Taxation · Deductions from Gross Total Income

Deductions for Health, Medical and Disability (CA Intermediate Taxation)

Updated 4 October 2026 · Fact-checked

These deductions reduce gross total income for health costs. Medical insurance gives ₹25,000 (₹50,000 for seniors) per category, a disabled dependant gives a fixed ₹75,000 or ₹1,25,000, specified-disease treatment gives actual cost up to ₹40,000 or ₹1,00,000, and your own disability gives a fixed amount. Check person, age, mode of payment.

Understand Deductions for Health, Medical and Disability

Four deductions help you with health-related costs. They are taken from gross total income to reach total income. They cover: (1) health insurance premium and preventive check-up, (2) maintenance of a dependant with disability, (3) treatment of specified diseases, and (4) your own disability.

The first one is about who is covered and how old they are. Premium paid for yourself, your spouse and dependent children has one limit. Premium paid for your parents has a separate, additional limit. Parents need not be dependent on you. The limit is higher when the insured person is a senior citizen (aged 60 or more). Siblings are not covered here.

Where no health insurance is held on a senior citizen (yourself, your spouse or your parent), the actual medical expenditure on that person is also allowed. It is not extra. It counts, along with any check-up and any premium paid for other persons in the same category, within the ₹50,000 limit of that category.

The disability deductions work differently. A fixed amount is allowed, whatever you actually spend. The amount depends on the degree of disability: 40% or more is a normal disability, and 80% or more is a severe disability. One deduction is for a dependant with disability. The other is for you, if you are certified as a person with disability. Both need a certificate from the prescribed medical authority.

The specified-disease deduction is again expense-based. You get the actual expense, reduced by any insurance or employer reimbursement, subject to a cap. The patient must be you or your dependant (spouse, children, parents, brothers and sisters, wholly or mainly dependent on you). The cap is higher if the patient is a senior citizen. A prescription from the specified specialist is needed. Diseases include certain neurological diseases with disability, malignant cancer, AIDS, chronic renal failure and certain haematological diseases such as haemophilia and thalassaemia.

These deductions are available only if you choose the tax regime that allows Chapter-level deductions. They are not available under the default concessional regime. Always read the question for the regime. Also remember the total deductions cannot exceed gross total income.

Key rules to remember

Health insurance: self, spouse, dependent children: Limit = ₹25,000 (₹50,000 if the individual or spouse is a senior citizen, aged 60 or more); Premium must be paid by any mode other than cash. For a HUF, premium for any member is covered, with the same limits.
Health insurance: parents: Additional limit = ₹25,000 (₹50,000 if a parent is a senior citizen); Parents need not be dependent. The limit is separate from the self-family limit. Maximum possible is ₹1,00,000 when both sets are senior.
Preventive health check-up: Deduction ≤ ₹5,000 in total, within the overall limits above; The ₹5,000 is combined for self, family and parents. It is not extra. Cash payment is allowed for check-up.
Medical expenditure on a senior citizen without insurance: Where no health insurance is held on a senior citizen (self, spouse or parent), actual medical expenditure on that person, plus any check-up and any premium for other persons in the same category, is allowed within the ₹50,000 limit of that category; Applies only if no health insurance is held on that senior citizen. It is part of, not additional to, the limit of that person's category only (self-family or parents). Cash payment is allowed for this expenditure.
Dependant with disability: Fixed ₹75,000 (disability 40% or more); fixed ₹1,25,000 (severe, 80% or more); Dependant: spouse, children, parents, brothers and sisters, wholly or mainly dependent on you (any member for a HUF). Claim is fixed whatever you spend. The dependant must not have claimed the deduction for own disability.
Specified disease treatment: Lower of (actual expense − insurance or reimbursement received) and ₹40,000 (₹1,00,000 if the patient is a senior citizen); Patient: the assessee or a dependant (spouse, children, parents, brothers and sisters, wholly or mainly dependent on the assessee). Specialist prescription needed.
Person with disability (self): Fixed ₹75,000 (40% or more); fixed ₹1,25,000 (80% or more, severe); Only for an individual who is certified as a person with disability. Disability certificate needed. Cannot be used for a dependant.

How to solve Deductions for Health, Medical and Disability questions

Use the same order for every question. It stops you mixing up the four deductions.

1Check the regime. If the individual is under the default concessional regime, none of these deductions is allowed. Stop there.
2Split the question by person: self and family, parents, dependant with disability, patient with a specified disease, and the assessee himself.
3For insurance, check each person's age (60 or more is senior) and the mode of payment. Remove any cash premium. Then apply ₹25,000 or ₹50,000 separately for self-family and for parents.
4Add preventive check-up inside the same category, capping the check-up part at ₹5,000 overall, then cap the category total at its limit.
5For disability, read the percentage. Pick ₹75,000 or ₹1,25,000. Do not use actual expense. Check the same person is not claimed under both dependant and self disability.
6For specified diseases, take actual expense, subtract reimbursement, and apply the ₹40,000 or ₹1,00,000 cap.
7Add all deductions, compare with gross total income, and state the final deduction clearly.

Quickest way: Four-line limit grid

When to use it: Use it in MCQs and when you have under four minutes for a written part.

Write the grid first: Insurance 25k/50k per category; Disability 75k/1.25L fixed; Specified disease 40k/1L actual less reimbursement; Check-up 5k inside the limit.
Underline each person's age and the disability percentage. These decide the amounts.
In MCQs, look for traps: cash premium, a sibling in an insurance question, a check-up counted as extra, or actual expense used for a fixed deduction.
In written answers, show one line per deduction: person, rule, amount. Step marks are given for the right limit and for the reasoning. Close with the total.

