Are you considering replacing your old computer or buying a more “up-to-date” smartphone? We all know how important these devices are nowadays, to make our life easier, stay in touch with friends, colleagues and relatives and- why not? – enjoy, plan a trip or relax.
That’s true for everyone and, even more so, it’s important for who lives with a physical or sensory disability: think, for instance, about how important it’s being able to book a medical examination, consult a medical report or plan a trip directly from home, without having to move. Or, again, think about how videocalls and apps have facilitated the communications among deaf and “not disabled” people.
The good news is that you can buy these devices saving money, provided that you can demonstrate that they are needed to go beyond the limits of your own physical, visual or auditive disability, enabling you to work, communicate, interact with people around you or, again, have easy access to information sources.
In accordance with the 104/92 law, indeed, you can benefit from the favoured VAT rate (4% instead of 22%) to buy not only aids and means people with motoric disability need to walk or move, but also electronical and IT devices helping (physical and/or sensory) disabled people to have a better life. For instance:
- facilitating interpersonal communications
- written or graphic processing
- control over the environment
- access to information and culture
- assisting the rehabilitation
Now, let’s see which devices can benefit from the favoured VAT rate:
- computers (desktop pcs, notebooks, tablets)
- modems
- faxes
- telephones with speakerphone or suitable for videocalls (for auditive disabled people, of course)
- other (to be specified by the specialist who prescribes the device).
Benefiting from these facilitations is easy: you just need two documents:
- the certificate attesting the motoric, visual, auditive or related to speech disability (these are the only disabilities eligible for benefiting from this facilitation)
- the prescription released by the specialist of your Local Health Authority, demonstrating the link between the permanent functional disability and the benefit that buying and using that device could bring.
Furthermore, upon buying the device, you’ll have to fill a form where you self-certify your right to benefit from this facilitation.