Mistakes To Avoid Before Making Tax Saving Investments

We have entered March 2021 and soon we will be celebrating our 1 year lockdown anniversary. It Maybe not so much of a celebration but still, we have survived 1 year of COVID with some gains and some losses, and lots of learnings. Another reason to look forward to March 2021, is the last month to make all your tax-saving investments!

Choosing tax regime without comparing liability The finance ministry in the previous financial year 2020 had introduced a new tax regime that gives individual taxpayers the option to pay income tax at a concessional rate.
Read more about old regime vs new regime

Notably, if you opt for the new tax regime with lower tax rates, you will have to forego the deductions and exemptions including the standard deduction, deduction under Section 80C, interest paid on housing loan, etc. This can be helpful if you do not want to lock-in your funds for a longer period in tax-saving instruments such as Tax Saving Bank FD, Provident Fund, etc.

Comparing liability under the existing and the new tax regime while helping you to decide on the most suitable option depending on your income and expenses and customize your investment preferences accordingly.

1. Failing to ascertain actual taxable income

When computing the taxable income, it is important to take into account all sources of income. Besides the income from salary, you may have income from a business, rental income from property, interest from bank/post office deposits, capital gains from assets, or any other source.

Determining the taxable income is an important step in streamlining your tax planning exercise which will help you to correctly estimate the amount of tax-saving investment to be made for reducing your tax liability.

2. Taking the wrong approach to insurance

The primary purpose of a life insurance policy is to provide financial protection to dependents in case of the untimely demise of the insured person. Simply opting for a policy because it offers a tax deduction under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 is an imprudent approach.

There is a possibility that you may end up investing in investment cum insurance policies such as endowment policies, money back plans, or ULIPs that provide tax-saving components along with life cover in a bid to meet tax-saving requirements. However, you must know that these products will neither provide adequate cover nor generate optimal returns. A simple-term plan is enough to take care of your life insurance requirement at a very reasonable premium. Read this article to compute how much cover should you have

3. Not aligning your Investments as per your goals and investment objective

Ensure that you are not investing in 80C investment options only for tax savings purposes. Check how it fits into your debt - equity allocation which is determined based on your risk profile. Further, these investments should be made to achieve your goals not just for the purpose of tax savings. Align them to your requirements. Do not just invest in 80C investment options, if you have already exhausted this limit, you can explore options beyond Section 80C. Besides, certain payments that are eligible for deductions such as payment of house rent, expenses towards children's school tuition fee, interest payment on the home loan.

Read these articles to know more about your tax planning before March 2021
1. How to save taxes before you invest your money.
2. Ways to save taxes under various sections of the Income-tax Act.
3. Mutual Fund taxation
4. How to save taxes on health insurance

Disclaimer: - The articles are for information purposes only. Information presented is general information that does not take into account your individual circumstances, financial situation, or needs, nor does it present a personalized recommendation to you. You must consult a financial advisor who understands your specific circumstances and situation before taking an investment decision.

Five mistakes you must avoid while investing to save income tax

In Indian taxation system, income tax is one of the main types of direct taxes levied by the government. It is the tax that is levied under the regulatory guidelines of CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes), and is imposed by the government on income generated by businesses and individuals (including HUFs or Hindu Undivided Families) within their jurisdiction. An income tax is therefore the tax that is levied on the earnest monthly salary and it varies from one taxable slab to another. Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 allows exemptions for various investments which people undertake for saving on taxes. However, while planning to invest in order to save payable income tax, there are certain common mistakes, which must be avoided. Following is a list of these mistakes that you must avoid while investing to save income tax:

Ignoring your specific needs and requirements: This is one of the most common mistakes that many people make. Before making any investment decision, you must make a list of your specific needs and requirements so that the right kind of matched decisions can be taken. Therefore, it is important to not follow what the others are doing but to take care of your own financial aspirations.
Not choosing the right amount of investment: Underinvestment and overinvestment are both factors that you must avoid. The amount that you to choose to invest obviously depends on the earnest monthly income. Therefore, if you choose to invest in a particular instrument, you must do so after taking due care of meeting your needs and that of your loved ones. After doing that, the surplus amount must then be invested. However, investing the surplus completely must be avoided because you have to contribute towards the basic savings corpus as well as keep emergency funds available.
Not exploring all options: Sections 80C, 80G, 80D and 80CCD are various sections that offer exemptions on options that range from investments in health insurance to contributions towards certain charitable or other institutions. Therefore, you must have a clear understanding of the legal Sections under which exemptions are being offered so that you can have a better grasp of the available options.
Lop-sided investment portfolio: The ideal investment portfolio must consist of both the debt and equity instruments and even hybrid instruments. This ensures stable benefits over a period of time and ensures that all your funds are not tied up in a single investment option.
Not taking due care of present commitments: This means that if you have invested more than the surplus, then the present day commitments or immediate financial goals may not be duly met. Therefore, it is important that you take due care of present commitments while planning your long term investments.