Publication 524: Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled; Publication 524 Main Contents

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Table of Contents

Can You Take the Credit?

You can take the credit for the elderly or the disabled if you meet both of the following requirements.

You are a qualified individual.
Your income is not more than certain limits.

Please click the link to view the image.

figure a and b

You can use Figures A and B as guides to see if you qualify. Use Figure A first to see if you are a qualified individual. If you are, go to Figure B to make sure your income is not too high to take the credit.

You can take the credit only if you file Form 1040 or Form 1040A. You cannot take the credit if you file Form 1040EZ.

Qualified Individual

You are a qualified individual for this credit if you are a U.S. citizen or resident, and either of the following applies.

You were age 65 or older at the end of 2003.
You were under age 65 at the end of 2003 and all three of the following statements are true.
1. You retired on permanent and total disability (explained later).
2. You received taxable disability income for 2003.
3. On January 1, 2003, you had not reached mandatory retirement age (defined later under Disability income).

Age 65.

You are considered to be age 65 on the day before your 65th birthday. Therefore, if you were born on January 1, 1939, you are considered to be age 65 at the end of 2003.

U.S. Citizen or Resident

You must be a U.S. citizen or resident (or be treated as a resident) to take the credit. Generally, you cannot take the credit if you were a nonresident alien at any time during the tax year.

Exceptions.

You may be able to take the credit if you are a nonresident alien who is married to a U.S. citizen or resident at the end of the tax year and you and your spouse choose to treat you as a U.S. resident. If you make that choice, both you and your spouse are taxed on your worldwide incomes.

If you were a nonresident alien at the beginning of the year and a resident at the end of the year, and you were married to a U.S. citizen or resident at the end of the year, you may be able to choose to be treated as a U.S. resident for the entire year. In that case, you may be allowed to take the credit. For information on these choices, see chapter 1 of Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.

Generally, if you are married at the end of the tax year, you and your spouse must file a joint return to take the credit. However, if you and your spouse did not live in the same household at any time during the tax year, you can file either joint or separate returns and still take the credit.

Head of household.

You can file as head of household and qualify to take the credit, even if your spouse lived with you during the first 6 months of the year, if you meet all the following tests.

You file a separate return.
You paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home during the tax year.
Your spouse did not live in your home at any time during the last 6 months of the tax year and the absence was not temporary. (See Temporary absences in Publication 501.)
Your home was the main home of your child, stepchild, or adopted child for more than half the year or was the main home of your foster child for the entire year.
You can claim an exemption for that child, or you cannot claim the exemption only because one of the following statements is true.
1. You allowed your spouse (the noncustodial parent) to claim the exemption by signing a written declaration (such as Form 8332, Release of Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents) that you will not claim the exemption.
2. You signed a decree or agreement that (i) went into effect after 1984 and (ii) states that you will not claim the exemption and that your spouse (the noncustodial parent) can claim the exemption without regard to any condition, such as payment of support.
3. Your spouse (the noncustodial parent) provided at least $600 for the child's support during the year and is entitled to claim the exemption because of a pre-1985 decree or agreement.

For more information on head of household and other filing statuses, see Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.

If you are under age 65 at the end of 2003, you can qualify for the credit only if you are retired on permanent and total disability. You are retired on permanent and total disability if:

Even if you do not retire formally, you are considered retired on disability when you have stopped working because of your disability.

If you retired on disability before 1977, and were not permanently and totally disabled at the time, you can qualify for the credit if you were permanently and totally disabled on January 1, 1976, or January 1, 1977.

You are considered to be under age 65 at the end of 2003 if you were born after January 1, 1939.

Permanent and total disability.

You are permanently and totally disabled if you cannot engage in any substantial gainful activity because of your physical or mental condition. A physician must certify that the condition has lasted or can be expected to last continuously for 12 months or more, or that the condition can be expected to result in death. See Physician's statement, later.

Substantial gainful activity.

Substantial gainful activity is the performance of significant duties over a reasonable period of time while working for pay or profit, or in work generally done for pay or profit. Full-time work (or part-time work done at your employer's convenience) in a competitive work situation for at least the minimum wage conclusively shows that you are able to engage in substantial gainful activity.

Substantial gainful activity is not work you do to take care of yourself or your home. It is not unpaid work on hobbies, institutional therapy or training, school attendance, clubs, social programs, and similar activities. However, doing this kind of work may show that you are able to engage in substantial gainful activity.

The fact that you have not worked for some time is not, of itself, conclusive evidence that you cannot engage in substantial gainful activity.

The following examples illustrate the tests of substantial gainful activity.

Example 1.

Trisha, a sales clerk, retired on disability. She is 53 years old and now works as a full-time babysitter for the minimum wage. Even though Trisha is doing different work, she is able to do the duties of her new job in a full-time competitive work situation for the minimum wage. She cannot take the credit because she is able to engage in substantial gainful activity.

