Section 80DDB: Diseases Covered, Certificate & Deductions

Section 80DDB:

Section 80C to 80U under Chapter VI A of the Income Tax Act allows flexibility for permissible tax deductions. Section 80DDB allows specified and permissible tax deductions for certain mentioned diseases for individuals and Hindu Undivided Families. However, deductions cannot be gained for long-term capital gains.

However, it is important to note that deductions under this section are not premiums paid for health insurance bought covering such 80DDB list of diseases or ailments. Health insurance payment is covered under another section of the Income Tax Act. 

Who Can Claim Income Tax Deduction Under Section 80DDB

Following people can claim deductions under Section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act. These are given below: -

• Individuals or Hindu Undivided Families can claim deductions under Section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act.
• Resident Indians during the relevant previous financial year along with the taxpayers who have spent money on the treatment of the dependant people can claim the benefit of Section 80DDB.
• Dependants include spouses, parents, children or siblings of the person.
• If the dependant has some health or medical insurance, then such payment received by a dependant will also be liable for deduction under Section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act.

Who Cannot Claim Income Tax Deduction Under Section 80DDB?

Income Tax deduction under this act can only be claimed by individuals. Any corporate or business entity cannot claim benefits under this section. However, these deductions provided under Section 80DDB are subjected to some conditions and restrictions.

The Amount that Can be Claimed for Deduction Under Section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act

The criteria for deduction of the amount under section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act is based on the age of the person who is seeking the treatment. For the purpose of this action, senior citizen includes:

• Any person being an Indian resident who has completed the age of sixty years or more during the relevant previous year.
• Very senior citizen includes people of eighty years or more than eighty years of age.
• The deduction amount that can be claimed under this section is given in the table mentioned below: -

List of Diseases Covered Under Section 80DDB

Income tax deduction under section 80DDB can be claimed for below-specified 80DDB diseases.

Who Can Issue Certificates Under Section 80DDB

The above table shown the 80DDB deduction diseases list. Specialist doctors mentioned in the above-mentioned table can issue 80DDB certificate from private hospital to people who are claiming deductions under Section 80DDB of the Income tax act. Apart from these, patients getting treatment in a private hospital cannot take a certificate from a government hospital.

Pre-Requisites in the Medical Certificate
A medical certificate should contain the following things, these are given below: -

• Name and age of the patient
• Name of the disease or ailment
• Other person identifiers of the patient such as name, address, registration number, type of disease, and the qualification of the specialist doctor who is issuing the prescription.
• Also, the name and address of the hospital in which the patient is seeking treatment are also important.
• Also, the 80DDB form pdf for claiming the deduction is needed to be signed by the doctor/head of the government hospital.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, it can be concluded that under section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act, tax deductions can be claimed by Indian residents. However, there’s a criterion for availing deductions under section 80DDB diseases of the Income Tax Act.