Thursday, January 21, 2016

FINANCE TAX SPECIAL ...........Smart ways to save tax

 Smart ways to save tax


Choose the tax-saving instrument that best suits your needs and financial goals.

Do-it-yourself tax planning can be both rewarding and challenging. Reward ing, because you can choose the tax-saving instrument that best suits your needs.Challenging, because if you make the wrong choice, you are stuck with an unsuitable investment for at least 3-5 years, if not longer. This is where our annual ranking of best tax-saving options can prove helpful. It assesses all the investment options on seven key parameters--returns, safety, flexibility, liquidity, costs, transparency and taxability of income. Each parameter is given equal weightage and a composite score is worked out for the various tax-saving options.
While the ranking is based on a robust methodology, your choice should also take into account your requirements and financial goals. ELSS funds top the charts, but they may not be the best option for a retired taxpayer. For him, the Senior Citizens' Saving Scheme will be a better option even though it is ranked sixth and has been assigned three stars. If he has already exhausted the `15 lakh investment limit in the Senior Citizens' Saving Scheme, the next best option is the two-starred NSCs and bank fixed deposits. For the grey population, especially those over 70, safety of capital is more important than beating inflation.
Similarly, though the NPS offers additional tax deduction under the newly introduced Section 80CCD (1b), taxpayers must keep in mind the liquidity and taxability of the corpus. You can't take out the money before 60 years of age and at least 40% of the maturity amount has to be put in an annuity to get a monthly pension. To make matters worse, this pension is fully taxable as income. Experts believe that annuity income should be tax-free to make retirement planning more popular. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has reportedly sought tax exemption for annuity income, but it is not clear whether the Finance Ministry will oblige in this year's Budget.
In the following pages, we shall consider the pros and cons of each option and tell you which instrument is best suited for taxpayers in different situations and lifestages. We hope it will help you make an informed choice.Happy investing!

ELSS FUNDS
If ELSS funds top our ranking for the second consecutive year, it is be cause of their tremendous potential, high liquidity and greater transparency. The ELSS category has given average returns of 17.8% in the past three years. The three-year lock-in period is the shortest for any Section 80C option.What's more, you can get some of the investment back if you opt for the dividend option. It is also very easy to get details of the fund's portfolio. Add to these advantages the ease of investment that mutual fund houses are offering. If you have already fulfilled the KYC requirements, you can invest online.Even if you are a new investor, fund houses facilitate the investment by picking up the documents from your house and guiding you through the KYC screening.
ELSS funds are equity schemes and carry the same market risk as any other diversified fund. The previous year was not good for equities, with the Sensex ending the year with a 5% loss. Even some top-rated ELSS funds lost money in the past year. Investors who opted for the ultra-safe PPF would have made more money (see table). However, the picture changes when you look at the long-term performance. ELSS funds are miles ahead of the PPF in the 3-year and 5-year returns.
The SIP route is the best way to contain the risk of investing in equity funds.However, with just three months left for the financial year to end, this window is almost closed now. At best, a taxpayer will manage 2-3 SIP instalments before 31 March. At the same time, valuations are not very stretched right now, so one can consider putting a bigger amount.

ULIP
There are many reasons why Ulips are at second place in our ranking. The new on line Ulips are ultra cheap, with some of them costing even less than direct mutual funds.They also offer greater flexibility. Unlike ELSS funds, where the investment cannot be touched before three years, Ulip investors can switch their corpus from equity to debt, and vice versa.What's more, there is no tax implication of the gains made from such switching because insurance plans enjoy exemption under Section 10 (10d). Even so, only savvy investors who know how to utilise the switching facility should get in.“There is no need to switch if you are not an expert in market timing,“ says Bhuvana Shreeram, head of Financial Freedom Golden Practices.

NPS
Last year's budget made the NPS more attractive as a tax-saving tool by offer ing an additional tax deduction of `50,000. Also, pension fund managers have been allowed to invest in a larger basket of stocks and no longer have to invest passively by mirroring the index. Active investments in stocks will help generate better returns for investors. Even so, concerns remain about the cap on equity exposure. For a young investor, the 50% ceiling may be too conservative an allocation. Besides, the taxability of the NPS on maturity is a sore point. At least 40% of the corpus must be put in an annuity. Right now, the income from annuities is taxed at the normal rate, though the government is considering tax exemption for annuity income.

PPF AND VPF
Though the ultra-safe PPF has slipped to fourth place in the ranking this year, it still remains a good option for the conservative investor who doesn't mind earning less as long as the returns are assured. It's been almost four years since the PPF rate was linked to the benchmark bond yield. But bond yields have stayed buoyant in the past four years so the PPF rate has not fallen. However, the government has indicated that it will review the interest rates on small savings schemes, including the PPF and NSCs.
If this is a worry, opt for the Voluntary Provident Fund. It offers that same interest rate and tax benefits as the Employees' Provident Fund. Given the political implications of reducing the interest rate on the EPF, it is unlikely that the VPF rate will see a cut in the near future. What's more, there is no limit to how much you can invest in the VPF. The best part is that the contribution gets deducted from the salary itself so the investor does not even feel it go.

