Prajna Capital - An Investment Guide

Some conditions to avail a tax deduction on HRA Employees usually get a house rent allowance ( HRA ) from employers. HRA is given to meet the cost of rented premises taken by the employee for his stay. A person can claim exemption on his HRA under the Income Tax Act, if he stays in a rented house and is in receipt of HRA from his employer. The exemption of HRA is covered under Section 10(13A) of the Income Tax Act and Rule 2A of the Income Tax Rules. The conditions for allowing the exemption on HRA are - the assessee for the rented premises, which he occupies, and he must not own the rented premises, must actually pay the rent. The amount of HRA exempt is the least of - the actual amount of allowance received by the assessee for the period during which the rental accommodation was occupied in the previous year, and the amount by which the actual rental expense incurred by the assessee exceeds one-tenth of the salary in the relevant period. If the accommodation is situat...

Some conditions that enable you to claim a tax deduction on the expenses incurred towards the medical treatment of family members You can take a medical insurance plan for yourself, your spouse, parents or dependent children. Under Section 80D, you can claim a deduction up to Rs 15,000 for the premium paid. Mediclaim policies are offered by almost all insurance companies. Mediclaim policies provide insurance cover for the treatment of most ailments and hospitalisation. In addition to the basic cover, add-ons are available on payment of extra premium. You should go through the coverage and exclusion clauses carefully. In some cases, pre-existing ailments are also covered on payment of an additional premium. The cover may be enhanced to ailments which are not normally covered also. Some insurance companies provide cover for day-care and annual medical checkups as well. For senior citizens who are tax payers and 65 years of age or more, the limit now has been enhanced to Rs 20,000...

Ready to take a home loan? The bank may recommend a particular EMI scheme as the best, but one should look at the loan agreement for details before signing on the dotted lines Bear in mind, very little is known to most people about the different EMI repayment options beyond what the banks recommend to you when you take a home loan. Banks and home financing companies such as SBI, HDFC, HSBC, LIC Housing Finance and others may have one or many options that they may recommend as the right scheme for you. The criteria taken into account by the loan-giving agency include age, income, saving history, educational qualifications, job profile, number of dependants, type of property (including the builder) and so on. Here’s what you need to know about different EMI options available in case you are planning to take one. First things first. The simple ground rule for all EMI options is that the longer the term of your loan, the smaller will be your EMI. The EMI also has two components —...