Claiming disability rebates? You’d better get your ITR-DD

Rolling Inspiration
By Rolling Inspiration
3 Min Read

Before you can qualify for disability rebates, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) needs to know you have a disability. How do you prove your disability? With the ITR-DD form. It not only identifies your disability, but also reveals the extent of the disability: for example, is it temporary, like some Guillain-Barré syndrome cases, or permanent, like many paralyses?

On its website SARS notes: “The disability and the extent thereof must first be diagnosed by a duly registered medical professional qualified to express an opinion thereon. This is done by way of an ITR-DD form.”

Part A of the form is completed by the applicant, which asks for the details of the person with the disability as well as the details of the applicant (if they aren’t the same person). Part B of the form will need to be completed by a medical professional who is qualified to express an opinion on the disability.

For example, a prosthetist is qualified to evaluate an amputee’s condition, but not qualified to evaluate blindness. The form needs to be completed every five years for taxpayers with a permanent disability or a caretaker (a parent of spouse) living with a person with a permanent disability. Disability rebates can be claimed when the taxpayer submits their annual income tax return.

SARS points out: “You must not submit the ITR-DD form with your tax return, but must retain it in the event of a SARS audit.”

Up to 33,3 percent of expenses can be reimbursed through disability rebates; however, not all disabilities qualify for all rebates. For example, a wheelchair user who does not have a visual impairment will not receive disability rebates for a hand-held GPS.

SARS has a full guide to expenses that can be claimed. You can access the list here. For more assistance, contact Numbrfactory. This small accounting firm based in Soweto assists people with disabilities with financial solutions and disability tax rebates. You can download the ITR-DD form from the SARS website or here.

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7 Comments
  • Good day

    kindly explain to me how does itr-dd works?
    2017 was my first year to submit the form,
    although my diagnosis is for 2007.
    am I not to be re imburse for the past years?

    Kind regards
    constance

    • You can go to your Income Tax Working Page and click on the “request correction button” and then resubmit your return as it did not take into account your disability and related expenses or alternatively file an objection for past returns. Do note that if the resubmission results in a refund/reduced assessment, SARS will audit or review your returns and request supporting documentation. We suggest you consult a tax professional before resubmitting prior year’s returns.

    • We recommend that you speak with a tax specialist who can give you a more qualified opinion. We are unfortunately not specialists in the matter.

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