Published 26 October 2026
A family paying for health cover usually pays for two groups: its own household and the parents. Section 80D treats them as two separate pockets, each with its own limit. The limit depends on whether the person insured is a senior citizen, not on the age of the person paying. Medical bills count only in narrow cases. And the 2025 Act has rewritten the medical-bills rule in words that read wider than the 1961 Act did. This guide sets out the general case. The rules specific to taxpayers over sixty are in Income Tax for Senior Citizens: The Basics.
Which Act governs which year
Financial year 2025-26 (assessment year 2026-27) and earlier. The Income-tax Act, 1961 applies, through section 80D.
Tax year 2026-27 onwards. The Income-tax Act, 2025 applies, through section 126. “Senior citizen” is defined in section 2(100): “an individual resident in India who is of the age of sixty years or more at any time during the relevant tax year”. The Explanation to section 80D has the same words for the previous year.
Earlier years stay under the 1961 Act by section 536(2) of the 2025 Act.
| Item | 1961 Act | 2025 Act |
|---|---|---|
| Self and family: premium, CGHS, check-up | s.80D(2)(a) | s.126(2)(a) |
| Parents: premium, check-up | s.80D(2)(b) | s.126(2)(b) |
| Medical expenditure: self and family; parents | s.80D(2)(c), (d) | s.126(2)(c), (d) |
| Preventive check-up sub-limit, Rs 5,000 | s.80D(2A) | s.126(3) |
| Rs 50,000 cap per group | second proviso to s.80D(2) | s.126(4) |
| Senior citizen: Rs 50,000 for premium | s.80D(4) | s.126(8)(a) |
| Multi-year premium spread | s.80D(4A) | s.126(8)(b) |
| Mode of payment | s.80D(2B) | s.126(9) |
| Hindu undivided family | s.80D(3) | s.126(5), (6) |
The two pockets and their limits
For an individual, the deduction is the total of two separate amounts.
Pocket 1: the assessee and family. “Family” means “the spouse and dependant children of the assessee”. It covers:
- premium paid to insure their health;
- contributions to the Central Government Health Scheme or another notified scheme; and
- preventive health check-ups.
The limit is Rs 25,000, or Rs 50,000 where the person insured is a senior citizen (section 80D(2)(a) and (4)).
Pocket 2: the parents. It covers premium for “the parent or parents of the assessee” and their preventive check-ups. The limit is again Rs 25,000, or Rs 50,000 if a parent insured is a senior citizen (section 80D(2)(b) and (4)). The parents need not be dependent.
| Situation | Pocket 1 | Pocket 2 | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nobody insured is 60 or over | Rs 25,000 | Rs 25,000 | Rs 50,000 |
| Parents 60 or over; assessee’s family under 60 | Rs 25,000 | Rs 50,000 | Rs 75,000 |
| Everyone insured 60 or over | Rs 50,000 | Rs 50,000 | Rs 1,00,000 |
Each pocket is separately capped at Rs 50,000 for premium and medical expenditure taken together (second proviso to section 80D(2); section 126(4)).
Preventive health check-up
Payments for a preventive health check-up count within the two pockets, but only up to Rs 5,000 in aggregate across both (section 80D(2A); section 126(3)). This is not an extra Rs 5,000.
How it may be paid
Section 80D(2B) allows “any mode, including cash” only for a preventive health check-up. Every other payment, including premium and medical expenditure, must be made by “any mode other than cash”. Section 126(9) is the same. A premium paid in cash gets no deduction, whatever the receipt says.
Who the insurer must be
The insurance must be under a scheme of the General Insurance Corporation approved by the Central Government, or of “any other insurer and approved by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority” (section 80D(5); section 126(11)).
A policy paid for several years at once
Where premium for a policy covering more than one year is paid in a lump sum, the deduction is spread equally across the years of cover. Each year gets “the appropriate fraction”, one divided by the number of years (section 80D(4A); section 126(8)(b) and (10)). A three-year premium of Rs 60,000 for a family under 60 gives Rs 20,000 in each of the three years, not Rs 25,000 in the first.
Out of taxable income
The payment must be made “out of his income chargeable to tax” (section 80D(1); section 126(1)). Premium paid by an employer under a group policy is not paid by the employee and is not part of this deduction.
Medical expenditure: the 1961 Act
Section 80D(2)(c) and (d) allow “medical expenditure incurred on the health of” the assessee or family, and of a parent, up to Rs 50,000 each. The first proviso to section 80D(2) narrows this sharply. The amount must be “paid in respect of a senior citizen and no amount has been paid to effect or to keep in force an insurance on the health of such person”. Under the 1961 Act, therefore, medical bills count only for an uninsured senior citizen. For a person under sixty, only premium counts. These rules are explained, with a worked example, in the senior citizens guide.
