Medical expenses of disabled dependent qualify for tax rebate

S C Vasudeva
I am government employee and my gross salary for 2015-16 is Rs 7,00,000. My savings under Section 80C are Rs 1,50,000. My nine-year-old son is born with hearing impairment. But a disability certificate was prepared in January 2016 and the civil surgeon has declared him 86% hearing impaired. My son is financially dependent on me. I have spent Rs 60,000 in June 2015 on purchasing hearing aids and other medical expenses. I am hoping for reimbursement of Rs 36,000 next year. I have been monthly spending Rs 2,500 on his speech therapy. Calculate my tax liability. — Ashok Kumar
According to provisions of Section 80DD of the Income Tax Act, 1961, where an assessee, being an individual who is resident in India, has during the previous year incurred any expenditure for the medical treatment (including nursing, training and rehabilitation) of a dependent, being a person with disability, he/she shall be allowed a deduction of Rs 75,000 from his gross total income in respect of the previous year.

You will, therefore, be entitled to claim a deduction of Rs 75,000 from your total income. In case your son is having a severe disability, the admissible deduction shall be Rs 1,00,000.

I am a super senior citizen and retired Central government employee. I am covered under the Central government’s health scheme. I was referred to Fortis Hospital, Mohali, for an angiography and heart treatment on a cashless treatment basis i.e. a hospital was not to charge any amount and the expenses were to be borne by the government on a package basis. But the hospital charged Rs 1,62,750 extra as two stents inserted were of superior quality. Below are the details of treatment

Total ordinary treatment charges Rs 2,90,434

CGHS package Rs 1,27,684

Patient share Rs 1,62,750

Will I draw tax deduction on Rs 1,62,750 paid by me provided that the amount is not reimbursable under the health scheme? — Rajinder Mohan Singh
Section 80D of the Act has been amended by the Finance Act 2015. The amended Section provides that an assessee who is an individual shall be entitled to a deduction to the extent of Rs 30,000 being aggregate of the following amounts.

a) Insurance premium to effect or keep in force an insurance policy on the health of the assessee or contribution to the CGHS scheme or any payment made on account of preventive health check-up of the assessee.

b) The whole amount paid on account of medical expenditure incurred on the health of the assessee or any member of his family.

Therefore in case you have not paid any CGHS contribution or premium for any medical insurance, you should be able to claim a deduction to the extent of Rs 30,000 being the maximum permissible amount towards the expenditure incurred for your angiography. Such deduction is admissible with effect from the assessment year 2016-17 and onwards.