Blind Person’s Allowance
1. Overview
Blind Person's Allowance is an extra amount of tax-free allowance.
It means you can earn more before you start paying Income Tax.
2. What you'll get
Blind Person’s Allowance is added to your yearly Personal Allowance - the amount of money you can earn before you start paying Income Tax.
| Tax year | Blind Person’s Allowance |
|---|---|
| 2013 to 2014 | £2,160 |
| 2014 to 2015 | £2,230 |
If you and your spouse or civil partner are both eligible, you’ll each get an allowance.
You can transfer your Blind Person’s Allowance to your spouse or civil partner if you don’t pay tax or don’t earn enough to use all of your allowance.
3. Eligibility
England and Wales
You can claim Blind Person’s Allowance if you’re registered with your local council as blind or severely sight impaired.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
You can claim Blind Person’s Allowance if you can’t do work for which eyesight is essential.
4. How to claim
Contact HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to claim.
HMRC
Telephone: 0300 200 3301
Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm
Saturday, 8am to 4pm
Find out about call charges
5. Further information
How to transfer your allowance
You can transfer your Blind Person’s Allowance to your spouse or civil partner if you don’t pay tax or can’t use all of it.
Download form 575 'Notice of transfer of surplus Income Tax allowances' (PDF, 53KB)
You’ll also get the option to transfer any Married Couple’s Allowance.
Get the form in another format
Contact HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) if you need the form in a different format, eg Braille.
HMRC
Telephone: 0300 200 3301
Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm
Saturday, 8am to 4pm
Find out about call charges
If you’re making a claim to get tax back on savings and investment interest using form R40 you can also ask for a copy of form 575 by ticking the appropriate box.
Download 'Form R40 - Claim for repayment of tax deducted from savings and investments' (PDF, 102KB)