Exhausted Section 80C limit — Here are 10 other tax saving investment options for you

The last date to save tax for the financial year 2022-23 is March 31, 2023. With a little more than two months from completing your tax planning exercise, you should get going if you haven’t yet started the tax saving process. There are several deductions available under various sections that help in lowering taxable income. Most of us try to make maximum use of the Section 80C limit by investing in popular schemes such as PPF, ELSS, and NSCs.  However, as the upper limit is Rs 1.5 lakh per FY, most taxpayers exhaust this limit and yet need to bring taxes lower.

For tax savings, you can put your money into health insurance and avail of income tax exemption under Section 80. However, it's important to know that you can also save taxes by buying health insurance for children, parents or spouse.

You can insure your parent’s health and claim an additional benefit of Rs. 25,000 under Section 80D. This deduction limit is Rs 50,000 if your parents are senior citizens.

Under Section 10(16) of the I-T Act, any amount received as a scholarship for education is not taxable. It does not matter if the scholarship is granted by the government or private trust.

You can also avail of a tax deduction if you contribute to a political party or charitable organization. According to Section 80GGC of the Income Tax Act, any donation made to the acknowledged political parties/charitable organizations can be lawfully claimed for deduction.

You can open fixed deposits (FDs) in your parents' name and save tax. If your parents are in a lower tax slab, you can open FD in their name. This may help you earn higher interest income as lenders offer higher interest rates on FDs to senior citizens.

Additional contributions can be made by the employee up to Rs 50,000 to the NPS account on a tax-deductible basis. This is over and above the benefit they can claim on contributions under Section 80C. This combination will take the total deduction one can claim with NPS to Rs 2 lakh.

An education loan helps you not only finance your foreign studies but can save you a lot of tax as well. Students who have availed of an education loan to pursue their education are provided with a tax benefit on the repayment of the interest component of the loan under Section 80E.

However, the deduction is provided only for the interest part of the EMI. There is no tax benefit for the principal part of the EMI.

A home loan or housing loan availed to buy a property can help taxpayers save money every year. All homebuyers can claim a deduction of up to Rs 2 lakh under the head ‘House property mentioned in Section 24. Additional deduction under Section 80EE is given to the home buyers for a maximum of up to Rs 50,000. However, this is applicable only when the amount of loan taken is Rs 35 lakh or less, and the property’s value does not exceed Rs 50 lakh. Also, the loan must have been sanctioned between April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017.

Under Section 80GG, a deduction can be claimed if you do not get a house rent allowance (HRA) as part of your salary or if you are a self-employed person. To avail of this deduction, you need to submit Form 10BA.

You can claim a deduction of up to Rs 60,000 under this section.

You can avail of a deduction of up to Rs 10,000 on the total savings account interest income earned. This deduction can be availed under Section 80TTA of the Income Tax Act and is available to an Individual and HUF. If your total interest income is below Rs 10,000, then you do not have to pay tax on it.

Under Section 80 DD, you can claim an exemption up to Rs 75,000 in lieu of the amount spent on treating any disabled person in the family. For the treatment of the critically disabled person in the family, tax exemption of up to Rs 1,25,000 can be claimed