I am a salaried employee and my salary income for the financial year is Rs 5,00,000 and have made investment of Rs 1 lakh under Section 80C of the I-T Act. My friend had advised me to Rs 20,000-investment in IDFC bonds to get additional benefit apart from Rs 1 lakh. Please advice me whether I can claim additional benefit by investing in such bond. -Dinesh Mohanty Under section 80CCF of the IT-Act,you can avail additional deduction of up to Rs 20,000 by investing in IDFC bonds. The deduction under section 80CCF is additional deduction apart from deduction under section 80C. Hence,you can claim total deduction of Rs 1,20,000 under Section 80C and Section 80CCF collectively. I had purchased a house last month by taking a housing loan from SBI. I am paying EMI to the bank. I want to know,can I claim payment of such EMI as investment benefit under Section 80C? -Rammohan Sinha The EMI consist of two components viz towards principal amount and interest amount. The principal component of the EMI qualifies for deduction under Section 80C as re-payment of housing loan. Further,the amount paid as stamp duty and registration charges at the time of purchase will be eligible for deduction under Section 80C. Furthermore,you can claim interest expenses actually paid subject to a maximum of Rs 1,50,000 as loss from house property. The income form house property can be deducted from income from salary while computing the taxable income for the financial year. I want to take an insurance policy in the names of my family members including my wife,two daughters and parents to claim deduction under Section 80C. Can I claim the deduction in respect of such premium payable to LIC under Section 80C? - Naresh Singhal As per the provisions of Section 80C,life insurance premium can be claimed by an individual only where the policy is taken for the benefit of such individual or his/her spouse or any child of such individual. Therefore,you will not be able to get the tax benefit in respect of the premium paid for life insurance policies of your parents. I want to take a pension plan for my retirement. However,I have already reached my limit of Rs 1,00,000 under Section 80C. Can I claim the deduction in respect of investment in pension plan over and above Section 80C? -Sunita Sharma Section 80CCC of the Income Tax Act stipulates that an investment in pension funds is eligible for deduction from your income. The total deduction available for investments under Section 80CCC and Section 80C is Rs 1 lakh. This also means that your investment in pension funds cannot be claimed as deduction u/s 80CCC in addition to Section 80C limit. * The writer is founder of RSM Astute Consulting Group * Send your queries at fepersonalfinance@expressindia.com
