As December is coming close, salaried people are gearing up for tax saving and looking for tax saving schemes. In some time, we all will be filing our tax declaration form in our companies and self employed will start preparing for income tax filing. Tax saving is a important ritual of this part of year. Tax saving schemes are those schemes which are allowed by the government of India and we can avail tax benefit by investing in them. There are lot of Tax saving schemes available in the market today.
Tax saving schemes in India are used to invest money in them and then we can claim tax benefit on them. Invested amount is reduced from the annual income and then tax is calculated based upon net income. General Tax exemption limit is;
| Gender, Age & Residential status | Basic Exemption limit |
| Resident Female | Rs 190000 |
| Resident Senior citizen | Rs 240000 |
| Others | Rs 160000 |
If your annual income is more than the amounts mentioned in the table, then you are suppose to file return and pay taxes, if any.
Tax saving schemes in India are useful for those who are going to pay taxes, so if your income is within the limits mentioned in the table then you don’t need to bother about tax saving schemes.
Current applicable slab for the FY (2011-2012)
| Applicable Tax Slabs for the FY (2011-2012) | |
| Taxable income slab (Rs.) | Applicable Tax Rate for the FY (2011-2012) in % |
| Up to 1,80,000 (for men) Up to 1,90,000 (for women) |
NIL |
| 1,80,001 – 5,00,000 (for men) 1,90,001 – 5,00,000 (for women) |
10 |
| 5,00,001 – 8,00,000 | 20 |
| 8,00,001 upwards | 30 |
| Note: Education cess is applicable @ 3 per cent on income tax. | |
So if you are suppose to pay income tax and file return, then you need to start research on the appropriate tax savings for you. There are numerous tax saving schemes but you need to also account your investment objective and then invest in the tax saving schemes which suitable for you. Here is a list of popular tax saving schemes which can be used to invest and save tax.
- Public Provident Fund
- Medical Insurance Premium
- National savings certificate
- Infrastructure bonds
- Education loan principal repayment
- Home loans
- Post office schemes
- House Rent Allowance
- Equity Linked Saving Schemes
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