Section 80DDB of Income Tax Act: Diseases Covered, Form, Certificate & Claiming Deductions

Last Updated : March 10, 2023, 6:26 p.m.

Section 80DDB offers deduction to HUFs and individuals for medical expenses incurred for proper treatment of specified ailments or diseases, which are deducted from the Gross income while calculating the assessee’s taxable income. Deductions under this Section 80DDB cannot be claimed against capital gains that are long-term, capital gains that are short-term covered under section 111A, winnings from lotteries and horse races, or similar kinds of income covered under section 115BB or payment that is protected under 115AB, 115A, 115AD, 115D, and 115BBA.

List of Deductions under Section 80DDB

Section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act tells about deductions regarding expenses incurred for proper medical treatment of specific ailments or diseases. This Section 80DDB offers that if a person or a HUF needs to bear medical costs for the treatment procedure of some particular disease or illness, those expenses can be allowed as a deduction. However, that deduction is subject to specified conditions and capped at some fixed amount shown under Section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act.

Here, this Section 80DDB states the medical expenses incurred on properly treating some particular ailments or diseases, which must not be confused with the premium paid for health insurance bought to cover those ailments. Those health insurance fees are covered under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act.

What kind of individuals can claim for deduction under Section 80DDB?

Only HUFs and individuals can claim for deduction under Section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act. This means no corporate or any other entity can claim for deduction under this specific section. Moreover, deduction under Section 80DDB can be claimed by the assessee who is an Indian resident during the relevant previous year. Meaning this section cannot be applied to non-resident Indians.

In addition, it is imperative that deduction under Section 80DDB can be claimed only by those individuals who have incurred the expenses. Hence, in this Section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act, a deduction can be claimed by the HUF or an individual who has incurred those medical expenses.

What types of treatments are included under Section 80DDB?

Deduction under this specific section is allowed for medical costs incurred to treat some particular ailments. The nature of those ailments which are included under this Section 80DDB is mentioned in Income Tax’s 11DD rule. Some of those ailments and diseases are:

• Malignant Cancer
• Chronic Renal failure.
• AIDS
• Haematological issues like Thalassaemia or Hemophilia.
• Neurological Diseases as specified by a specialist, where the actual level of disability has been certified to be more than 40% and also covers Motor Neuron, Dementia, Chorea, Dystonia musculorum deformans, Ataxia, Parkinson’s Disease, Aphasia, Hemiballismus.

Hence, a proper prescription is needed by a specialist in the field of medicine. Another important fact is that all the mentioned degrees need to be recognized by the Medical Council of India.

Suppose the treatment procedure is done in a government hospital. In that case, an accurate prescription can be obtained from any relevant specialist working full-time with the institution or pursuing a postgraduate degree in general medicine.

Important Things That Must Be Mentioned In The Prescription

The prescription has to be obtained from professional and qualified doctors with relevant specializations. Previously, the prescription had to be submitted in Form 10-1; however, this procedure is done away with w.e.f AY 2016-17. The prescription needs to specify the following things now:

• Name of the patient.
• Name of the disease or Ailment.
• Age of the patient.
• Name, registration number, and address of the relevant specialist doctor issuing the prescription.
• The form needs to be appropriately signed by the head or doctor of a government hospital, as the case may be.
• In case of the treatment procedure is performed in a government hospital, the prescription needs to mention the name and address of that government hospital.

Lastly, the assessee should submit the correctly filled prescription to the Income Tax department. Also, he needs to submit the Income Tax Return with this.

Format of Section 80DDB form

Any person can claim a deduction under this section for expenses incurred towards treatment for specific ailments and diseases for any of his dependents or even himself.

The procedure of filling up the Section 80DDB form

This form includes several details that need to be filled in to claim a deduction. The step-by-step guideline for filling out this form is as follows:

• Step 1: Mention the applicant’s name.
• Step 2: Mention the applicant’s father’s name and address of the applicant.
• Step 3: Mention the name and address of the person on whom the applicant is dependent, along with the relationship with the applicant.
• Step 4: Before filling in the column of the name of the ailment or disease, please see Rule 11DD.
• Step 5: Mention if the disability is 40% or much more for ailments and diseases.
• Step 6: Now, enter the name, registration number, address, and qualification of the specialist issuing the certificate. Also, mention the name and address of the government hospital.
• Step 7: Lastly, fill in the verification section stating that all information is correct and complete the form with your signature.

Procedure Of Adjusting The Amount Of Deduction With Any Reimbursement

The actual amount of deduction that may be claimed under Section 80DDB needs to be modified by such an amount that can be received from the insurer against a specific health insurance policy or even be reimbursed by the employer.

Hence, if an assessee incurs expense on medical treatment of some particular ailments of Rs. 60,000/-, then he or she can claim a deduction of Rs. 40,000/- under Section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act.

However, if the assessee has received Rs. 30,000/- from an insurance company against those expenses, then the amount he or she can claim under Section 80DDB will be reduced by such an amount. Thus, the assessee can claim an amount of Rs. 10,000/- under section 80DDB.

Moreover, if the amount received from the insurance company against the expense of Rs. 60,000/- is Rs. 50,000/-, that is more than the permitted amount of Rs. 40,000/-, then the assessee cannot claim any deduction under Section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act.

Conclusion

Section 80DDB offers deductions to individuals and HUFs for their medical expenses, which they need to spend for some specified ailments or diseases. So, individuals can fill up the form and claim the money according to this Section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act.