Dependent Disability Deduction: Section 127 Guide

For Tax Year 2026–27 the operative counterpart is section 127.

Legal or Computational Framework

Eligibility depends on relationship, dependency, certified disability percentage and a valid prescribed certificate—not merely medical spending. Ordinary and severe disability use fixed statutory amounts.

Core working: Verify claimant residence, dependent relationship, disability band and certificate validity; select the fixed amount; prevent duplicate personal/caregiver claims.

The two statutory bands: ₹75,000 for a dependent certified with disability of at least 40% (but below 80%); ₹1,25,000 for a dependent certified with SEVERE disability of 80% or more. These are FIXED amounts, not scaled to actual medical spend - a claimant who spends ₹10,000 and one who spends ₹1,00,000 on the same 45%-disability dependent both claim ₹75,000, no more and no less. Eligible dependents are the claimant’s spouse, children, parents or siblings (for an individual) or any member (for an HUF) - and the SAME dependent cannot have separately claimed the self-disability deduction (Section 80U’s successor) for themselves; only one of the two provisions can apply to that person’s disability.

Why the result is fact-sensitive

The same keyword can produce different answers because residence, age, employment terms, service period, contribution payer, deposit type, income composition, tax regime and documentation differ. Payroll terminology is not always statutory terminology. A calculator must therefore state the legal definition used for salary, wages, contribution, deposit, deduction or exemption.

Step-by-step method

1. Identify the governing tax year and statute.
2. Confirm taxpayer category, residence and regime.
3. Classify every input under the correct current provision.
4. Apply actual-amount, statutory and shared ceilings in order.
5. Recompute tax, rebate, surcharge, marginal relief and cess.
6. Reconcile official statements and retain an audit trail.

Worked example

A resident supports a child with certified 65% disability and spends ₹42,000. Because 65% falls in the 40%-79% band, the claim is ₹75,000 - the FIXED statutory amount for that band - not the ₹42,000 actually spent. If the same child’s disability had instead been certified at 85% (the severe-disability band), the claim would jump to ₹1,25,000, again regardless of the actual amount spent.

The example is an audit model, not a substitute for the taxpayer's records. Change one input—such as residence, regime, payment date, disability band, contribution payer, state, service period or income type—and the answer may change.

Decision checks before claiming or calculating

1. Correct period: confirm whether the question concerns AY 2026–27 or Tax Year 2026–27.
2. Correct statute: cite the 2025 Act for income from 1 April 2026; use the Social Security Code for current gratuity entitlement.
3. Correct person: establish who paid, earned, received or is legally eligible.
4. Correct base: use statutory salary, wages, interest, contribution or adjusted income—not a convenient payroll label.
5. Correct ceiling: apply actual-amount, shared, lifetime and gross-total-income ceilings in the right sequence.
6. Correct evidence: reconcile the result to official statements, certificates, payroll and bank records.

Use the ITR Form Selector — AY 2026–27 to work through the related inputs before acting.

What Generic Pages Miss

For the connected rule, example or next step, see Specified-Disease Treatment Deduction: Section 128.

Practical Documentation Checklist

• prescribed disability certificate
• UDID/medical-board record
• relationship/dependency proof
• certificate-validity record
• claim allocation
• regime working

See the broader Income-tax Act 2025 study guide hub for related rules and calculators on this topic.

For the connected rule, example or next step, see Section 80U Deduction: Tax Benefits for Persons with Disability.

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