Section 80U

Section 80U - Deduction for disable persons

How to claim deduction under section 80U of the Income Tax Act. Section 80U deals with the deduction available to disable person. Person can claim deduction from taxable income based on his physical disability and amount of deduction is dependent on percentage of disability like 40% disable or more than 40% disable or severe disable. Download Format of Doctor Certificate to Claim Income Tax Deduction

Eligible assessee for claiming deduction : Only Resident Individual can claim deduction under section 80U for disability.

Maximum Deduction u/s 80U: Maximuum Deduction of Rs.50,000/-. and if the assessee suffers from severe disability, the deduction limit will be Rs. 1,00,000/-. ‘Severe disability’ means disability of 80% or more.

Conditions for Claiming Deduction under Section 80U of Income Tax Act

1. The assessee should suffer from ‘disability’, autism, palsy or multiple disabilities at any time. During the term ‘disability’ shall have the same meaning as in section 2 of the persons with disabilities (Equal opportunities, protection of right and full participation) Act, 1995.
2. Further, a certificate of the prescribed medical authority must be filed with the return of income. If the condition of disability requires reassessment of its extent after a period stipulated in the certificate, no deduction shall be allowed for any assessment year relevant to the previous year during which the aforesaid certificate had expired, unless a new certificate is obtained from the medical authority and submitted with the return of income. 

Read what are the other Income Tax Deduction which Tax Payer can Claim as deduction from Taxable Income 

DISABILITY GUIDELINES FOR INCOME TAX DEDUCTION

As per Section 2(t) of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 “person with disability” means a person suffering from not less than forty per cent of any disability as certified by a medical authority. As per Section 2 (p), “medical authority” means any hospital or institution specified for the purposes of this Act by notification by the appropriate Government. In pursuance of this, State Governments/UT administrations are required to notify the medical authorities to issue disability certificate.

Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Rules, 1996 required that a disability certificate shall be issued by a medical board duly constituted by the Central/State Government. This required a lot of time and travel by persons with disabilities to the district headquarters. Often full medical boards are not able to meet on a given day causing yet more delay and inconvenience. Therefore Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has amended the Persons with Disabilities Rules, 1996 in December 2009 with a view to simplify the process of issuing disability certificates. A doctor can now assess and issue the certificate even at PHC in case of visible disabilities such as amputations, complete paralysis, and blindness. A specialist doctor can do so in other cases. For multiple disabilities however more than one specialist will be necessary.

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has issued guidelines for evaluation of locomotor, visual, hearing, mental retardation and multiple disabilities vide Notification No. 16-18/97-NI I dated 01.06.2001 and mental illness vide Notification No. 16-18/97-NI I dated 18.02.2002.

Definition of Section 80U (As per Government Income Tax Rule):

[Deduction in case of a person with disability.]

80U.  (1) In computing the total income of an individual, being a resident, who, at any time during the previous year, is certified by the medical authority to be a person with disability, there shall be allowed a deduction of a sum of fifty thousand rupees :

Provided that where such individual is a person with severe disability, the provisions of this sub-section shall have effect as if for the words “fifty thousand rupees”, the words “seventy-five thousand rupees” had been substituted:

[Provided further that for the assessment years beginning on or after the 1st day of April, 2010, the provisions of the first proviso shall have effect as if for the words “seventy-five thousand rupees”, the words “one lakh rupees” had been substituted.]

(2) Every individual claiming a deduction under this section shall furnish a copy of the certificate issued by the medical authority in the form and manner, as may be prescribed, along with the return of income under section 139, in respect of the assessment year for which the deduction is claimed :

Provided that where the condition of disability requires reassessment of its extent after a period stipulated in the aforesaid certificate, no deduction under this section shall be allowed for any assessment year relating to any previous year beginning after the expiry of the previous year during which the aforesaid certificate of disability had expired, unless a new certificate is obtained from the medical authority in the form and manner, as may be prescribed, and a copy thereof is furnished along with the return of income under section 139.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section,—

          (a)  “disability” shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (i) of section 2 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (1 of 1996), and includes “autism”, “cerebral palsy” and “multiple disabilities” referred to in clauses (a), (c) and (h) of section 2 of the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 (44 of 1999);

          (b)  “medical authority” means the medical authority as referred to in clause (p) of section 2 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (1 of 1996), or such other medical authority as may, by notification, be specified by the Central Government for certifying “autism”, “cerebral palsy”, “multiple disabilities”, “person with disability” and “severe disability” referred to in clauses (a), (c), (h), (j) and (o) of section 2 of the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 (44 of 1999);

           (c)  “person with disability” means a person referred to in clause (t) of section 2 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (1 of 1996), or clause (j) of section 2 of the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 (44 of 1999);

          (d)  “person with severe disability” means—

       (i)  a person with eighty per cent or more of one or more disabilities, as referred to in sub-section (4) of section 56 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (1 of 1996); or

     (ii)  a person with severe disability referred to in clause (o) of section 2 of the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 (44 of 1999).]]