Starting your retirement planning early is one of the best things you can do for your future. As you grow older, expenses like medical bills, maintaining your lifestyle, and achieving retirement goals become priorities. You may also want to leave behind an inheritance for your loved ones. Most importantly, you would want to ensure that you are financially independent in your later years.
There are various tools and schemes to help you save for retirement, and one such scheme is the National Pension System (NPS). Apart from assisting you with building a retirement corpus, it also offers attractive tax benefits while you're still earning. In this article, we will explore the NPS tax benefits in detail.
The National Pension System (NPS) is a government-backed retirement savings scheme in India. It encourages you to invest regularly during your working years to build a substantial fund for your retirement. NPS is designed to provide a steady income post-retirement, so that you can enjoy financial security in your golden years.
Under NPS, there are two types:
This is the primary retirement account meant for long-term savings. It is a mandatory account if you want to avail yourself of tier 1 NPS tax benefits.
This is a voluntary savings account that offers greater flexibility. It acts like a mutual fund with the option to invest and withdraw funds as you wish.
While both account types help you save for retirement, it's the NPS Tier 1 account that offers significant tax advantages. The NPS Tier 1 tax benefits can be availed under Sections 80CCD(1), 80CCD(1B), and 80CCD(2) of the Income Tax Act, along with some additional perks.
Let's look at these key benefits in detail:
Benefits | Specific |
Under Section 80CCD(1) | Deduction of up to 10% of salary for salaried employees, and 20% of gross income for self-employed individuals.Maximum limit of ₹1.5 lakh under this section. (Within the overall limit of 80C) |
Under Section 80CCD(1B) | Additional deduction of up to ₹50,000 exclusively for NPS contributions.This is over and above the ₹1.5 lakh limit under Section 80C. |
Under Section 80CCD(2) | Employer's contribution up to 10% of your salary can be claimed as deduction. No monetary ceiling on this deduction.Available only to salaried employees. |
On Partial Withdrawals | Tax-free partial withdrawals up to 25% of your own contributions.Withdrawals allowed for specific purposes |
On Annuity Purchase | Amount used from NPS corpus to purchase an annuity plan is entirely tax-exempt. |
On Lump Sum Withdrawal | At retirement, you can withdraw up to 60% of your NPS retirement corpus as a lump sum.Out of this, 60% is tax-free. |
To Companies and Employers | Employers can claim their contributions as a business expense.Encourages companies to contribute to employees' NPS accounts. |
Starting your retirement planning early sets the foundation for a comfortable and stress-free life after you stop working. Selecting between NPS Tier 1 and Tier 2 accounts depends on your financial goals. If you're looking for flexible investment options without immediate tax benefits, Tier 2 might be suitable. However, if you want to enjoy the NPS tax benefit for salaried employees while building a secure retirement fund, opting for Tier 1 NPS tax benefits is the better choice.
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