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Save taxes on LTCGLong term capital gains (LTCG) arising on sale of equity shares listed on an Indian stock exchange or equity oriented mutual funds are taxed at the rate of 10%, only if the capital gains exceed 1 lakh in a financial year. An investor can make full use of this benefit through appropriate sale. It should be noted that for these securities to be classified as a longterm asset, the holding period should be 12 months or more.

Split your home loanFrom an income-tax perspective, joint ownership of a house property is beneficial, as each owner is entitled to get a deduction up to 2 lakh for the interest paid on the housing loan. To illustrate, if interest of 4.5 lakh is paid on a housing loan, in case of two joint owners, each person can claim a deduction of 2 lakh each. However, if there is a single owner, the maximum deduction available would be only 2 lakh. One also needs to look at the impact on the applicable tax rates.

Set up account for daughterA Sukanya Samriddhi Account can be opened in your daughter’s name any time before she turns 10. The current interest rate for Q4 (January to March) of the financial year 2022–23 has been set at 7.6% and is fully exempt under Section 10. Further, the investment made is eligible for deduction under Section 80C (subject to the overall cap of 1.5 lakh). The account matures on completion of 21 years from the date it was opened. Premature closure is possible in certain situations.

More power to senior citizensSenior citizens can deposit up to 15 lakh in senior citizen savings scheme and earn high interest rates (8% is the latest). This investment is also eligible for deduction under Section 80C. The maximum amount allowed for investment in this scheme has been enhanced to 30 lakh. This would enable senior citizens to invest more of their retirement corpus in the scheme and earn the benefit of high interest rates.

Improve your health and savingsAn individual is allowed to claim deduction under Section 80D for payment of premium on health insurance and preventive health check for self, spouse, dependent children and parents. Expenses of up to 5,000 on preventive health check are also allowed within the overall limits of Section 80D. This is available even if the individual does not have health insurance.

Double benefitDid you know you can claim both an house rent allowance exemption and deduction for home loan? If you are paying EMI for a property in one city but living on rent in another because of your job, then you can claim both HRA exemption and deduction for interest on housing loan.