Skip to main content

How Freelancers can take Claims and Reduce Tax





The benefits you can claim to save tax as a freelancer

It's tax season, and as the salaried hurry to meet the deadlines to submit proof of investments and claim benefits, for freelancers, the scenario is quite different. Unlike salaried individuals, the latter don't have employers to lay down the rules and roll out the facilities for them. However, while tax filing can be more of a hassle for freelancers, since they have to do all the legwork themselves, they also have certain advantages when it comes to benefits.

As individuals, they can claim the tax-saving deductions that are available to their salaried counterparts, and as freelancers, they can also claim the deductions available to business owners.


Freelancers have the best of both worlds. They can claim the different Section 80 tax-saving deductions as well as on the expenses incurred for doing their work.


Most freelancers are aware of the Section 80 benefits they are eligible for as individual taxpayers. To boot, they can also claim tax-saving deductions on their business expenses. Here's how a freelancer can go about claiming these benefits:


DEPRECIATION OF ASSETS

As a freelancer, the electronic equipment you use for your work are your assets. These could include computer systems, laptops and cameras. The more these assets are used, their value depreciates. A small part of the value of the asset can be claimed as a deduction from your taxable income every year. Even the vehicle you use to commute for work is an asset that you can claim depreciation on. Any repairing cost can also be claimed.


OFFICE OVERHEADS

The expenses that you incur to run the day-to-day activities are the overheads you bear. You can claim these expenditures as deductions while filing your tax returns. If you have purchased a website domain to showcase or discuss your work, you can claim deductions on that too.


CLIENT MEETING EXPENSES

Freelance work often involves meeting clients at coffee shops or restaurants. If you pay for the food or beverages consumed during such meetings, you can claim deductions.


You can also claim tax-saving deductions on travel expenses incurred to meet clients. This includes deductions on fuel expenses for own vehicle and fare for hired cabs. Expenses on outstation work trips can be claimed.


OFFICE RENT

Most freelancers work out of home or coworking spaces. If you rent a desk at a coworking space, you can claim deduction on the amount you pay . If you work from a house you rented yourself, you can claim part of the rent. If you work from family home, you can enter into a rental agreement with a parent or relative who owns the property, and pay them rent, which can be deducted from taxable income.


CONTRACTING COSTS

For certain projects, you might have to enlist the services of another person or firm. If you have quoted this entity's charges in your fees for the project, you will need to make the payment to whoever you employ. Such payments, which are made on a contractual basis, are also deductible.














Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax upto Rs 46,350 under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Funds

Top 10 Tax Saver Mutual Funds for 2017 - 2018

Best 10 ELSS Mutual Funds to invest in India for 2017

1. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund

2. Invesco India Tax Plan

3. Tata India Tax Savings Fund

4. ICICI Prudential Long Term Equity Fund

5. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96

6. Franklin India TaxShield 

7. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund

8. BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund

9. Axis Tax Saver Fund

10. Birla Sun Life Tax Plan



Invest in Best Performing 2017 Tax Saver Mutual Funds Online

Invest Best Tax Saver Mutual Funds Online

Download Top Tax Saver Mutual Funds Application Forms


For further information contact SaveTaxGetRich on 94 8300 8300

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

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write to us at

Invest [at] SaveTaxGetRich [dot] Com

OR

Call us on 94 8300 8300



 

Popular posts from this blog

Tata Mutual Fund

Being a part of the Tata group, the fund has the backing of a very trusted brand name with strong retail connect. While the current CEO has done an excellent job in leveraging the Tata brand name to AMC's advantage, it is ironic that this was just not capitalised on at the start. Incorporated in 1995, Tata Mutual Fund remained an 'also-ran' fund house for around eight years. Till March 2003, it had a little over Rs 1,000 crore in assets and 19 AMCs were ahead of it. But soon after that the equation changed. It was the fastest growing fund house in 2004 and 2005. During these two years, it aggressively launched six equity funds, two debt funds and one MIP. The fund house as of now stands at No. 8 in terms of asset size. This fund house has a lot to offer by way of choice. And, it also has a number of well performing schemes. Tata Pure Equity, Tata Equity PE and Tata Infrastructure are all good funds. It also has quite a few good debt funds. The funds of Tata AMC are known to...

UTI Mutual Fund

Even though only a few of UTI’s funds are great performers, this public sector fund house has many advantages that its rivals do not. It has a huge base of retail equity investors and a vast distribution network. As a business, it looks stronger than ever, especially in the aftermath of credit crunch. UTI is, by a large margin, the most profitable fund company in the country. This is not surprising, since managing equity funds is more profitable than debt. Its conservative approach and stable parentage is likely to make it look more attractive to investors in times to come. UTI’s big problem is the dragging performance that many of its equity funds suffer from. In recent times, the management has made a concerted effort to improve performance. However, these moves have coincided with a disastrous phase in the stock markets and that has made it impossible to judge whether the overhaul will eventually be a success. UTI’s top performers are a few index funds, some hybrid funds and its inf...

Salary planning Article

1. The salary (basic + DA) should be low. The rest should come by way of such allowances on which the employer pays FBT and you don't pay any tax thereon. 2. Interest paid on housing loan is deductible u/s 24 up to Rs 1.5 lakh (Rs 150,000) on self-occupied property and without any limit on a commercial or rented house. 3. The repayment of housing loan from specified sources is also deductible irrespective of whether the house is self-occupied or given on rent within the overall ceiling of Rs 1 lakh of Sec. 80C. 4. Where the accommodation provided to the employee is taken on lease by the employer, the perk value is the actual amount of lease rental or 20 per cent of the salary, whichever is lower. Understandably, if the house belongs to a family member who is at a low or nil tax zone the family benefits. Yes, the maximum benefit accrues when the rent is over 20 per cent of the salary. 5. A chauffeur driven motor car provided by the employer has no perk value. True, the company would...

8 Investing Strategy

The stock market ‘meltdown’ witnessed since the start of 2005 (notwithstanding the recent marginal recovery) has once again brought to the forefront an inherent weakness existent in our markets. This is the fact that FIIs, indisputably and almost entirely, dominate the Indian stock market sentiments and consequently the market movements. In this article, we make an attempt to list down a few points that would aid an investor in mitigating the risks and curtailing the losses during times of volatility as large investors (read FIIs) enter and exit stocks. Read on Manage greed/fear: This is an important point, which every investor must keep in mind owing to its great influencing ability in equity investment decisions. This point simply means that in a bull run - control the greed factor, which could entice you, the investor, to compromise with your investment principles. By this we mean that while an investor could get lured into investing in penny and small-cap stocks owing to their eye-...

Debt Funds - Check The Expiry Date

This time we give you an insight into something that most debt fund investors would be unaware of, the Average Portfolio Maturity. As we all know, debt funds invest in bonds and securities. These instruments mature over a certain period of time, which is called maturity. The maturity is the length of time till the principal amount is returned to the security-holder or bond-holder. A debt fund invests in a number of such instruments and each of these instruments would be having different maturity times. Hence, the fund calculates a weighted average maturity, which would give a fair idea of the fund's maturity period. For example, if a fund owns three bonds of 2-year (Rs 30,000), 3-year (Rs 10,000) and 5-year (Rs 20,000) maturities, its weighted average maturity would be 3.17 years. What is the big deal about average maturity then, you may ask. Well, knowing a fund's average maturity is important because it tells you how sensitive a fund is to the change in interest rates. It is ...
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