My husband has AMD in both eyes, one eye is blind and the other is getting shots to keep him from going completing blind. Can he be claimed as blind

[NewGuy · Accepted solution]

Per IRS Pub 501, anything short of total blindness requires a certified statement from your eye doctor.

Not totally blind.    If you aren't totally blind, you must get a certified statement from an eye doctor (ophthalmologist or optometrist) that:

1. You can't see better than 20/200 in the better eye with glasses or contact lenses, or

2. Your field of vision is 20 degrees or less.

  If your eye condition isn't likely to improve beyond these limits, the statement should include this fact. Keep the statement in your records.   If your vision can be corrected beyond these limits only by contact lenses that you can wear only briefly because of pain, infection, or ulcers, you can take the higher standard deduction for blindness if you otherwise qualify.
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#en_US_2016_publink1000220721

[AlexisH]

Hello-

Anyone whose field of vision falls at or below 20 degrees, who wears corrective glasses but whose vision is 20/200 or less in his best eye, or who has no eyesight at all, meets the legal definition of being blind and is eligible for certain tax deductions. https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/General-Tax-Tips/Tax-Tips-for-the-Blind/INF23092.html