Some unusual ways of saving Income Tax in India not known to many people

HUF CREATION: HUF is considered as a separate entity which has its own PAN No and is therefore taxed separately. This helps to separate tax obligations of an individual from that of his family. Tax slabs of HUF are same as that of an individual, and qualify for all the tax benefits under Section 80C, 80D, 80G, 80L and so on. It also enjoys exemptions under Section 54 and 54F with respect to capital gains. The HUF is also entitled to claim deduction for interest on self occupied house property of Rs. 2, 00,000 in a year as per section 24 of the Income-tax Act.

Stamp Duty and Registration Charges for a home: Many people don't know that the amount you pay as stamp duty when you buy a house and the amount you pay for the registration of the documents of the house can be claimed as deduction under section 80C in the year of purchase of the house. An important point to note here is that you should be in possession of the house if you want to claim these deductions. So in case of under-construction properties, you lose out on claiming this deduction as per the income tax. Even Interest payment to friends and relatives can be claimed u/s 24 but only against a certificate received from them. In the absence of the certificate, you would not be eligible for the deduction. The recipient of interest income who issues the certificate is liable to pay tax on the interest income that he receives. As far as the principal payments are concerned, they would not qualify for tax benefit as loans only from notified institutions and banks are eligible for such deductions.

Get deduction for rent even without HRA: -Under Section 80GG, you can claim deduction of the rent paid even if you don’t get HRA. However not many people are aware of this deduction. If you are not being paid any HRA or don’t have any housing benefit from employer. The deduction shall be the least of the following:
1) Rent paid minus 10 percent the adjusted total income.
2) Rs 2,000 per month.
3) 25 percent of the adjusted total income.
Note: If you are staying with your parents, you can pay them rent. If they don’t have significant income, it would mean you save tax on rent paid and even your parent’s income does not cross the tax limits, which is a win-win situation.

Declare your losses in tax return to save tax in future:-Income Tax law allows you to set off losses in one against gains in another, depending upon the various criteria. Also if you have only losses this year and no profits, you can show this loss in your tax returns and carry forward and set-off this loss against any future profits for next 8 yrs.

Buy House with Parent or Siblings as joint-owners: - You can have your spouse/parent/siblings as co-owner and all the co-owners can claims the tax deductions of 1 lacs for principal and 2 lacs for interest part. So if you take a housing loan with your siblings as co-owner of property and co-Borrower of loan, the loan amount interest and principle paid will be available for tax exemption in ratio of your loan amount.
Note: The co-owner who falls in the higher tax bracket should hold a higher proportion of home loan to make sure that the tax benefits are maximized.

Clubbing income of disabled child: - If you invest in the name of your spouse or minor child, the income from the investment will be clubbed with your income under Sec 64 and taxed accordingly. However, if the child is disabled, the income from investments made in his name will not be clubbed with the income of parents. Parents can use this provision to invest in taxable instruments like fixed deposits and debt funds.