I am an NRI and my parents are senior citizens living in India. I haven’t bought any medical insurance for them and I spent a good amount every year in their medical expenses and health check-ups. I would like to know if I can show some of these expenses in Schedule 80D of ITR2 even though they are not hospital bills and therefore I have a couple of specific questions on this: 1) Can I show the usual expenses on blood tests, X-rays, scans and other lab tests of my parents in the “Preventive Health Checkup” section of Schedule 80D or does it only include those health checkups which are done when hospitalised? 2) Can the expenditure on regular medicines bought from Pharmacy (for blood pressure, sugar etc.) for my parents be shown in “Medical Expenditure” section of Schedule 80D or does it again only include the hospitalisation expenses (i.e., medical expenditure incurred only during hospitalisation)? I know that these sections have a maximum limit of 5000 INR and 50000 INR respectively but my expenses on these do not exceed the prescribed limits. Your apt reply to my questions above shall be greatly appreciated as always.
- Overall limit is Rs.50k including preventive health check up of Rs.5K. Preventive health check up expenses can be incurred in cash but medical expenditure should be paid by any mode other than cash.
1) Yes you can
2) Yes you can
Plan it accordingly. Medicine exp. are generally paid in cash so you can claim it under preventive.
Ans 1: Yes, you can show these expenses as preventive health checkup upto INR 5,000 (cash payment also allowed).
Ans 2: Yes, you can show it as medical expenditure since you have not taken any health insurance policy for your parents and parents are senior citizen (payment should NOT be done in cash). Hospitalization is not relevant in this scenario.
Note: "senior citizen" means an individual resident in India who is of the age of sixty years or more at any time during the relevant previous year
Thanks Mr. Arora and Mr. Dholwani for your prompt replies.. A follow-up question: Can I show the doctor-consultation fees as well? If yes, would this go under "Preventive Health Checkup"? Thanks in advance.
- Yes under preventive health check up.
Doctor Consultation fees will not be included in preventive health check ups.
You can take this in any category subject to maximum limit.
Hi,
While there is no definition given in the law for the term preventive health check-up. However, going with the literal meaning of the word health check-up, my response is as follows
1. Yes, you can claim.
2. Medical expenses should not be claimed under preventive health check-up
Doctor consultation fee for routine health check can be claimed