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Getting your first job, the credit of your first salary – all are occasions worth remembrance. Do you realize, this also marks your entry into a world, which is driven by money? Suddenly you find yourself receiving all sorts of offers ranging from pizza to credit cards at a click of a button. And then BANG!! Government too, wants its share in the form of taxes!! Well, you didn't expect that! Did you! However, that's a bitter truth; your entry into workforce also marks your entry into taxpayers' list.
In this first article of the series, let's consider a recent graduate who has just entered the corporate world and earns an annual salary of Rs. 4 lakhs.
The Income Tax rates applicable for the FY ending March 31, 2014 are:
Considering the Income tax slab for FY 13-14, here is how, his tax would be calculated:
Section 80C offers various investments and expenditure ranging from equity saving schemes to deposits, which can be availed for tax exemption, the maximum limit being Rs. 1 lakh.
ELSS or NPS? Suggested Allocation 80-100%
Equity investments, if chosen judiciously, can make your wealth grow faster by beating inflation than most of the investments and lower your tax burden. ELSS (Equity Linked Savings Scheme) & NPS (National Pension Scheme) are such two schemes.
ELSS invests primarily in equity shares of companies. It is an equity diversified fund which provides the benefits of capital appreciation, as well as tax benefits. It has a lock in period of 3 years with tax free dividends and capital gains.
The main risk with ELSS is that it has a considerable equity exposure (usually 80% of the total amount is invested in the equity with remaining 20% invested in bonds, debentures, Government securities etc.) and the returns are linked to market returns.
NPS is a pension scheme, which not only provides good cost adjusted returns and tax saving but also plans for your retirement. The investor has the flexibility to decide the percentage of the corpus which should be allocated for equity, corporate bonds and government securities, with the only limitation being the 50% cap on exposure to equity. One of the most outstanding features of NPS is the 'lifecycle fund', under which the equity exposure is decided by investor's age. 50% allocation to equity is reduced every year by 2% after the investor turns 35, till it comes down to 10%. This is in line with the strategy to opt for a 'higher-risk higher-return' portfolio mix early in life, when there is ample time to make up for any possible black swan event.
The differences amongst the two are mentioned here:
Equity Investment Schemes
EET tax system implies that while contributions and returns to the scheme are exempt up to a limit, withdrawals would be taxed as normal income. Thus, on comparing ELSS & NPS, NPS turns out to be a far economical tax saving instrument. It also allows equity investments, which enhances the chance of getting higher returns. It further offers an additional tax-saving method as employer's contribution to the extent of 10% of basic plus DA. This is in addition to the Rs. 1 lakh permissible in Sec 80C.
For a young individual, whose risk tolerance is relatively high, a higher equity allocation to the entire asset base makes sense. Thus, 80-100% allocation i.e. entire Rs. 20,600 can be allocated to the NPS.
Fixed deposit (FD) or Public Provident Fund (PPF) Suggested Allocation (0-20%)
FD & PPF, both are regular income earning investments, where, the investor receives a pre-determined assured return. However, there are some differences amongst the two, which has been listed below:
Regular income earning investments
As it is evident, the main difference between PPF & FD is the maturity and the tax on the interest earned, which is payable in FD and exempted in PPF.
Ideal tax saving instrument in this scenario is NPS, although it has a long lock in period till the age of 60 years. If you plan to buy a new car in let's say next 5 years then a small proportional allocation to FD can be considered. Similarly, if you plan to buy a house let's say after 15 years, small contribution to PPF would be an option. Identification of financial goals, both long term as well as short term will be instrumental in deciding the tax saving instrument.
Insurance policies
Let's start with life insurance policy. If you have dependents, then life insurance policy should be considered. You can give it a miss, if that's not the case. However, one should be careful as not all insurance policies are eligible for tax exemption. So, what to look for before you buy? The cover should be at least 10 times the annual premium of the policy. The sum assured should only be the basic cover and should not include bonuses and other payments.
Health insurance: Sec 80D
Premium paid for insuring the health of self is eligible for up to Rs 15,000 in a financial year. Paying for parents' cover gives an additional deduction of up to Rs. 15,000. If one of the parents is insured, is above 60 yrs (a senior citizen for tax provisions), the deduction limit increases to Rs. 20,000.
Education loan: Sec 80E
It's a common notion that in current inflationary scenario, students have to resort to education loan to fund your college fees. Do you know that education loan is your pal in reducing your taxes? How? As per Sec 80E, any amount of interest paid towards the education loan, can be claimed as a deduction. However, this applies only on interest and not on the principal.
By all means, this is not an exhaustive list of tax deductions, but just a few pointers which may apply to a young individual starting a career. If you would like to know more about other tax saving instruments, please go through the list of plans covered in tax deduction section 80C, 80D & 80E etc. For a young individual, starting early with adequate time and effort spent towards tax planning will not only help him in minimising taxes but also lead to steady cash flow generation from the amount saved in the years to come.
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