Skip to main content

Life insurance and Its tax implications

Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

 

 

Normally people do their investment planning at the fag end of the month of March, hence majority of life insurance policies are purchased on tax considerations only and that too in the last quarter of the financial year. No wonder, many of end up committing some mistakes while buying insurance, just in a hurry to save tax. However, now that we are through with the last minute activity, and have entered into the new financial year, it is time that we take a fresh look at the various provisions on insurance as contained under the income tax laws.

Here I intend to discuss the aspects of tax treatment of Life Insurance Premium as well as tax treatment of money received from insurance company. Since implementation of DTC in the immediate future is doubtful, I have deliberately skipped discussion on DTC.

Quantum of Deductions for payment of premium:

Under the present provisions of Section 80 C, deduction in respect of life insurance premium paid is available up to a maximum of Rs. 1 lakh. This deduction is available with other eligible items like tuition fee of your children, EPF, NSC, ELSS and repayment of principal amount of home loans etc. This deduction is available for life insurance polices, on the life of yourself, your spouse or your child, though child may be major or a minor or even married or unmarried. This particular aspect can be used for tax planning.

In case of senior citizens, normally they do not have much to claim, which qualifies under Section 80C and thus the limit of one lakh in majority of the cases does not get fully utilized. In such cases they can opt to pay the life insurance premium of their earning and grown up sons or daughters. This is because in the case of the grown up sons and daughters, the limit of Rs. 1 lakh, in majority of the cases is already used up by school fees and repayment of home loans, thus life insurance premium can-- not be claimed under Section 80C. Financial dependence of son or daughter on parent is not the requisite for claiming tax benefits on insurance premiums by parents.

One more aspect about claiming tax benefit for life insurance premium, not generally known to many, that it is not necessary that the premium should be paid by the same person year after year. This can be paid and claimed by different person as long as the same is paid to keep the life insurance policies in force on the life of persons specified in Section 80 C. Thus shortfall in parents' accounts can be filled in from surplus of the earning and grown up children's account from time to time.

Please note that there is no restriction on the number of children in respect of whom you can pay the premium and claim this deduction unlike for tuition fee where the deduction can only be claimed for two children.

Restrictions on Life Cover required for calming the deduction:

As per Section 80 C, the quantum of premium, which can be claimed is restricted in relation to the amount of the sum assured. As per the provisions applicable from April 1, 2012, any premium paid in excess of 10% of the sum assured should not be allowed under Section 80 C. Earlier this limit was 20% of the sum assured. For this purpose the sum assured means that the minimum amount which the insurance company has agreed to pay in the event of death. This amount will not include any bonus payable on such policy. Moreover any premium to be refunded shall also not be considered while calculating the sum assured.

Restriction on continuance of the Life Insurance Policy

In order to ensure that the deductions claimed in respect of premium paid earlier is not withdrawn in any year; subsequently you are required to keep the life insurance policy alive for a certain number of years. In case of a single premium policy, you cannot terminate the policy within two years from the date of commencement of the Life insurance Policy. In case of any other life insurance policy, the tax benefits granted to you shall be added to your income subsequently if you do not pay the insurance premium for two years in respect of that policy.

Tax Treatment of money received from Insurance Company

Generally people perceive that all monies received from Insurance Companies are exempt. This is not so. Section 10(10) provides for exemption for money received from insurance company in respect of insurance policy. First amount received in respect of all Key man Insurance policies are taxable. Secondly money received on death in respect of all the life insurance policies are exempt except those issued as key-man's insurance policy.

In respect of money received from Insurance Company other than in the event of death on all life insurance policies issued prior to April 1, 2003 will also be exempt from tax. However in respect of life insurance polices issued on or after April 1, 2003 but before March 31, 2012, money received from insurance company, other than on death, shall become taxable if premium payable in respect of this policy exceeds 20% of the sum assured in any of the year. However in respect of policies issued after March 31, 2012, the same will become taxable in the hands of recipient if the premium in respect of such policies exceeded 10% of the sum assured in any year.

In addition to above any money received in case of life insurance policy purchased for maintenance of physically disabled person under Section 80DD if such person dies before the proposer the money received by the proposer shall also be taxable.

So from the above discussion it becomes amply clear that you should take into account various factors before you buy any life insurance policy so that the premium paid is allowed and the money received in respect of such insurance policy is does not become taxable.

Happy Investing!!

We can help. Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write back to us at PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com

---------------------------------------------

Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds ( ELSS Mutual Funds ) to upto Rs 1 lakh and Save tax under Section 80C.