Example 2.

Tom, a bookkeeper, retired on disability. He is 59 years old and now drives a truck for a charitable organization. He sets his own hours and is not paid. Duties of this nature generally are performed for pay or profit. Some weeks he works 10 hours, and some weeks he works 40 hours. Over the year he averages 20 hours a week. The kind of work and his average hours a week conclusively show that Tom is able to engage in substantial gainful activity. This is true even though Tom is not paid and he sets his own hours. He cannot take the credit.

Example 3.

John, who retired on disability, took a job with a former employer on a trial basis. The purpose of the job was to see if John could do the work. The trial period lasted for 6 months during which John was paid the minimum wage. Because of John's disability, he was assigned only light duties of a nonproductive “make-work” nature. The activity was gainful because John was paid at least the minimum wage. But the activity was not substantial because his duties were nonproductive. These facts do not, by themselves, show that John is able to engage in substantial gainful activity.

Example 4.

Joan, who retired on disability from a job as a bookkeeper, lives with her sister who manages several motel units. Joan helps her sister for 1 or 2 hours a day by performing duties such as washing dishes, answering phones, registering guests, and bookkeeping. Joan can select the time of day when she feels most fit to work. Work of this nature, performed off and on during the day at Joan's convenience, is not activity of a “substantial and gainful” nature even if she is paid for the work. The performance of these duties does not, of itself, show that Joan is able to engage in substantial gainful activity.

Sheltered employment.

Certain work offered at qualified locations to physically or mentally impaired persons is considered sheltered employment. These qualified locations are in sheltered workshops, hospitals and similar institutions, homebound programs, and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) sponsored homes.

Compared to commercial employment, pay is lower for sheltered employment. Therefore, one usually does not look for sheltered employment if he or she can get other employment. The fact that one has accepted sheltered employment is not proof of the person's ability to engage in substantial gainful activity.

Physician's statement.

If you are under age 65, you must have your physician complete a statement certifying that you were permanently and totally disabled on the date you retired. You can use the statement in the instructions for Schedule R (Form 1040) or Schedule 3 (Form 1040A).

You do not have to file this statement with your Form 1040 or Form 1040A, but you must keep it for your records.

Veterans.

If the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) certifies that you are permanently and totally disabled, you can substitute VA Form 21–0172, Certification of Permanent and Total Disability, for the physician's statement you are required to keep. VA Form 21–0172 must be signed by a person authorized by the VA to do so. You can get this form from your local VA regional office.

Physician's statement obtained in earlier year.

If you got a physician's statement in an earlier year and, due to your continued disabled condition, you were unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity during 2003, you may not need to get another physician's statement for 2003. For a detailed explanation of the conditions you must meet, see the instructions for Part II of Schedule R (Form 1040) or Schedule 3 (Form 1040A). If you meet the required conditions, check the box on line 2 of Part II of Schedule R (Form 1040) or Schedule 3 (Form 1040A).

If you checked box 4, 5, or 6 in Part I of either Schedule R or Schedule 3, print in the space above the box on line 2 in Part II the first name(s) of the spouse(s) for whom the box is checked.

Disability income.

If you are under age 65, you can qualify for the credit only if you have taxable disability income. Disability income must meet both of the following requirements.

It must be paid under your employer's accident or health plan or pension plan.
It must be included in your income as wages (or payments instead of wages) for the time you are absent from work because of permanent and total disability.

Payments that are not disability income.

Any payment you receive from a plan that does not provide for disability retirement is not disability income. Any lump-sum payment for accrued annual leave that you receive when you retire on disability is a salary payment and is not disability income.

For purposes of the credit for the elderly or the disabled, disability income does not include amounts you receive after you reach mandatory retirement age. Mandatory retirement age is the age set by your employer at which you would have had to retire, had you not become disabled.

Table 1.Initial Amounts

IF your filing status is...			THEN enter on line 10 of Schedule R (Form 1040) or Schedule 3 (Form 1040A)...
single,head of household, or a qualifying widow(er) with dependent child and, by the end of 2003, you were
	•	65 or older	$5,000
	•	under 65 and retired on permanent and total disability ¹	$5,000
married filing a joint return and by the end of 2003
	•	both of you were 65 or older	$7,500
	•	both of you were under 65 and one of you retired on permanent and total disability ¹	$5,000
	•	both of you were under 65 and both of you retired on permanent and total disability ²	$7,500
	•	one of you was 65 or older, and the other was under 65 and retired on permanent and total disability ³	$7,500
	•	one of you was 65 or older, and the other was under 65 and not retired on permanent and total disability	$5,000
married filing a separate return and you did not live with your spouse at any time during the year and, by the end of 2003, you were
	•	65 or older	$3,750
	•	under 65 and retired on permanent and total disability ¹	$3,750

	¹ Amount cannot be more than the taxable disability income.
	² Amount cannot be more than your combined taxable disability income.
	³ Amount is $5,000 plus the taxable disability income of the spouse under age 65, but not more than $7,500.

