Section 80DDB: Deduction for Treatment of Specified Diseases

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Hiral Vakil

Chapter VI-A
HUF
Section 80DDB
Last updated on January 18th, 2024

In today’s world, dealing with hefty medical bills, especially for severe illnesses, can be a major financial strain. The continuous expenses over a person’s lifetime create a significant financial burden. Hence section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act allows you to deduct the money you spend on treating severe diseases, providing some relief from the financial load.

Section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act

Section 80DDB provides a deduction for medical treatment of specified diseases. This deduction can only be claimed if an individual or HUF has incurred expenses towards the maintenance and care of self or dependent family members.

Diseases covered under 80DDB

The following diseases are covered under the 80DDB deduction:

Eligibility to claim 80DDB deduction

Any of the following taxpayer or dependents who suffers from the disease mentioned under section 80DDB is eligible to claim the deduction of medical expenditure incurred.

In the case of an individual:

Note: Dependent includes children, spouse, parents or siblings.

In the case of HUF:

Deduction limit for section 80DDB

The deduction amount will depend on the age of the person for whom such expenses are incurred.

Age of the person who is undergoing the treatmentDeduction Limit
< 60 yearsINR 40,000 or actual expense whichever is less
>= 60 years INR 1,00,000 or actual expense whichever is less

Important Points:

How is the Deduction Calculated Under Section 80DDB?

Actual expenses for treatmentxxx
Maximum (INR 40,000/1,00,000)xxx
Whichever is lowerxxx
Less: Insurance claim(xxx)
Amount of deductionxxx

To understand the calculation better, let us take an example:

Scenario 1:

Abhijeet is 35 years old and incurs an expense of INR 70,000 on the medical treatment of a specific disease. He also receives INR 25,000 as reimbursement from the insurance company against the expenses he has incurred.

As Abhijeet has already been reimbursed for INR 25,000, he will be able to claim a deduction of INR 15,000 (INR 40,000 minus the amount received by the insurance company, i.e., INR 25,000) under Section 80DDB as his age is less than 60 years.

Scenario 2:

Ashutosh is 40 years old and incurs an expense of INR 70,000 on the medical treatment of a specific disease. His insurance company reimbursed INR 50,000 against the expenses he made.

In this scenario, Ashutosh will not be able to claim a deduction under Section 80DDB, as the reimbursement by the insurance company is already more than the permissible limit u/s 80DDB. (It is, however, important to note that if Ashustosh were to incur this expense for a senior citizen then, he will be permissible deduction u/s 80DDB for a Senior citizen would be up to Rs. 1,00,000)

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Required documents

For claiming the deduction under this section, the invoices are required for the expenditure. Further, it is mandatory to provide valid proof via the certificate of the disease. A medical practitioner can issue the certificate as shown in the table below.

DiseaseEligible Person who can issue certificate
Neurological Diseases where the disability level is proven to be 40% and above

(a) Dementia
(b) Dystonia Musculorum Deformans
(c) Motor Neuron Disease
(d) Ataxia
(e) Chorea
(f) Hemiballismus
(g) Aphasia
(h) Parkinsons Disease
A neurologist who has an MD degree in Neurology

Or

any degree that the medical council of India recognizes as equivalent.
Malignant CancersAny specialist who has a postgraduate degree in general or internal medicine

Or

any degree that the Medical Council of India recognizes as equivalent.
AIDS (Full Blown Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome)Any specialist who has a postgraduate degree in general or internal medicine

Or

any degree that the medical council of India reconizes as equivalent.
Chronic Renal FailureChronic Renal Failure A nephrologist who has an MD degree in Nephrology. Or a urologist who has a Master Chirurgiae (M.Ch.) degree in Urology

Or

any degree that the Medical Council of India recognizes as equivalent.
Hematological Disorders
(i) Haemophilia
(ii) Thalassaemia
A specialist who has an MD degree in Hematology

Or

any degree that the Medical Council of India recognizes as equivalent.
Earlier, a certificate was required to be obtained and submitted in Form No. 10-I to claim this deduction which has been duly omitted now. You can therefore acquire the same but it not mandatory to provide the form along with your income tax return in order to claim the deduction.
Tip
Earlier, a certificate was required to be obtained and submitted in Form No. 10-I to claim this deduction which has been duly omitted now. You can therefore acquire the same but it not mandatory to provide the form along with your income tax return in order to claim the deduction.

Content of Certificate

The acquired certificate must have the following details:

  1. Name and Age of Patient
  2. Name of the Disease
  3. Details of the specialist issuing the prescription, such as Name, Address, Registration Number, Qualification
  4. The name and address of the hospital if the treatment was taken in a government hospital
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ITR Form Applicable for Section 80DDB

The taxpayer can claim deductions u/s 80DDB while filing ITR if all the conditions are met. Individuals or HUFs can claim 80DDB in any of the ITR forms, i.e., ITR 1ITR 2ITR 3, and ITR 4 depending upon their income sources.

FAQs

What diseases does Section 80DDB cover?

Specified diseases such as AIDs, cancer, dementia, neurological diseases, etc. are covered under 80DDB.

Are all types of cancers covered under section 80DDB?

No, section 80DDB only covers Malignant Cancer.

What is the difference between 80DD & 80DDB?

80DD relates to medical costs incurred for the treatment of disabled dependents.
While 80DDB relates to medical costs incurred towards the treatment of specified diseases for self and dependents. Further, the taxpayer can claim the deduction under both sections simultaneously.

Can I claim medical expenses for outpatient treatment?

Yes, section 80DDB allows to claim the deduction for inpatient as well as for outpatient expenses.

Got Questions? Ask Away!

  1. Am i eligible to claim 80ddb and 80u simultaneously?

  2. Hi @Zainab_Hawa1,

    Yes, you can claim both deductions at the same time provided 80U is claimed for yourself and 80DD is claimed for a disabled dependent.

  3. Hi @bhotlu

    Quicko does support deduction on medical expenditures for senior citizens.

    Here’s the article on how to add tax breaks on Quicko.

    If you still face any issue, let me know.

  4. Hi @bhotlu

    Quicko does support deduction on medical expenditures for senior citizens.

    Here’s the article on how to add tax breaks on Quicko.

    If you still face any issue, let me know.

  5. Hi @bhotlu

    Thank you for bringing this issue to our notice. We checked you have also raised a ticket regarding the same.

    Our team is working on resolving the problem and will provide you with a response through the ticket as soon as we have a solution in place.

  6. Hi @Aman_Jain1

    You can claim medical expenses + premium + preventive health checkups for your senior citizen parents of up to ₹50,000.
    You cannot claim a deduction of the amount which your employer is paying as group insurance but you can claim the extra amount which you are paying and which is not covered under the group health insurance provided by the employer.

  7. Hi @mbharwani

    If in the certificate it is mentioned that the disability exists since 2012, you can claim it in FY 2022-23 as well.

  8. Hello @Shrutika_Shah ,
    Recently i had a surgery which costed me around 85K , my corporate insurance company reimbursed only 60K So my question here is Can I show remaining 25k as medical expense ? if yes please provide the details.

  9. Hi, I have Medical Insurance Premium of amount 15000 as my CTC component. Can I avail tax benefit under 80 D on this amount?

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