempt from income tax. The amount received from daughter qualifies as gift from relative under the Income-tax Act. Therefore, there will not be any tax liability on the sum of Rs 1.5 lakh received by you from your daughter and utilised for re-payment of loan.

Chirag Nangia, Director, Nangia Advisors (Andersen Global)

Send your queries related to personal tax to personalfinance@dnaindia.net.