# Prop. Treas. Reg. § 1.63-3: Additional standard deduction for the aged and blind.

Proposed regulation, not in force. REG-107279-00, 82 FR 6370, published 2017-01-19 <https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/01/19/2017-01056/definition-of-dependent>. Interprets 26 U.S.C. § 63.

Par. 9. Section 1.63-3 is added to read as follows:

(a) In general. A taxpayer who, at the end of the taxable year, has attained age 65 or is blind is entitled to an additional standard deduction amount. The additional standard deduction amount is the sum of the amounts to which the taxpayer is entitled under paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section. If an individual meets the requirements for both the additional amount for the aged and the additional amount for the blind, the taxpayer is entitled to both additional amounts.

(b) Additional amount for the aged —(1) Aged taxpayer or spouse. A taxpayer is entitled to an additional amount under section 63(f)(1) if the taxpayer has attained age 65 before the end of the taxable year. If spouses file a joint return, each spouse who has attained age 65 before the end of the taxable year for which the spouses file the joint return is entitled to an additional amount. A married taxpayer who files a separate return is entitled to an additional amount for the taxpayer's spouse if the spouse has attained age 65 before the end of the taxable year and, for the calendar year in which the taxable year of the taxpayer begins, the spouse has no gross income and is not the dependent of another taxpayer. The taxpayer is not entitled to an additional amount if the spouse dies before attaining age 65, even though the spouse would have attained age 65 before the end of the taxpayer's taxable year.

(2) Age determined. For purposes of section 63(f) and this paragraph (b), a taxpayer's age is determined as of the last day of the taxpayer's taxable year. A person attains the age of 65 on the first moment of the day preceding his or her sixty-fifth birthday.

(c) Additional amount for the blind —(1) Blind taxpayer or spouse. A taxpayer is entitled to an additional amount under section 63(f)(2) if the taxpayer is blind at the end of the taxable year. If spouses file a joint return, each spouse who is blind at the end of the taxable year for which the spouses file the joint return is entitled to an additional amount. A married taxpayer who files a separate return is entitled to an additional amount for the taxpayer's spouse if the spouse is blind and, for the calendar year in which the taxable year of the taxpayer begins, the spouse has no gross income and is not the dependent of another taxpayer. If the spouse dies during the taxable year, the date of death is the time for determining the spouse's blindness.

(2) Blindness determined. A taxpayer who claims an additional amount allowed by section 63(f)(2) for the blind must maintain in the taxpayer's records a statement from a physician skilled in the diseases of the eye or a registered optometrist stating that the physician or optometrist has examined the person for whom the additional amount is claimed and, in the opinion of the physician or optometrist, the person's central visual acuity did not exceed 20/200 in the better eye with correcting lenses, or the person's visual acuity was accompanied by a limitation in the field of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees. The statement must provide that the physician or optometrist examined the person in the taxpayer's taxable year for which the amount is claimed, or that the physician or optometrist examined the person in an earlier year and that the visual impairment is irreversible.

(d) Applicability date. This section and §§ 1.63-1(a) and 1.63-2 apply to taxable years beginning after the date these regulations are published as final regulations in the Federal Register .