Common mistakes in Deductions for Health, Medical and Disability

Allowing a premium paid in cash
You see a premium amount and just apply the limit.
Fix: Premium must be paid by a mode other than cash. Only the check-up and senior medical expenditure may be in cash.
Adding ₹5,000 check-up on top of the ₹25,000 or ₹50,000 limit
Students treat the check-up as a separate deduction.
Fix: The check-up is part of the category limit. Add it, then cap the total at the limit.
Using actual expense for disability deductions
Specified diseases are expense-based, so students assume disability is too.
Fix: Dependant disability and self-disability are fixed amounts. Only the percentage matters.
Claiming both the dependant deduction and the self-disability deduction for the same person
The two sound alike.
Fix: Dependant disability is for supporting another person. Self-disability is for yourself. If the dependant claims own disability, you cannot claim for that person.
Forgetting to reduce treatment cost by insurance reimbursement
Students read only the expenditure figure.
Fix: Subtract any insurance or employer reimbursement first. Then apply the cap.
Treating parents' premium as limited to dependent parents, or including siblings in insurance
Mixing the insurance rules with the disability and disease rules, where dependants matter.
Fix: For insurance, parents are covered whether dependent or not, and siblings are not covered. Brothers and sisters count only as dependants for disability and specified diseases, when wholly or mainly dependent on you.

Worked examples

Example 1

Mr. Rao (aged 45, resident, choosing the regime that allows deductions) paid by net banking a health insurance premium of ₹22,000 for himself, his wife and his son. He paid ₹38,000 by cheque as premium for his parents, who are aged 66 and 62. He also paid ₹4,000 in cash for his own preventive health check-up. Compute the deduction for health insurance and check-up.

Show the solution

Mode of payment: the premiums were paid by net banking and cheque, which are not cash, so they qualify. The ₹4,000 check-up was paid in cash, which is allowed because preventive check-up may be paid in cash.
Self and family category: no senior citizen, so the limit is ₹25,000.
Premium ₹22,000 plus check-up ₹4,000 (within the ₹5,000 check-up limit) = ₹26,000.
Cap at ₹25,000. Deduction for the self-family category = ₹25,000.
Parents category: one parent is a senior citizen, so the limit is ₹50,000.
Premium paid by cheque = ₹38,000. This is below the limit, so the deduction = ₹38,000.
Total = ₹25,000 + ₹38,000 = ₹63,000.

Answer: ₹63,000

Example 2

Mrs. Mehta (aged 52, resident, choosing the regime that allows deductions) has gross total income of ₹9,00,000. Her dependent mother, aged 70, has chronic renal failure. The expenditure on treatment was ₹1,30,000. The insurer reimbursed ₹20,000. Her dependent brother has a certified disability of 85% and does not claim any deduction himself. Compute the deductions for disease and disability and the income after them, ignoring other deductions.

Show the solution

Specified disease: net expenditure = ₹1,30,000 − ₹20,000 = ₹1,10,000.
The patient is a senior citizen, so the cap is ₹1,00,000. Deduction = lower of ₹1,10,000 and ₹1,00,000 = ₹1,00,000.
Dependant with disability: the brother is a dependant sibling, and 85% is severe disability (80% or more). The deduction is a fixed ₹1,25,000, whatever the expense.
Total deductions = ₹1,00,000 + ₹1,25,000 = ₹2,25,000.
This is within gross total income. Income after these deductions = ₹9,00,000 − ₹2,25,000 = ₹6,75,000.

Answer: Deductions ₹2,25,000; income after them ₹6,75,000

Exam tips

Write the limit grid before you start. It takes 20 seconds and prevents most errors.
In every question underline age, mode of payment, relationship and disability percentage. These four facts decide the answer.
Do not mix 'fixed' and 'actual' deductions. Say 'fixed amount' for disability and 'lower of actual or cap' for specified diseases.
When a question gives the regime, check it first. A default-regime assessee gets none of these deductions.
In MCQs, test each option against the cash-payment and category-limit traps. These are common distractors.

Practice questions from Deductions from Gross Total Income

Deductions for Health, Medical and Disability in other exams

The same ground in other exams, if you are preparing for more than one or want another angle on it.

CS ExecutiveDeductions for Persons with Disability and Medical Expenses

Deductions for Health, Medical and Disability: frequently asked questions

What are the limits for health insurance premium for senior citizens?

For self, spouse and dependent children the limit is ₹25,000, or ₹50,000 if the individual or the spouse is a senior citizen. For parents there is a separate limit of ₹25,000, or ₹50,000 if a parent is a senior citizen. The premium must be paid by a mode other than cash.

How is the deduction for disability different from the deduction for medical treatment?

The disability deductions are fixed amounts of ₹75,000 or ₹1,25,000 based on the degree of disability, and no expense proof is needed beyond the certificate. The medical treatment deduction is based on actual expense less reimbursement, up to a cap. Treatment also needs a specialist prescription.

Can I claim the deduction for health insurance of my parents if they are not dependent on me?

Yes. For insurance, parents are covered whether or not they are dependent on you. You must have paid the premium by a mode other than cash. The limit is ₹25,000, or ₹50,000 if a parent is a senior citizen.

Who counts as a dependant for the disability and specified-disease deductions?

A dependant is your spouse, children, parents, brothers or sisters who are wholly or mainly dependent on you. For the disability deduction, any member of a HUF can be the dependant when the HUF claims. For specified diseases, the patient must be you or such a dependant. Insurance is different: it does not cover siblings, and parents need not be dependent.