Tax Planning
Section 80C is not a strategy: what to actually do before 31 March
Every March, lakhs of people buy an insurance policy they do not want to save tax they may not owe.…
Planning is a year-start job
Most of the tax people overpay is lost by January, when the only moves left are last-minute insurance policies bought for the deduction rather than the cover. A plan made in April sets the salary structure, the investment mix and the timing of any asset sale for the whole year.
What a plan actually covers #
Choice of regime for the coming year; restructuring salary components such as HRA, LTA and the employer's contribution to NPS; the split between 80C instruments by lock-in and return, not just by the deduction; health cover under 80D for you and your parents; timing of capital gains and harvesting of losses; and, for a business, the choice between presumptive taxation and regular books.
Planning is not avoidance #
Backdated investments, rent paid to a relative who never receives it, and invoices for services nobody performed are not planning. They are the entries that make a scrutiny assessment expensive. Everything in a plan we write is something you can show the department without discomfort.
What you will need
- Last year's filed return and computation
- Current salary structure or projected business income
- Existing insurance, PPF, EPF and ELSS commitments
- Home loan schedule, if any
- Expected capital gains or property sale in the year
Latest on Tax Planning
Tax Planning
Tax Planning
PPF, ELSS or NPS: picking between the three main 80C options
They lock your money for three years, fifteen years and until you turn sixty respectively. That difference matters more than…
Latest articles
Tax Planning
Section 80C is not a strategy: what to actually do before 31 March
Every March, lakhs of people buy an insurance policy they do not want to save tax they may not owe.…
Tax Planning
PPF, ELSS or NPS: picking between the three main 80C options
They lock your money for three years, fifteen years and until you turn sixty respectively. That difference matters more than…