Specified-Disease Treatment Deduction: Section 128

Section 128 requires a prescribed disease, eligible patient, certification and reduction for insurance or employer reimbursement.

Legal or Computational Framework

The ceiling can differ for senior patients. Gross bills cannot be claimed when reimbursements exist, and the prescribed specialist documentation is central.

Core working: Eligible treatment expense minus insurance/employer reimbursement, restricted to the age-based statutory ceiling.

Why the result is fact-sensitive

The same claim can produce different answers because the patient’s age (self vs a senior-citizen dependant changes the ceiling), the specific disease named on the prescribed-authority certificate, whether insurance or an employer reimbursed any part of the cost, and which family member actually incurred the expense all change the outcome. A certificate that names a disease outside the prescribed list, or a claim that mixes ordinary treatment bills with the specified-disease bills, produces a wrong result even with genuine documents.

Step-by-step method

1. Identify the governing tax year and statute.
2. Confirm taxpayer category, residence and regime.
3. Classify every input under the correct current provision.
4. Apply actual-amount, statutory and shared ceilings in order.
5. Recompute tax, rebate, surcharge, marginal relief and cess.
6. Reconcile official statements and retain an audit trail.

Worked example

Treatment costs ₹1,35,000 for a senior parent and insurance reimburses ₹55,000. The deduction base is ₹80,000 before applying the ceiling.

The example is an audit model, not a substitute for the taxpayer's records. Change one input—such as residence, regime, payment date, disability band, contribution payer, state, service period or income type—and the answer may change.

Decision checks before claiming or calculating

1. Correct period: confirm whether the question concerns AY 2026–27 or Tax Year 2026–27.
2. Correct statute: cite Section 128 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 for Tax Year 2026–27 (income from 1 April 2026); cite the corresponding Section 80DDB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for AY 2026–27 (FY 2025–26) - the eligibility test and ceiling structure carry forward, but always confirm which Act governs the period in question before citing a section number.
3. Correct person: establish who paid, earned, received or is legally eligible.
4. Correct base: use statutory salary, wages, interest, contribution or adjusted income—not a convenient payroll label.
5. Correct ceiling: apply actual-amount, shared, lifetime and gross-total-income ceilings in the right sequence.
6. Correct evidence: reconcile the result to official statements, certificates, payroll and bank records.

Use the ITR Form Selector — AY 2026–27 to work through the related inputs before acting.

What Generic Pages Miss

Practical Documentation Checklist

• specialist certificate
• diagnosis and bills
• insurance settlement
• employer reimbursement
• relationship proof
• net expense working

See the broader Income-tax Act 2025 study guide hub for related rules and calculators on this topic.

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