To determine if you can claim the credit, you must consider two income limits. The first limit is the amount of your adjusted gross income (AGI). The second limit is the amount of nontaxable social security and other nontaxable pensions you received. The limits are shown in Figure B.

If both your AGI and your nontaxable pensions are less than the income limits, you may be able to claim the credit. See Figuring the Credit, next.

If either your AGI or your nontaxable pensions are equal to or more than the income limits, you cannot take the credit.

You can figure the credit yourself (see the explanation that follows), or the IRS will figure it for you. See Credit Figured for You, later.

Figuring the credit yourself.

If you figure the credit yourself, fill out the front of either Schedule R (if you are filing Form 1040) or Schedule 3 (if you are filing Form 1040A). Next, fill out Part III of either Schedule R or Schedule 3.

To figure the credit, you must first determine your initial amount. See Table 1.

Initial amounts for persons under age 65.

If you are a qualified individual under age 65, your initial amount cannot be more than your taxable disability income.

Step 2 is to figure the total amount of nontaxable social security and certain other nontaxable payments you received during the year.

Enter these nontaxable payments on lines 13a or 13b and total them on line 13c. If you are married filing a joint return, you must enter the combined amount of nontaxable payments both you and your spouse receive.

Worksheets are provided in the instructions for Forms 1040 and 1040A to help you determine if any part of your social security benefits (or equivalent railroad retirement benefits) is taxable.

Include the following nontaxable payments in the amounts you enter on lines 13a and 13b.

Nontaxable social security payments. This is the nontaxable part of the amount of benefits shown in box 5 of Form SSA–1099, Social Security Benefit Statement, which includes disability benefits, before deducting any amounts withheld to pay premiums on supplementary Medicare insurance, and before any reduction because of receipt of a benefit under workers' compensation.

Do not include a lump-sum death benefit payment you may receive as a surviving spouse, or a surviving child's insurance benefit payments you may receive as a guardian.
Social security equivalent part of tier 1 railroad retirement pension payments that are not taxed. This is the nontaxable part of the amount of benefits shown in box 5 of Form RRB–1099, Payments by the Railroad Retirement Board.
Nontaxable pension or annuity payments or disability benefits that are paid under a law administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Do not include amounts received as a pension, annuity, or similar allowance for personal injuries or sickness resulting from active service in the armed forces of any country or in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or the Public Health Service, or as a disability annuity under section 808 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980.
Pension or annuity payments or disability benefits that are excluded from income under any provision of federal law other than the Internal Revenue Code.

Do not include amounts that are a return of your cost of a pension or annuity. These amounts do not reduce your initial amount.

You should be sure to take into account all of the nontaxable amounts you receive. These amounts are verified by the IRS through information supplied by other government agencies.

You also must reduce your initial amount by your excess adjusted gross income. Figure your excess adjusted gross income on lines 14 through 17.

To determine if you can take the credit, you must add the amounts you figured in Step 2 and Step 3.

Figuring the credit.

If you can take the credit, subtract the total of Step 2 and Step 3 from the amount in Step 1 and multiply the result by 15%.

In certain cases, the amount of your credit may be limited. See Limit on credit, later.

Example.

You are 66 years old and your spouse is 64. Your spouse is not disabled. You file a joint return on Form 1040. Your adjusted gross income is $14,630. Together you received $3,200 from social security, which was nontaxable. You figure the credit as follows:

1.	Initial amount			$5,000
2.	Subtract the total of:
	a.	Nontaxable social security and other nontaxable pensions	$3,200
	b.	Excess adjusted gross income ($14,630 - $10,000) ÷ 2	2,315	5,515
3.	Balance (Not less than -0-)			-0-
4.	Credit			$0

You cannot take the credit since your nontaxable social security (line 2a) plus your excess adjusted gross income (line 2b) is more than your amount on line 1.

Limit on credit.

The amount of credit you can claim may be limited if any of the following apply.

You file Form 1040A and the credit you figured on line 20 of Schedule 3 is more than the tax on Form 1040A, line 28.
You file Form 1040 and the credit you figured on line 20 of Schedule R is more than the amount on Form 1040, line 43 (regular tax plus any alternative minimum tax), minus any foreign tax credit on Form 1040, line 44.
You are claiming the credit for child and dependent care expenses on:
1. Form 1040A, line 29, or
2. Form 1040, line 45.

Figure any limit on your credit on lines 21–24 of Schedule R or lines 21–22 of Schedule 3.