Medical expenditure: the 2025 Act reads differently
Section 126 does not repeat the first proviso. Sub-section (2)(c) allows “medical expenditure incurred on the health of the assessee or any member of his family, up to Rs 50000 in aggregate”. Sub-section (2)(d) does the same for “any parent of the assessee”. Neither clause mentions a senior citizen. The only condition is in sub-section (7): “where the amount is paid on account of medical expenditure incurred on the health of a senior citizen under sub-section (2)(c) or (d) or (5)(b), deduction shall be allowed, if no amount has been paid to effect or to keep in force the health insurance of such person.”
Two readings are available:
- On the words, medical expenditure on a person under sixty falls within sub-section (2)(c) or (d), with no insurance condition. It would be limited only by the Rs 50,000 cap per pocket in sub-section (4). The insurance condition in sub-section (7) applies only to a senior citizen.
- On the history, the 1961 Act confined medical expenditure to an uninsured senior citizen. Sub-section (7) can be read as the remnant of that restriction, carried forward in different words.
The site’s section 126 page carries an editorial note on the point. As at 23 October 2026, no circular, rule or amendment has addressed it, and the Finance Act, 2026 did not amend section 126. The question arises only from tax year 2026-27, and only under the old regime.
The Hindu undivided family
An HUF may claim premium for “any member”, up to Rs 25,000, or Rs 50,000 where the member is a senior citizen. It may also claim medical expenditure on a member, up to Rs 50,000, within an overall Rs 50,000 (section 80D(3) and (4)). Under the 1961 Act, medical expenditure is limited to an uninsured senior citizen member. Section 126(5) and (6) give the same limits. Sub-section (7) applies its insurance condition to a senior citizen member under sub-section (5)(b), and the same question of wording arises.
Not available under the new regime
Section 115BAC(2)(i) of the 1961 Act allows no Chapter VI-A deduction other than sections 80CCD(2), 80CCH(2) and 80JJAA. Section 202(2)(a)(xii) of the 2025 Act allows none in Chapter VIII other than sections 124(1) and (2), 125(2) and 146. Section 80D and section 126 are lost under the new regime. An individual without business income leaves it only in the return filed by the due date; see Old or New Regime: The Choice for Employees.
Where it goes in the return
The ITR forms for AY 2026-27 carry a Schedule 80D. The validation rules for ITR-1, published by the Directorate of Income Tax (Systems), cap each line at the statutory figure:
- line 1a (self and family) at Rs 25,000, and line 1b (self and family, senior citizen) at Rs 50,000;
- line 2a (parents) at Rs 25,000, and line 2b (parents, senior citizen) at Rs 50,000;
- preventive check-up across all lines at Rs 5,000; and
- the eligible total at Rs 1,00,000.
A section 80D figure in the deductions schedule must match Schedule 80D. The employer allows the deduction in monthly TDS only on evidence in Form No. 12BB (rule 26C of the Income-tax Rules, 1962), or in Form No. 124 from tax year 2026-27 (rule 205 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026).
What to have ready
- Premium receipts from the insurer, showing the persons insured, the period of cover and the mode of payment. They come from the insurer’s portal or e-mail.
- The date of birth of each insured person, to apply the senior citizen limit. Residence matters too, since a non-resident parent is not a “senior citizen”.
- For a multi-year policy, the policy schedule showing the number of years of cover.
- Check-up bills, which may be paid in cash.
- Medical bills and proof of non-cash payment, for any claim of medical expenditure.
- CGHS contribution details, from the salary slip or CGHS receipt.
After filing
A missed premium can be added in a revised return; see Belated and Revised Returns. An updated return cannot reduce tax or increase a refund (proviso to section 139(8A); section 263(6)(c) of the 2025 Act). A claim that does not fit the schedule’s limits will be adjusted in the intimation; see The Intimation under Section 143(1).
In order
- Fix the Act: section 80D for FY 2025-26 and earlier; section 126 from tax year 2026-27.
- Confirm the old regime, chosen in a return filed by the due date.
- Split the payments into two pockets: self, spouse and dependent children; and parents.
- Apply Rs 25,000 to each pocket, or Rs 50,000 where the insured person is a resident aged sixty or more.
- Spread any multi-year premium equally across the years of cover.
- Keep preventive check-ups within Rs 5,000 in all; only these may be paid in cash.
- Add medical expenditure only where the Act allows it, within the Rs 50,000 cap for that pocket.
- Enter each line in Schedule 80D, and match the total to the deductions schedule.
The next guide, Education-Loan Interest: Section 80E, deals with the deduction for interest on a loan for higher education.