Invest Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online

These links can be used to Purchase Mutual Funds Online that are regular also (Investment, non-tax saving)

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Applications

These Application Forms can be used for buying regular mutual funds also

Some of the best Tax Saving Mutual Funds available ( ELSS Mutual Funds )

  1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan Invest Online
  2. HDFC TaxSaver Invest Online
  3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund Invest Online
  4. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund Invest Online
  5. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief '96 Invest Online
  6. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund Invest Online
  7. SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 1993 Invest Online
  8. Sundaram Tax Saver Invest Online
  9. Edelweiss ELSS Invest Online

------------------

Best Performing Mutual Funds

    1. Largecap Funds Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock Top 100 Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Focused Blue Chip Fund
      3. Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund
    2. Large and Midcap Funds Invest Online
      1. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
      2. HDFC Top 200 Fund
      3. UTI Dividend Yield Fund
    1. Mid and SmallCap Funds Invest Online
      1. Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund
      2. DSP BlackRock Small & Midcap Fund
      3. Sundaram Select Midcap
      4. IDFC Premier Equity Fund
    1. Small and MicroCap Funds Invest Online
      1. DSP BlackRock MicroCap Fund
    1. Sector Funds Invest Online
      1. Reliance Banking Fund
      2. Reliance Banking Fund
    1. Tax Saver MutualFunds Invest Online
      1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan
      2. HDFC Taxsaver
      3. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund
      4. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund
    2. Gold Mutual Funds Invest Online
      1. Relaince Gold Savings Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund
      3. HDFC Gold Fund

Popular posts from this blog

Mutual Fund Review: Taurus Tax Shield

    Taurus Tax Shield has seen a turnaround in performance since 2007, but still remains a volatile offering… The fund has seen a turnaround in its performance since 2007 and has delivered impressively during market rallies since then. The portfolio is also more diversified. It contained its downfall to an average level in 2008 but is still one of the most volatile offerings in this category. Bold investors can look at this fund.   Strategy The fund manager invests across the market capitalisation and sectors. The selection of stocks is made on the basis of long-term business prospects and value creation. Fund Insight Launched in March 1996, the fund was a laggard with just two annual outperformances. Concentrated stock bets and high exposure to mid and small caps led to it being hit harder during market downturns. The number of stocks in the portfolio never exceeded 20 and it was not rare to see the top 5 holdings account for around 60 per cent of the portfolio. After b...
Read more

Use Mutual Fund SWPs for getting fixed payments

Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Buy Gold Mutual Funds Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)   Investors time withdrawals optimally to save on tax The systematic withdrawal plan, or SWP, could be called the lesser known cousin of the much talked about and publicised systematic investment plan (SIP). There's yet another cousin — the Systematic Transfer Plan ( STP ). In SIP, you invest a fixed sum of money at regular intervals (monthly/ quarterly) to buy some units of a mutual fund scheme. In SWP, as the name suggests, you do the opposite: You redeem some mutual fund units from your portfolio to get a fixed sum of money at regular intervals (monthly/quarterly/half year/yearly). In SIP, you get a higher numbers of units when the markets are down, and lesser in a buoyant market. In SWP, going by the product logic, you redeem higher number of units when the markets are do...
Read more

AXIS Long Term Equity Fund - The Best Tax Saver Fund for 2016

  AXIS Long Term Equity Fund - Invest Online   History:   The open ended mutual fund was launched on December 21 in the year 2009. It is benchmarked against BSE 200 and managed by the fund manager JINESH GOPANI. Initially the scheme was called as Axis tax saver fund but later it was renamed as Axis long term equity fund with effect from September 2, 2011. Nature of investment: As far as asset allocation is concerned, 97.52% of the stocks are equity and 0.02% is debt based. The primary focus of the fund is to invest in diversified equity stocks that have higher growth potential. Total asset size of the fund is in the tune of 4,996 CRORE as of June 30, 2015. Performance: The performance of the fund for one year, 3 years and 5 years are 23.6%, 29.9% and 19.1 respectively which are far greater than 6.4%, 14% and 5.6% benchmark figures. It has also preformed fairly well against SBI magnum Tax Gain (G) and HDFC tax saver (G). The growth comparison is enumerated below;                        ...
Read more

Health insurance guide - Part I

Insurance, by definition, is morbid. What if I die suddenly? What if my home caught fire? What if I had to undergo expensive medical treatment? What if something that I thought happened only to others befell me? Insurers, who work with large samples, calculate the probability of such an event and, hence, the possibility of them having to pay out a sum of money to mitigate, to the extent possible, the effects of that disaster. However, the possibility of you undergoing some kind of expensive medical treatment during your lifetime is far more likely than you dying suddenly or your house burning down. Given that costs at private healthcare facilities, where you are most likely to land up, is high, and, doubling every four years 10 months or so, the rest of your money life could easily go out of whack if you had to incur such expenses. Just 12 per cent of India's population is covered with some sort of health insurance. Pared to the bone, for a comparatively small price, health insu...
Read more

IDFC Classic Equity Fund

Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Buy Gold Mutual Funds Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)   IDFC Classic Equity Fund IDFC Classic Equity is a large-cap equity fund which currently has assets under management worth Rs. 158.52 crore. It was launched in August 2005. The fund is benchmarked against the BSE-200 Index. Performance YTD 1-Year 3-Year 5-Year Since Inception IDFC Classic Equity 0.93 26.61 6.30 1.01 11.65 BSE 200 1.52 17.31 6.00 1.99 12.98 All figures in % as on January 31, 2013; Returns above one-year in CAGR terms ...
Read more
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now