If you choose to have the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) figure the credit for you, read the following discussion for the form you will file (Form 1040 or Form 1040A). If you want the IRS to figure your tax, see Publication 967.

Form 1040.

If you want the IRS to figure your credit, attach Schedule R to your return and enter “CFE” on the dotted line next to line 46 of Form 1040. Check the box in Part I of Schedule R for your filing status and age. Fill in Part II and lines 11 and 13 of Part III if they apply to you.

Form 1040A.

If you want the IRS to figure your credit, attach Schedule 3 to your return and print “CFE” next to line 30 of Form 1040A. Check the box in Part I of Schedule 3 for your filing status and age. Fill in Part II and lines 11 and 13 of Part III, if they apply to you.

The following examples illustrate the credit for the elderly or the disabled. The initial amounts are taken from Table 1.

Example 1.

James Davis is 58 years old and single, and files Form 1040A. In 1998 he retired on permanent and total disability, and he is still permanently and totally disabled. He got the required physician's statement in 1998 and kept it with his tax records. His physician signed on line B of the statement. This year James checks the box in Part II of Schedule 3. He does not need to get another statement for 2003.

He received the following income for the year:

Nontaxable social security		$1,500
Interest (taxable)		100
Taxable disability pension		11,400

James' adjusted gross income is $11,500 ($11,400 + $100). He figures the credit on Schedule 3 as follows:

1.	Initial amount			$5,000
2.	Taxable disability pension			11,400
3.	Smaller of line 1 or line 2			5,000
4.	Subtract the total of:
	a.	Nontaxable disability benefits (social security)	$1,500
	b.	Excess adjusted gross income ($11,500 - $7,500) ÷ 2	2,000	3,500
5.	Balance (Not less than -0-)			1,500
6.	Multiply line 5 by 15% (.15)			225
7.	Enter the amount from Form 1040A, line 28		373
8.	Enter any amount from Form 1040A, line 29		-0-
9.	Subtract line 8 from line 7			373
10.	Credit (Enter the smaller of line 6 or line 9)			$ 225

His credit is $225. He enters $225 on line 30 of Form 1040A. The Schedule 3 for James Davis is not shown.

Example 2.

William White is 53. His wife Helen is 49. William had a stroke 3 years ago and retired on permanent and total disability. He is still permanently and totally disabled because of the stroke. In November of last year, Helen was injured in an accident at work and retired on permanent and total disability.

William received nontaxable social security disability benefits of $3,000 during the year and a taxable disability pension of $6,000. Helen earned $9,200 from her job and received a taxable disability pension of $1,000. Their joint return on Form 1040 shows adjusted gross income of $16,200 ($6,000 + $9,200 + $1,000).

Helen got her doctor to complete the physician's statement in the instructions for Schedule R. Helen is not required to include the statement with their return for the year, but she must keep it for her records.

William got a physician's statement for the year he had the stroke. His doctor had signed on line B of that physician's statement to certify that William was permanently and totally disabled. William has kept the physician's statement with his records. He checks the box in Part II of Schedule R and writes his first name in the space above line 2.

William and Helen use Schedule R to figure their $61 credit for the elderly or the disabled. They attach Schedule R to the joint return and enter $61 on line 46 of Form 1040. See their filled-in Schedule R and Helen's filled-in physician's statement, later.

Example 3.

Jerry Ash is 68 years old and single and files Form 1040A. He received the following income for the year:

Nontaxable social security		$2,000
Interest (taxable)		455
Pension (all taxable)		5,600
Wages from a part-time job		4,245

Jerry's adjusted gross income is $10,300 ($4,245 + $5,600 + $455). Jerry figures the credit on Schedule 3 (Form 1040A) as follows:

1.	Initial amount			$5,000
2.	Subtract the total of:
	a.	Nontaxable social security and other nontaxable pensions	$2,000
	b.	Excess adjusted gross income ($10,300 - $7,500) ÷ 2	1,400	3,400
3.	Balance (Not less than -0-)			1,600
4.	Multiply line 3 by 15% (.15)			240
5.	Enter the amount from Form 1040A, line 28		136
6.	Enter any amount from Form 1040A, line 29		-0-
7.	Subtract line 6 from line 5			136
8.	Credit (Enter the smaller of line 4 or line 7)			$ 136

Jerry's credit is $136. He files Schedule 3 (Form 1040A) and shows this amount on line 30 of Form 1040A. See the filled-in Schedule 3 for Jerry Ash, later.

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Page 1 of Schedule R for the Whites

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Page 2 of Schedule R for the Whites

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Physician's statement for the Whites

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Page 1 of Schedule 3 for Jerry Ash

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Page 2 of Schedule 3 for Jerry Ash

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Publication 524Main Contents

Publication 524
Main Contents