	Current Tax Law

Federal income tax laws provide certain allowances for the blind, the most important of which is the additional standard deduction amount allowed to legally blind taxpayers. Initially, in introducing the provision as a deduction in the Revenue Act of 1943, the House Ways and Means Committee stated "the committee has provided for a special deduction of $500 from the gross income of every blind person in order to cover the expenses resulting directly from blindness, such as the cost of readers and guides. The tax provision for the blind in the Revenue Act of 1948 was incorporated in the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 , substantially unchanged. A comprehensive revision of the income tax code was made with enactment of the Tax Reform Act of 1986—designed to lead to a fairer, more efficient and simpler tax system. Both the standard deduction and additional standard deduction amount for blind and/or elderly taxpayers were indexed for inflation in future years. Thus, Congress in the 1986 tax act effectively targeted the tax benefits to lower and moderate income elderly and blind taxpayers by substituting an additional standard deduction amount for the additional personal exemption permitted under prior law. Thus, the extra standard deduction amount can be seen as an attempt to compensate the blind for these added living and business expenses. However, as discussed below, it may also be said that the additional standard deduction accorded the blind does not meet horizontal equity principles in that all taxpayers with equal net incomes are not treated equally. Many blind individuals have low incomes.
In the Revenue Act of 1943, a special $500 income tax deduction was first permitted the blind for expenses directly associated with readers and guides. This deduction for expenses evolved to a $600 personal exemption in the Revenue Act of 1948 so that the blind did not forfeit use of the standard deduction and so that the tax benefit could be reflected directly in the withholding tables. Congress attempted to target the tax benefit to low- and moderate-income blind individuals by replacing the tax exemption with an additional standard deduction amount with passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986.
The extra standard deduction amount provides tax relief that recognizes the increased costs of living and associated costs of employment for blind taxpayers. Since many blind taxpayers have low incomes, they are able to use the additional standard deduction amount provided under current tax law. However, this extra amount arguably does not meet the tax tests of horizontal equity and effectiveness. The provision has not been extended to other taxpayers with handicapping conditions because of administrative difficulties and the loss of additional federal tax revenues. This report will be updated in future years to reflect changes in law or in the additional standard deduction amount that is adjusted for inflation.