Circular No. 375 — Section 8OU: Totally Blind or Physically…

What this is

Circular No. 375 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 2 January 1984. Its subject is Section 8OU l Totally Blind or Physically Handicapped Persons.

This is a clarification. The Board is stating how it reads a provision. That reading binds the department; it does not bind a court, and where the section says otherwise the section wins.

What it does

Opens up the categories of disability that qualify for the deduction under section 80U. Circular No. 246 dated 20th September 1978 had laid down guidelines for the deduction in the case of totally blind or physically handicapped resident persons, and a large number of references said those guidelines made no room for deaf and dumb persons or the mentally retarded. Examining the matter with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Board points out that Circular No. 246 is only illustrative and that there can be other categories of physical handicap, deafness, dumbness and mental retardation among them, each case being decided on its own facts as to whether the requirements of section 80U are fully satisfied.

Why it was issued

A large number of references complained that the guidelines in the earlier circular did not provide for deaf and dumb persons and mentally retarded persons.

Who it reaches

Resident individuals with disabilities not listed in the earlier guidelines
Deaf, dumb and mentally retarded assessees claiming section 80U
Medical authorities certifying disability
Assessing Officers applying Circular No. 246 as a closed list

The provisions it speaks to

Left, the provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as the instrument itself names it. Right, the section of the Income-tax Act, 2025 that the department’s own concordance maps it to — which is where the same ground is now covered.

Under the 1961 Act	Now
s.8OU	no counterpart recorded
s.80U	s.154

The instrument, as the Board published it

The words below are the department’s own, reproduced from its published text. Where the department’s copy carried a publisher’s notes after the instrument, those are not reproduced.

SECTION 8OU l TOTALLY BLIND OR PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED PERSONS
Deduction in the case of totally blind/physically handicapped persons under the section - Scope of expression "permanent physical disability" explained

1. Circular No. 246 [F. No. 178/37/77-IT(A-I)], dated 20-9-1978 [Clarification 2] laid down certain guidelines for the purpose of grant of deduction in the case of totally blind or physically handicapped resident persons under section 80U.
2. A large number of references have been received by the Board on the ground that these guidelines laid in the circular do not provide situation for the cases of deaf and dumb persons and mentally retarded persons, etc.
3. The matter has been examined by the Board in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The Board wish to point out that Circular No. 246 is only illustrative and there could be other situations or other categories of physically handicapped, such as, deafness, dumbness and mental retardation. The facts and circumstances of each case will have to be gone into in determining whether the requirements of section 80U are fully satisfied.
Circular : No. 375 [F. No. 178/17/83-IT(A-I)], dated 2-1-1984.

What to watch

It does not add a fresh list of its own; it says the earlier list is illustrative and each case turns on its facts.
The conditions of section 80U itself, including that the disability be permanent and that the person be resident, still have to be met.
Section 80U has since been rewritten around defined disabilities and certification by a prescribed medical authority, so the certification requirements of the present law are different.
The section number is printed with an obvious misreading in the source heading.

Where you meet it

In an assessment refusing a section 80U claim on the ground that the disability was not in the departmental list.

On the same provision

Other instruments in this library that name the same provision of the 1961 Act. They are not necessarily still operative, and a later one may have replaced an earlier one without saying so.

Circular No. 246 — Section 8OU l Totally Blind or Physically Handicapped Persons 20 September 1978
Notification No. 3/2022 — Specifying forms returns statements reports orders by whatever name called prescribed in appendix ii to be furnished ele 16 July 2022
Circular No. 653 — Section 80DD l Medical Treatment of Handicapped Dependents, ETC 15 June 1993
Notification No. 529E — A notification under section 80U of the Income-tax Act, 1961 17 July 1985
Circular No. 272 — 950. Employers authorised to give deduction of allowance under section 80U from salary income while deducting tax at sou 27 May 1980

← Circular No. 376, dated 6-1-1984 · Circular No. 373 →

A circular binds the department, not you and not a court. The Board issues a circular to its own officers. An assessee may hold the department to a circular that helps him; the department cannot hold an assessee to one that hurts him, and the Tribunal and the courts decide the law for themselves.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.