Are you clear about the tax-saving which you can do when you pay health insurance premiums every year? You will be glad to hear that it’s over and above sec 80C.

Yes, it comes under a separate section called section 80D!

What is section 80D?

Health Insurance policies have become very famous in the last 10 yrs and to encourage it, the govt gives tax benefit when you pay the premium for yourself, your family or your parents

Section 80D defines all the rules and limits related to health insurance premium payment and tax saving.

How much can you claim under section 80D?

One can claim a deduction of premium amount on health insurance of self + family (spouse + dependent children below 18 yrs.) and parents. If one pays a health insurance premium of his brother or sister then he/she will not be able to claim a tax deduction. To make it more clear, I have mentioned the list of people who will come under this benefit –

1. Self
2. Spouse
3. Dependent Children (below 18 yrs.)
4. Parents

How much you can claim Tax benefit u/s 80D?

1. You can claim a maximum Rs. 25000 of the deduction for premium paid on health insurance of you, your spouse and children (under the age of 18 yrs.), if you are below 60 years
2. The same amount of Rs. 25000 you can claim for deduction of premium that you pay for your parents (father+mother).

And if the age of you or your parents is above 60 years then the limit will increase to Rs. 50,000/- in each case. In the above limits, exemption of Rs. 5000 for yearly health check is included.

For getting a clear understanding of the calculation part you can refer the info-graphic given below.

Let us now understand this through some examples –

Case 1 – Ram (35 yrs.) with a spouse and 1 kid + parents (mother 55 yrs. and father 57 yrs.)

In case 1, Ram pays a yearly premium of Rs 15000 (for self+spouse+1 kid) and Rs 34000 (both parents). So now let us see how much exemption Ram can claim u/s 8oD.

As self + family exemption limit is Rs 25000 and Parents exemption limit is Rs 25000. Then Ram can claim exemption of Rs 40,000 (15000 + 25000) u/s 80D.

Case 2 – Rakesh (48 yrs.) with a spouse and 2 kids + parents ( father 75 yrs.)

In case 2, Rakesh pays a yearly premium of Rs 32000 (for a self+spouse+2 kids), Rs 63000 (for father) and Rs 8000 (preventive medical check-up). So now let us see how much exemption Rakesh can claim u/s 80D.

As self + family exemption limit is Rs 25000 and parent (senior citizen) exemption limit is Rs 50,000. So, Rakesh can claim exemption of Rs 75,000 (25000 self + 50,000 parent). As Rakesh has already exhausted his self exemption limit so he won’t be able to claim his preventive medical check because preventive medical check is already included in the self exemption limit.

2 Benefits into 1

I think getting tax deductions on health insurance is a wonderful thing. Health Insurance in itself is a very important financial product most people should buy and you are also getting some tax benefits on it. So, do buy health insurance for yourself, your family and parents to protect your wealth and save tax.

Let us know your views in the comment section about this article.