SUKANYA SAMRIDDHI SCHEME
A new entrant in the ranking, this scheme for the girl child is a great way to save tax. However, given its limited scope, it does not figure very high in the ranking. It is open only to girls below 10. If you have a daughter that old, the Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme is a better option than the bank deposits, child plans and even the PPF account you opened for her education and marriage.
Accounts can be opened in any post office or designated branches of PSU banks with a minimum investment of `1,000. The maximum investment in a financial year is `1.5 lakh and deposits can be made for 14 years after opening the account. A parent can open an account for a maximum of two daughters, but the combined investment in the two accounts cannot exceed `1.5 lakh a year. The account matures when the girl turns 21, though up to 50% of the corpus can be withdrawn after she is 18 or gets married.

SENIOR CITIZENS' SAVING SCHEME
As mentioned earlier, this is the best tax-saving instrument for retirees.
At 9.3%, it also offers the highest interest rate among all Post Office schemes. The tenure of the scheme is five years, which is extendable by another three years. The interest is paid out in quarterly tranches on fixed dates, irrespective of when you invested. However, there is a `15 lakh overall investment limit per individual.
Also, the scheme is open only to investors above 60. In some cases, where the investor has opted for voluntary retirement and has not taken up another job, the minimum age is relaxed to 58 years. There is also no age bar for defence personnel. They can invest in the scheme even before 60 as long as they satisfy the other requirements.

BANK FDs AND NSCs
Though bank fixed deposits and NSCs are ultra-safe and offer assured re turns, there is a heavy price to be paid for this safety and surety of returns. The interest earned on the deposits is fully taxable, so the post-tax returns are not very lucrative (see table). Those in the highest 30% tax bracket (taxable income of over `10 lakh a year) should not invest in these deposits.They are best suited to taxpayers in the 10% bracket (taxable income of less than `5 lakh a year) or senior citizens who have already exhausted the `15 lakh overall investment limit in the Senior Citizens' Saving Scheme.
Don't let the high interest rates offered on the 5-year and 10-year NSCs mislead you.Since the interest is fully taxable, the post-tax yield is far lower. In the 30% tax bracket, it is close to 6% (see table). The tax-free PPF is a far better option than these instruments.
The positive feature of bank deposits and NSCs is that they are straightforward instruments and don't require a multi-year commitment. If you don't have time to study the fine print of other options and the deadline is nearing, invest in fixed deposits.
They are also widely available. Just walk into any bank branch or Post Office branch and invest. Of course, you will have to comply with the KYC norms while doing so.
One ticklish area is the TDS rule. If the interest income exceeds `10,000 in a year, the bank will deduct TDS. Some investors try to avoid the TDS by splitting their investments across 2-3 banks. This is not a good idea because one has to pay tax on this income. In fact, the TDS is only 10% on the interest earned. If the taxpayer is in the higher income slab, he will have to pay more tax.
On the other hand, some retired taxpayers are subjected to TDS even though they are not liable to tax. Since their total income from interest exceeds the threshold, they have to first pay tax and then claim it back after they file returns. This problem needs to be fixed.

PENSION PLANS
Pension plans from insurance companies do not enjoy the same tax benefits as the NPS.
The additional deduction of `50,000 under Sec 80CCD(1b) is reserved exclusively for the government-promoted pension scheme. But pension fund managers dismiss the charge that this is an unfair advantage. “The retirement funds from mutual funds are not really pension products. And the cost structure of pension plans from insurance companies is not very favourable to buyers. The NPS is the only true low-cost pension product,“ says Balram Bhagat, CEO and Wholetime Director, UTI Retirement Solutions.
To be sure, pension plans still have very high charges which makes them poor investments.They also force the investor to put a larger portion (66%) of the corpus in an annuity. The prevailing annuity rates are not very attractive. For instance, if a a 60-year-old man invests `10 lakh, LIC will give him `7,792 per month for life.
The pension plans launched by mutual funds have lower charges, but these are actually mutual funds disguised as pension plans. Moreover, they are debt-oriented plans so they are not eligible for the tax benefits that equity plans enjoy. ELSS funds will be better alternatives to these plans.

INSURANCE POLICIES
For the third consecutive year, traditional life insurance policies remain the worst way to save tax. Still, mil lions of taxpayers buy these policies every year, lured by the “triple benefits“ of life insurance cover, long-term savings and tax benefits. Actually, these policies give very little cover. A premium of `20,000 a year will get you a cover of roughly `2 lakh. The returns are very poor, barely 6% if you opt for a 20-year plan. And the tax-free income is a sham. Go ing by the indexation rule, if the returns are below the inflation rate, the income should anyway be tax free.
The bigger problem is that once you sign up for these policies, they become millstones around your neck. Dhiraj Das (see picture) understands this only too well. He is paying roughly `5 lakh a year for a clutch of traditional insurance policies. “Buying these low-yield policies was a big mistake.If I stop paying the premium, they will lapse and I will lose the premiums paid till now,“ he says. We suggest he should turn these plans into paid-up policies after three years.
Insurance should not be mixed with investment. Rakshita Dwivedi (see picture) has stayed away from such plans. The only insurance policy she has is a pure protection term plan.

ETW4JAN16

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