How to claim tax benefit on healthcare expenses

• Follow

The Covid-19 has resulted in a rise in healthcare expenses. To fully protect yourself and your family against unforeseen medical crisis, buying a health insurance becomes a must.

The Income Tax Act 1961 provides tax deduction on premium towards health insurance. As per Section 80D of the I-T Act, taxpayers can claim a deduction of up to Rs 25,000 on health insurance premium. However, for senior citizens, the deduction limit goes up to Rs 30,000.

Money9 Helpline hosted tax expert Gauri Chadha, to resolve the queries of our viewers related to claiming tax benefits from medical expenses:

Here are some questions:

Swapnil Roy, Kolkata: I paid my health insurance premium through my credit card and hospitalization bill due to Covid-19. Am I eligible for any sort of tax relief?

Chadha: You wouldn’t get any additional claim, you can just claim for the premium you have already paid. So whatever you have paid by credit card or cash you would get a claim for that.

Some employers provide medical reimbursement to their employees. The office bears the expenses for their hospitalization, that amount is fully taxable.

Rajkumar Saini: My father went through a cataract operation and had to pay an extra Rs 43,000 apart from the claim. Will I have to pay tax on the excess amount from my pocket?

Chadha: If the condition of insurance policy and senior citizen is met. Then under Section 80D, one can claim it. But in your case, you cannot claim any tax benefit.

Siddharth Patel: A complete checklist for young working-class filing their tax themselves?

Chadha: You need to ensure you have:

Your main form- Form 16

Form 26 AS

Bank statements

Statement for any other income, house property or interests, etc

Capital gains statement- mutual fund, share market, etc.

Don’t forget to show how much interest you have earned from saving bank account, FDs, etc