Section 80U and 80DD: Disability Tax Deduction in India

If you or a dependant has a certified disability, the Income-tax Act 1961 gives you a flat deduction: Section 80U when YOU are the person with disability, and Section 80DD when you support a disabled dependant. Both give 75,000 rupees for a disability of 40 percent or more, or 1,25,000 rupees for severe disability of 80 percent or more. You can claim either one only if you opt for the OLD tax regime. Under the default new regime, both are switched off for AY 2026-27.

That last line trips up the most people, so read it twice. For the current return season, FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27), the new tax regime is the default. Chapter VI-A deductions like 80U, 80DD, 80C and 80DDB are available only when you actively choose the old regime. If you let the new regime apply, your disability deduction simply vanishes, no matter how genuine the certificate.

A reader from Nagpur wrote to me last filing season, upset. His salary software had defaulted him into the new regime, and the 75,000 he expected for his own locomotor disability under 80U was nowhere in the computation. He had the certificate. He had the percentage. What he did not have was the old regime ticked. Once he refiled under the old regime, the deduction came through. The lesson stuck with me: the certificate proves your eligibility, but the regime choice unlocks it.

These two sections look almost identical on the deduction amount, but they answer two different questions.

• Section 80U is for a resident individual who is himself or herself a person with disability. The statute reads: a deduction “of a sum of seventy-five thousand rupees” for a person “certified by the medical authority to be a person with disability”, rising to “one hundred and twenty-five thousand rupees” for severe disability. You claim it on your own return, for your own condition.
• Section 80DD is for a resident individual or a Hindu Undivided Family that has either incurred expenditure on the medical treatment, training and rehabilitation of a dependant with disability, or paid or deposited into an LIC or other insurer scheme for the dependant's maintenance. A dependant can be your spouse, child, parent, brother or sister (for a HUF, any member) who is wholly or mainly dependent on you and has not separately claimed 80U.

So the simple test: is the disabled person the taxpayer, or someone the taxpayer looks after? If it is the taxpayer, use 80U. If it is a dependant, use 80DD.

Both deductions are a fixed flat amount, not a reimbursement of what you actually spent. You do not add up receipts. The figure is the same under both sections:

For 80DD, this flat amount applies whether you spent 5,000 rupees or 5,00,000 rupees on treatment, or simply paid a premium into an insurer scheme for the dependant. For 80U, you get the flat figure on certification alone. Because it is flat, there is no question of producing every bill, which is a relief for families who manage long-term care.

“Disability” here is not a loose word. It follows the definitions in the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995, read with the National Trust Act 1999 for autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities. Listed conditions include blindness, low vision, leprosy-cured, hearing impairment, locomotor disability, mental retardation and mental illness, plus the National Trust conditions. The broader framework today is the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016, which governs how the disability percentage and Unique Disability ID are certified.

“Severe disability” means 80 percent or more of one or more of these conditions. That single threshold is what moves you from the 75,000 slab to the 1,25,000 slab.

1. Get certified. Obtain a disability certificate from the prescribed medical authority, usually the Chief Medical Officer or Civil Surgeon of a government hospital, stating your disability type and percentage. A UDID (Unique Disability ID) card carries this information.
2. Check if you need Form 10-IA. For autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities, the prescribed certificate is Form 10-IA, signed by a neurologist (or a paediatric neurologist for children), or a Civil Surgeon or CMO of a government hospital. For the other listed disabilities, the ordinary disability certificate from the prescribed medical authority is what you furnish, not Form 10-IA.
3. Choose the old regime. This is the deal-breaker step. When you file your ITR, opt OUT of the new regime so that Chapter VI-A deductions apply. Salaried taxpayers may need to file Form 10-IEA to opt out, depending on income type.
4. Enter the deduction. Claim under 80U (your own disability) or 80DD (your dependant) and pick the correct slab, 75,000 or 1,25,000, based on the percentage on the certificate.
5. Keep the certificate valid. If the certificate has an expiry, it must be valid for the year you claim. Where reassessment is due, renew it before you file, then keep the new certificate for your records.

• Filing under the default new regime and losing the deduction entirely. This is the single biggest error.
• Claiming both 80U and 80DD for the same person. If a disabled dependant claims 80U on their own return, the caregiver cannot also claim 80DD for that same individual. Pick one.
• Assuming Form 10-IA is needed for every disability. It is the prescribed form only for autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities.
• Using a lapsed certificate. A certificate that expired before the assessment year will not support the claim.

The Income-tax Act 2025 takes effect from 1 April 2026 and governs FY 2026-27 onward, not the return you file now. For this year's filing, FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27), the Income-tax Act 1961 and its Sections 80U and 80DD continue to apply. Keep that timeline straight so you do not apply next year's law to this year's return.

For a deeper walk-through of how to read a statute, gather proof and stand your ground with an authority, see The RTI Playbook. If a government hospital delays your disability certificate or a department refuses to explain its medical board process, an RTI request is a clean way to ask. You can start one with the RTI Wiki tools.

No. For AY 2026-27, both are Chapter VI-A deductions that work only if you opt for the old tax regime. Under the default new regime, neither is allowed. The lone Chapter VI-A item that survives in the new regime is the employer NPS contribution under 80CCD(2), which is unrelated to disability.

Section 80U is claimed by a resident individual who is themselves a person with disability. Section 80DD is claimed by a resident individual or HUF who spends on the treatment or maintenance of a disabled dependant, or pays into an approved insurer scheme for that dependant. Same amounts, different claimant.

A flat 75,000 rupees if the certified disability is 40 percent or more (but under 80 percent), and a flat 1,25,000 rupees for severe disability of 80 percent or more. The amount does not depend on what you actually spent.

No. Both deductions are flat amounts fixed by the percentage of disability. You do not itemise or prove the exact spend. You do need a valid certificate from the prescribed medical authority, and Form 10-IA for autism, cerebral palsy or multiple disabilities.

No. Form 10-IA is the prescribed certificate specifically for autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities. For other listed disabilities, the standard disability certificate from the Chief Medical Officer or Civil Surgeon of a government hospital is what you furnish.

If your disability or your dependant's is certified, decide on the old regime before you file, confirm the percentage on the certificate, and claim the matching slab. If your certificate is delayed, expired or contested, treat the medical board as any other public authority and ask for its records and timelines in writing. Keep the certificate, the UDID and Form 10-IA (where it applies) ready before you open the ITR.