MONEY
One of the numerous headings that you need to file under Income Tax is the Section 80C. The finance department in your office will tell you how you need to fill it in because it will help you get an income tax rebate. They also stress that you need to fill it in meticulously and these headings need to be accompanied with proper documentation while submission.
First up, here’s what the Section 80C is all about
Section 80C
Under section 80C, a deduction of ₹1,50,000 can be claimed from your total income. In simple terms, you can reduce up to ₹1,50,000 from your total taxable income through Section 80C. This deduction is allowed to an Individual or a Hindu Undivided Family (An HUF, or a Hindu Undivided Family, is a separate tax entity in addition to individual persons who are members of such a family. If you are Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh, you can have an HUF as a separate tax entity. You can claim all tax benefits under Wealth Tax and Income Tax).
Life insurance premium
The annual premium paid for life insurance in your name, your spouse’s or child comes becomes eligible for deduction Section 80C. The deduction is valid only if the premium is less than 10% of the sum assured.
Children’s tuition fees
Now you see how your children’s tuition fees can help. They do make for an interesting topic of discussion on how expensive schools are getting but they also help you save. The tuition fee paid for the education of two children is eligible for tax deduction under Section 80C of up to ₹1.5 lakh. The fee can be paid to any school, college, university or educational institute situated in India. The fees have to be for a full-time course only.
Repayment of home loan
The repayment of the principal of a loan taken to buy or construct a residential property is eligible for tax deductions under Section 80C. This deduction is also applicable on stamp duty, registration fees and transfer expenses.
EPF or Employee's share of PF Contribution
Employee contribution to EPF is also eligible for deduction under section 80C. 12% of your basic + DA is deducted by the employer and deposited as your contribution in Employee's Provident Fund Scheme or Recognised Provident Fund.
LIC, PF, is something that is common for most working professionals and if you have that then you just need to calculate how much you are short of to fulfil this criteria. For people with children and home loans with them, consider this column full enough to suffice for claiming the ₹1,50,000
deduction.
Watch:
In case you need to show additional investments then under this Section 80C you also have
These start with a lock-in period ranging from 3years- 5years and even till retirement. Five among them come with guaranteed returns as well and most of them are risk-free investments.
However, despite all this if you haven't managed to show your investments before your company deadline, then there is time till the Financial Year 2016-2017 comes to an end on March 31. There are still ways to save tax and you can even get a refund from the Income Tax Department as after the deadline, your employer will be deducting higher taxes. If you were not able to submit the details of your Section 80C deductions to your employer timely, you can claim them in your Income Tax Return.