Ways to Claim Deductions and Saving Tax Under Section 80U

• Blindness: It refers to the conditions where an individual suffers from any of the following problems:
  • The complete absence of sight.
  • Where the visual acuity is less than 6160 or 201200 (Sellen) after corrective lenses.
  • Where the limitation of the field of the vision subtends an angle of 20 degrees or worse.
• Low vision: An individual with a low vision means a person with the impairment of visual functioning even after the treatment but who are potentially capable of using vision for assistance from other devices.
• Mental Retardation: It refers to the incomplete or arrested development of the mind of a person which is characterized by subnormality of intelligence.
• Hearing impairment: Hearing Impairment means a loss of at least 60 decibels of hearing sense.
• Leprosy-cured: Leprosy cured person means any person who has been cured of leprosy but still suffering from following problems;
  • Who have lost sensation in feet or hands and paresis in eye and eye-lid.
  • People or senior people with extreme deformities which obstruct them from performing any gainful or beneficial occupation.
• Locomotors Disabilities: It means disability in the bones and joints of bones which lead to the reduction in the movement of limbs.
• Mental Illness: It means any mental illness other than Mental Retardation.

The Deduction Limit as per Section 80U

To claim deduction under this section, a person must not suffer any disability less than 40% and when it comes to severe disability 80% of the severity is eligible.

Difference Between Form 16 and Form 16A

Category	Deduction allowed
Disabled (a person with 40% or more disability)	Earlier the deduction was Rs. 50,000 but from the financial year 2015-16, it has increased to Rs. 75,000.
Severely Disabled (a person with 80% or more disability)	Earlier deduction for severely disabled members was Rs. 1,00,000 but from the financial year 2015-16, it has increased to Rs. 1,25,000.

Documents Required for Claiming the Deduction

• A person is required to have a medical certificate to claim the deduction under the above-mentioned disabilities from any government hospital. It is a certificate or doctor’s certificate that verifies the disabilities of the dependent and the person they are dependent upon. This certificate is renewed periodically.

  According to the Income Tax Laws following people can issue a medical certificate for claiming deductions under section 80U

  • A Neurologist with a degree in Medicine (MD) or a Pediatric Neurologist with the similar degree for children.
  • Chief Medical Officer (CMO) or a Civil Surgeon of any government hospital.
• Form number 10-IA must be filled and submitted by the individuals suffering from autism, cerebral palsy or any multiple disabilities.

For claiming deduction under section 80U, no medical bills receipts or insurance premium receipts are required to be submitted at the time of filing income tax return.

A Mode to save on Income Tax in India Under Section 80DD Get Details

Difference between section 80DD and 80U

Criteria	Section 80DD	Section 80U
Deduction	Under section 80DD deduction is given to the caretaker of the disabled person.	Under this section, the deduction is given to the assessee himself/herself.
Condition	Taxpayers must incur some medical expenses on the disabled or deposit the amount for the disabled to the insurance company.	For claiming deduction under section 80U, an individual must simple proof that he/she is disabled.

An assessee can claim a deduction under Section 80U of the Act within an assessment year if he/she can furnish the requisite certificate before the due submission date. Only those certification from certified medical authorities will be entertained so it is important to keep the requirement ready in order to produce them to the tax authorities during the verification.