Section 80U: flat Rs 75,000 deduction for disability, rising to Rs 1.25 lakh for severe disability

Section 80U of the Income-tax Act, 1961 is one of the few deductions in the statute that rewards a taxpayer's circumstances rather than their spending. A resident individual who is certified by a medical authority as a person with disability gets a flat deduction of Rs 75,000, and this rises to Rs 1,25,000 where the disability is severe, meaning 80% or more. You do not have to produce a single bill to claim it. This guide walks through exactly what the section says, a worked example for FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27), the mistakes that surface in scrutiny, and the questions readers ask most.

What the Section Says

Section 80U applies to a resident individual who, during the previous year, is certified by a medical authority to be a person with disability. The deduction is a fixed sum: Rs 75,000 for a person with disability, and Rs 1,25,000 for a person with severe disability. It is not a reimbursement, so the figure does not move with the amount you spend on treatment, mobility aids, therapy or care.

The word disability takes its meaning from the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, and it also covers autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disability as defined under the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999. To qualify as a person with disability, the medical authority must certify not less than 40% of one or more of the listed disabilities. Severe disability means 80% or more, or the severe-disability categories under the National Trust Act, 1999, which unlocks the higher Rs 1,25,000 figure.

Two points decide whether the deduction survives a review. First, Section 80U is a Chapter VI-A deduction, so it is available only under the old tax regime; it is not allowed under the default new regime for FY 2025-26. Second, the certificate of disability from the medical authority must be on record, and for conditions such as autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disability it is issued in Form 10-IA under Rule 11A of the Income-tax Rules. You can see how the deduction fits into your wider return in our tax-deduction glossary entry and check where it lands in your gross total income.

Because the amount is fixed, Section 80U is claimed the same way whether your income is Rs 6 lakh or Rs 60 lakh, subject to being a resident and holding a valid certificate. The one thing that changes is how much tax the deduction actually saves, which depends on your marginal slab. To see whether the old regime still wins once 80U is added, run your numbers through the old vs new regime calculator.

Worked Example

Consider Anjali, a salaried resident for FY 2025-26 with a certified severe disability of 82%, opting for the old regime. Her gross salary is Rs 14,00,000. She claims the old-regime standard deduction of Rs 50,000, invests Rs 1,50,000 under Section 80C, and claims the flat Rs 1,25,000 under Section 80U for severe disability.

Applying the old-regime slabs, tax on Rs 10,75,000 is Rs 12,500 on the Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh band at 5%, Rs 1,00,000 on the Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh band at 20%, and Rs 22,500 on the balance Rs 75,000 above Rs 10 lakh at 30%. That is Rs 1,35,000, plus 4% health and education cess of Rs 5,400, giving a total tax of Rs 1,40,400.

Had Anjali not been eligible for Section 80U, her taxable income would have been Rs 12,00,000 and her tax would have worked out to Rs 1,72,500 plus Rs 6,900 cess, or Rs 1,79,400. The flat Rs 1,25,000 deduction therefore saves her Rs 39,000, which is the deduction taxed at her 30% marginal rate plus 4% cess. A taxpayer whose top slab is 20% would save Rs 26,000 on the same Rs 1,25,000, and a person claiming the base Rs 75,000 at the 5% slab would save Rs 3,900. You can replicate this for your own salary with the income tax calculator and confirm the deducted TDS with the TDS calculator.

The deduction is worth flagging to your employer at the start of the year. Once you submit the certificate, the employer can factor Section 80U into your monthly TDS so you are not left claiming a large refund at filing. If TDS was already over-deducted, the excess is refunded after you file, and you can follow that process in our guide to checking refund status on the e-filing portal.

Common Mistakes

The most frequent error, seen repeatedly in ITR processing, is claiming Section 80U while filing under the new regime. For FY 2025-26 the new regime is the default, and Chapter VI-A deductions such as 80U are disallowed there. If you want the Rs 75,000 or Rs 1,25,000, you must positively opt for the old regime; a mismatch is a common reason the deduction is denied at the Section 143(1) processing stage.

A second mistake is confusing Section 80U with Section 80DD. Section 80U is for a taxpayer who is themselves disabled, while Section 80DD is for a resident who supports a disabled dependant. The amounts are identical, Rs 75,000 and Rs 1,25,000 for severe disability, but you cannot claim both provisions for the same person, and claiming under the wrong section for your situation invites a query.

A third pitfall is treating the certificate as optional. Section 80U requires a certificate from a medical authority, and where the certificate carries an expiry date, the deduction can only be claimed up to the assessment year in which it lapses. A fourth, more subtle error is a residency slip: only a resident individual qualifies, so a Non-Resident Indian, a Hindu Undivided Family or a company cannot claim it. Finally, remember that Section 80U reduces your total income before the tax rebate is computed, so pairing it with the old-regime rebate under Section 87A of Rs 12,500 for total income up to Rs 5,00,000 can, for lower incomes, wipe out the liability entirely. See how a rebate works alongside deductions in our tax rebate glossary entry.

FAQ

Is Section 80U available under the new tax regime?

No. Section 80U is a Chapter VI-A deduction and is only available if you opt for the old tax regime. Under the default new regime for FY 2025-26, deductions such as 80U, 80C and 80DDB are not allowed, so a person claiming the flat Rs 75,000 or Rs 1,25,000 must file under the old regime to benefit.

Do I need to spend money to claim Section 80U?

No. Section 80U is a flat, fixed deduction of Rs 75,000, or Rs 1,25,000 for severe disability of 80% or more. It is not linked to the amount you actually spend on treatment, aids or support, which is what separates it from expenditure-based deductions such as Section 80DDB, covered in our piece on deducting specified-disease treatment.

What is the difference between Section 80U and Section 80DD?

Section 80U is claimed by the taxpayer who is themselves a person with a disability. Section 80DD is claimed by a resident who incurs expenditure on, or deposits for, a disabled dependant. The flat amounts are the same, Rs 75,000 rising to Rs 1,25,000 for severe disability, but you cannot claim both 80U and 80DD for the same person.

What counts as severe disability for the higher Rs 1,25,000 deduction?

Severe disability means 80% or more of one or more disabilities as certified by a medical authority, or the severe-disability categories defined under the National Trust Act, 1999. A person certified at 40% or more but below 80% claims the base Rs 75,000 instead.

Which certificate do I need to claim Section 80U?

You need a certificate of disability in the prescribed form from a medical authority. For conditions such as autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disability, the certificate is issued in Form 10-IA under Rule 11A of the Income-tax Rules, and it must be valid for the assessment year in which the deduction is claimed.

Can a Non-Resident Indian claim Section 80U?

No. Section 80U is available only to a resident individual who is certified as a person with disability. A Non-Resident Indian, a Hindu Undivided Family and a company cannot claim the Section 80U deduction.

Do I have to renew the disability certificate every year?

If the certificate specifies a validity period, the deduction can be claimed until the assessment year in which it expires, after which a fresh certificate is required. Where the disability is assessed as permanent, a fresh certificate is generally not needed each year, but a valid certificate must always be available on record. Always confirm the current position against the statutory text on indiacode.nic.in and file through the official incometax.gov.in portal.