List of best Tax Saving Tips in India to Save Income Tax: If you are an Indian resident, you are required to pay tax on your income (if it crosses the minimum taxable limit) to the Indian Government. Do you ever feel like you are paying an excessive tax? Have you ever thought of saving some tax from your taxable income?

The Income Tax Act, 1961 is a complicated statute in itself. If you are looking to carry out your personal tax planning, you might it find it a real tough job to accomplish. In this article, we shall talk about the best tax saving tips in India and cover the various tax hacks which you can adopt to save your taxes.

15 Must-Know Tax Saving Tips in India

Let us first talk about the tax deductions you can claim by investing in some financial instruments specified u/s 80C. The maximum tax benefit allowed under this section is Rs 1.5 lakh.

1. Public Provident Fund

Investment in PPF (Public Provident Fund) is subjected to EEE tax exemption status. It is a savings scheme established by the Government which comes with a maturity period of 15 years. You can invest in it by visiting any bank or post office in India. Currently, the rate of interest offered on PPF is 8% every year.

2. Employees’ Provident Fund

If you are a salaried individual, you can claim a tax deduction on the contributions you make in your EPF account. The maturity amount and the interest income on EPF have also been exempted from Income Tax provided you have completed 5 years of service.

3. Five-year tax-saver Fixed Deposits

You can invest in 5-year tax-saver FDs to claim a tax deduction in a Financial Year up to Rs 1.5 lakh. These instruments carry a fixed rate of interest varying from 7 to 8% p.a.

4. National Saving Certificate (NSC)

NSC is having a lock-in period of 5 years and offers interest at a fixed rate. At present, the interest rate is 8% p.a. You can get tax benefits on both investments made and interests received.

5. Equity Linked Saving Schemes (ELSS)

Investing in ELSS is one of the easiest and fastest Tax Saving tips that anyone would provide you. ELSS funds invest a minimum of 4/5^th of their assets in Equities.  ELSS aims at providing the dual benefit of capital appreciation and tax-savings simultaneously. These funds have a mandatory lock-in period of three years, which is the shortest among all 80C options.

When you redeem the funds, if your long term capital gain exceeds Rs 1 lakh during redemption, then such gains are subjected to tax @10%. However, there is no capping on investment value.

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6. Life Insurance Policies

You can claim a tax deduction for the premiums you pay for various types of life insurance policies which include endowment plan, term plan, and ULIP. But, for availing this tax benefit, the sum assured (insurance cover) must be a minimum of 10 times the amount of premium which you pay.

7. Interests on home loans

When you repay your home loan (procured for acquiring or constructing a house), the principal portion of the same is deductible under Income Tax. The interests that you pay are eligible for tax deduction u/s 24(b) of the said Act while computing income from house property.

8. Senior Citizen Saving Schemes (SCSS)

The contributions made to an SCSS are eligible for a tax deduction. SCSS is having a tenure of 5 years. It is available for investments for those who are above 60 years. The rate of return offered by an SCSS is currently 8.7% per annum which is higher than a bank FD.

Apart from section 80C, there are various other sections in the Income Tax Act of India which provides you with tax benefits.

9. National Pension Scheme (NPS)

Whatever contribution you make in your NPS account, you are eligible to obtain tax benefit up to Rs 1.5 lakh under section 80C. An additional tax deduction to the maximum of Rs 50k u/s 80CCD(1B) is available on your contributions in your NPS account. Investing in NPS lets you invest in both equities and debts at the same time and build a significant retirement corpus.

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10. Medical Insurance Premiums

You can avail tax deduction up to Rs 25k on medical insurance premiums paid u/s 80D. This tax benefit is allowed to you and your family. For senior citizens, this limit changes to Rs 50k. Again, if you are paying health insurance premiums for yourself and/or your family and senior citizen parents, the maximum combined deduction available is Rs 75k in a Financial Year.

11. House Rent Allowance (HRA)

If you are a salaried employee getting House Rent Allowance (HRA), you can enjoy tax exemption on the same if you stay in a rented house. But, if you don’t get HRA from your job but staying in rented accommodation, you can still claim tax deduction u/s 80GG to the maximum of Rs 60,000 p.a.

12. Home loan for constructing a house property

If you have raised a home loan for acquiring or constructing a house property, the interest payable on the same is tax deductible u/s 24 up to a limit of Rs 2 lakh per year. But, the interesting thing is that, instead of a self-occupied property, if you have given the house on rent, there is no upper limit for it. But, the total loss that you can claim on the head of income from house property is limited to Rs 2 lakh.

13. Partial benefits on Saving Account Interests

The interests that you receive on your Savings Bank Account are tax-free to a limit of Rs 10,000 per year u/s 80TTA. But, if you are a senior citizen, the tax deduction on interests received on both FD and savings account is allowed up to Rs 50,000 u/s 80TTB.

14. Disabled Assessee Deductions

If you are an Assessee suffering from any disability, you can claim tax deduction u/s 80U for yourself. Under this section, the maximum deduction from your taxable income allowed is Rs 1, 25,000.

15. Disabled dependent deductions

You can enjoy tax benefit u/s 80DD if there is any disabled person in your family who is dependent on you for his/her living. This section allows you to claim a deduction of Rs 1.25 lakhs from your taxable income.

Bonus: Donation or relief funds

If you make a donation to any relief fund or charitable institution, the limit of the tax deduction is 50% of your donated amount. Some entities allow 100% tax benefits on the donations made, subject to a maximum of 10% of the adjusted total income. There are some organizations where 100% of your donations are allowed as tax deductions without any conditions.

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Closing Thoughts

In this article, we have provided you with some common tax saving tips. If you could follow our guidance, it would help you to plan your personal taxes better. The Income Tax Law of India is itself a huge one. Further, many amendments come every year in the form of a new budget (Finance Act), circulars, notifications, and case laws.

Therefore, we would like to warn you that you should not rely only on our stated tax saving tips and strategies. For managing your tax compliances in the most effective manner, it is recommended that you consult any tax consultant like a Lawyer or a practicing Chartered Accountant. We wish you all the best for your personal tax planning.