No rebate on diabetes treatment
I am a retired government employee and getting Rs 500 per month as medical allowance in my pension. I am a diabetic and also suffering from Urothelial Carcinoma high grade (urinary bladder cancer). To date (for FY 2016-17), I have spend Rs 24,000 for the treatment of urinary bladder cancer and Rs 12,000 for the treatment of diabetes which include cost of medicine, test report etc. as an OPD patient. I have not taken any medical reimbursement against these expenses from the government. What rebate can I avail under Section 80DDB? — Brij Bhushan Sharma
Section 80DDB of the Income Tax Act, 1961, provides that an assessee who is a resident in India and has actually paid any amount during the previous year for his medical treatment of such disease as may be prescribed shall be allowed deduction from his total income of a sum so paid or Rs 40,000 whichever is less. Rule 11DD of the Income Tax Rules 1962 (The Rules) specifies “malignant cancer” as one of the diseases which is covered by the aforesaid section. Therefore, in case you are suffering from a cancer which is malignant, you are entitled to claim a deduction of the amount specified hereinabove. The deduction is allowable in case the assessee obtains the prescription of such medical treatment from an oncologist having a Doctorate of Medicine degree in oncology or an equivalent degree which is recognised by the Medical Council of India. In case, the assessee is receiving treatment in a government hospital, the prescription may be issued by any specialist working full time in that hospital and having a post-graduate degree in general or internal medicine or any equal degree which is recognised by the Medical Council of India. In case of a senior citizen, the maximum permissible deduction is Rs 60,000 and in case of very senior citizen, the maximum permissible deduction is Rs 80,000. The rules do not contain any permissible deduction under the aforesaid section for the treatment of diabetes.
A close friend of mine, who is settled in Canada and having the permanent resident status, informed me that he holds 96 shares in TCS. He now wants to gift these shares to me. These shares are part of those which were received by him under the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in 2005-06. Most of these shares were sold when he was a resident. He files his income tax return in respect of his Indian income and had never made a mention of these shares (he had forgotten about theses over the years). Can I accept these shares as a gift? How do we show these in our returns? — Krishan Dev Uppal
The Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or issue of security by a person resident outside India) Regulation, 2000, permits a person resident outside India holding shares of an Indian company to transfer of such shares to a person resident in India by way of gift. Therefore, it should be possible for your friend to gift the shares of Indian companies to you. However, according to Section 56 of the Act, where an individual receives in any previous year from any person/persons after the first day of October, 2009, any property other than immovable property without consideration, the aggregate fair market value of which exceeds Rs 50,000, the whole of the aggregate fair market value of such property shall be chargeable to tax under the head “Income from other sources”. Therefore, in case these shares are gifted to you and the fair market value of the shares gifted to you exceeds the aforesaid amount, such fair market value will be taxable in your hands as income from other source. You can accept the gift. The fair market value of the shares, if in excess of Rs 50,000 would appear in your tax return as income from other sources. However, there would be no requirement to make a disclosure in your friend’s income-tax return.
It would be advisable to prepare a gift deed recording the gift of such shares to you so that a copy thereof can be submitted to the company along with the transfer deed for the transfer of these shares in your name.
I am a Punjab Government Class-I officer. In 2015-16, my department has deducted compulsory NPS contribution of Rs 58,488 from my salary and besides, I have deposited Rs 1,50,000 in my PPF account. However, I only availed deduction of Rs 1,50,000 under Section 80C. How can I maximise my tax rebate in 2016-17? — Ramandeep singh
You can claim a deduction of Rs 1,50,000 under Section 80C of the Act and an additional deduction of Rs 50,000 under Section 80CCD(IB) being the contribution made towards the National Pension Scheme. Both these amounts should be allowable as deduction from your total income for the financial year 2016-17.
