5 Tax Savings and Other Advantages You Can Get When You Apply for Home Loans

Property prices have increased exponentially in the last few years and therefore, these days, it has become very difficult for people to be able to own a home without some form of external financial assistance.

Home Loans have become one of the most convenient and secure ways of funding the purchase of a home. Home Loans also offer certain tax advantages that allow borrowers to save a considerable amount of money by way of tax savings.

In this article, we share with our readers tips on how they can save tax through a Home Loan.

Tax Saving Advantages on Home Loan Principal and Interest

Home Loans are repaid in the form of EMIs and EMIs constitute a principal component and an interest component. The government of India has made it easier on those who have availed a Home Loan by providing them tax benefits on both components separately as mentioned below. 

1. Tax Savings on Home Loan Principal Repayment

Section 80C of the Income Tax Act deals with tax savings on the principal component of the Home Loan. This section of the Income Tax Act states that a borrower can claim deductions up to a maximum of Rs.1.5 Lakh on payments made towards repayment of the principal component of a Home Loan.

Borrowers must also know that if they have two homes and they have taken a home loan against both homes, they can claim tax exemption on money spent towards principal repayment for both Home Loans. However, the total tax exemption one can claim cannot exceed Rs.1.5 Lakh in a year. Further, Section 80C of the Income Tax Act also deals with other tax-saving options, such as EPF, PPF, ULIP and ELSS savings, etc., and the combined limit for all these tax-saving investments is Rs.1.5 Lakh.

2. Tax Savings on Home Loan Interest Repayment

Section 24B of the Income Tax Act makes way for claiming tax deductions on payments made towards interest repayment. Under this section of the Income Tax Act, one can claim tax benefits up to a maximum of Rs.2 Lakh on payments made towards interest repayment. If a borrower has two homes and both homes have been funded through a Home Loan, the borrower can claim tax exemptions on payments made towards interest repayment of both. However, the total exemption cannot exceed Rs.2 Lakh in a financial year. The good part is section 24B of the Income Tax Act only deals with tax exemptions on home loan interest repayments and no other tax-saving instrument.

3. Additional Tax Saving Measures implemented in 2016-2017

In the financial year 2016-2017, the government of India reintroduced Section 80EE of the Income Tax Act. Under this Act, borrowers can claim an additional deduction ranging up to a maximum of Rs.50,000. However, to be able to claim this deduction, the borrower must meet certain terms and conditions. To start with, they must have taken a loan between 1st April 2016 and 31st March 2017. Further, the value of the property must not exceed Rs.50 Lakh and the loan amount shouldn't exceed Rs.35 Lakh. If you meet these qualifying criteria, you can claim an additional Rs.50,000 as tax deductions.

4. Tax Deductions on Affordable Housing

If you have invested in an affordable house, you can claim an additional tax exemption of up to Rs.1.5 Lakh on payments made towards interest repayment of the Home Loan. This tax deduction is over and above the tax exemption mentioned under Section 24 of the Income Tax Act. 

However, certain conditions must be met for a person to be able to claim deductions under this section of the Income Tax Act. To start with, to claim a deduction under this category, you must have taken a Home Loan between 1st April 2019 and 31st March 2020. Further, the stamp duty charges for the property against which the loan has been taken must not exceed Rs.45 Lakhs. Over and above this, only those borrowers can claim tax benefits under this category who do not own any other residential property and have taken a loan from a trusted bank or housing finance company.

5. Tax Deductions in the Case of Joint Home Loans

A joint home loan is one where more than one person is responsible for repaying the loan. Joint Home Loans offer substantial tax benefits. However, these benefits are available only when joint home loan owners are also joint homeowners. 

In the case of joint home loans, all borrowers can claim deductions up to a maximum of Rs.1.5 Lakh on payments made towards principal repayment and up to a maximum of Rs.2 Lakh on payments made towards interest repayment. Thus, combined, joint home loan payers can claim a maximum of Rs.7 Lakh as tax deductions by way of a Home Loan, which is a substantial amount of money.

People Also Read: Benefits of Joint Home Loan 

Taxes are an integral part of how governments run states and countries. You must pay taxes - as a citizen, it's your duty. However, the government of India also wants to promote housing and therefore, these tax-saving laws aim at making housing affordable for all. Make the best use of these tax-saving sections of the Income Tax Act and become a homeowner in a stress-free manner.

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