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 Tax benefits of investing in mutual funds-Take advantage

Investments in mutual funds have emerged as one of the most popular avenues for the purpose of tax savings. There are two ways through which one can avail of tax benefits by investing in mutual funds. The first is by investing in Equity Link Savings Scheme (ELSS) and the second is by investing in equity or debt mutual funds or Hybrid Funds or sector specific Funds.

Equity Link Savings Scheme Mutual Funds (ELSS)

Investments of up to Rs 1.5 lakh done in ELSS are eligible for a tax deduction under Sec 80 C.  This type of funds has a short lock-in of 3 years.

Canara Robeco Mutual Fund, being an equity-linked product, ELSS has a high potential of creating wealth over the longer term.

ELSS Schemes are more transparent than their counterparts due to regular disclosure of portfolios, scheme expense ratios, the publication of daily NAVs, etc. The costs involved while investing is lower than the comparable options. Performance can be easily judged based on the NAV movement and dividend receipts.

With ELSS MF schemes, investors get an option to invest as little as Rs 500 per month through Systematic Investment Plan (SIP), thereby making it less stressful on investors’ pockets too.

Investment in equity/debt mutual funds

While comparing an investment in equity mutual funds to direct investments, the former aids in reducing taxation. It is reduced to 10 percent if a person invests for over a year and 15 percent if the investment is made for under a year.

This is explained with an example.

“Let’s consider a scenario where someone lends money to a friend at 12 percent interest and parallely invests the same amount into an equity-based mutual fund. After one year in the equity mutual fund, the individual must pay only 10 percent taxes (assuming they only grow by 10 percent). Deducting that 10 percent in tax accounts to a net return of 9 percent. However, in the case of lending the money to a friend who is giving them a fixed income of 12 percent a year the person must pay full tax on that income. Considering that they are in the 30 percent-plus taxation category the taxation on 12 percent is going to be 3.6 percent. Thus, the net return is going to be less along with full capital risk.

An important clause to add here is that up to Rs 1 lakh of long-term capital gain, which is an investment over a year is tax-free.

“If someone made Rs 3 lakh in long term capital gains in equity, they only have to pay 10 percent tax on Rs 2 lakh (which is after 1 lakh where no tax is required to be paid). That way the overall taxation is even less than 10 percent,”

Any income derived from debt funds up to three years is categorised as direct income, i.e., the same situation as lending money to a friend. However, if the investment is for over three years then the gains are taxed at 20 percent after indexation (the rate of inflation). This tax on average comes down to 5-10 percent.

So if a person holds a debt mutual fund for three years, the maximum size of the tax will not be more than 10 percent.

By investing in mutual funds people are able to save on taxation and by choosing the right funds they will be able to safeguard capital, reduce tax and eventually generate more net return after taxes.

Investors are advised to take advantage of the MF schemes SIP and secure the future.

 Market Round up:  Contemporary News: Domestic and International:

Asia: Stocks in Asia-Pacific were lower in Wednesday morning trade, as investors await a speech from Chinese President Xi Jinping. Mainland Chinese stocks were lower in early trade, with the Shanghai composite down about 0.4 percent while the Shenzhen component declined 0.261 percent. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was fractionally lower.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.18 percent while the Topix index shed 0.53 percent. South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.64 percent. Meanwhile, shares in Australia were little changed, with the S&P/ASX 200 below the flatline. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.11 percent lower, reported CNBC International.

US: U.S. stock index futures rose in overnight trading after the major averages registered their first day of losses in five trading sessions. Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 44 points, indicating a 64-point gain at the open on Wednesday. S&P 500 futures gained 0.14 percent, while Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.3 percent. Stocks fell on Tuesday, snapping a four-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 157.71 points, or 0.6 percent, while the S&P 500 declined 0.6 percent. The Nasdaq Composite was the relative outperformer, dipping 0.1 percent, reported CNBC International.

Market At Close On Tuesday: Indian indices pared gains to end on a flat note on Tuesday as losses in banks, financials and pharma sectors were capped by gains in IT stocks and heavyweight Reliance Industries. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, ITC and Axis Bank were the top contributors to the losses. The Sensex ended 32 points higher at 40,625 while the Nifty rose 3.5 points to 11,934.50. Broader markets underperformed benchmarks with the Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap indices down 0.5 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

Markets opened on weak note on Wednesday taking cues from the peers overseas.

Crude Oil: Oil prices rebounded on Tuesday, supported by robust economic data from China that offset returning supply in other regions but gains were capped by forecasts for a slow recovery in global oil demand as coronavirus cases rise. Brent crude futures were up 72 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $42.44 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled 77 cents, or 1.95 percent, higher at $40.20 per barrel. On Monday, both benchmarks fell nearly 3 percent, reported CNBC International. (Image: Reuters)

Rupee Close: The Indian currency ended lower amidst volatility in the Asian peers. The rupee ended at 73.35 against the US dollar as compared to the previous close of 73.28.

Centre Okays Additional Borrowing For States: The central government has given its nod to 20 States to raise an additional amount of Rs 68,825 crore through open market borrowings, Finance Ministry said on Tuesday. The additional borrowing of 0.5 percent of the GSDP has been given to states which have agreed for GST borrowing under the first option of Rs 1.10 lakh crore. These 20 States are – Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Ministry also said that eight states have yet to exercise a borrowing option to meet the GST shortfall.

IMF Slashes India’s Growth Forecast: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) handed India yet another sharp cut in its growth projection for the year amid a worse than expected contraction seen in the June quarter. In its latest World Economic Outlook update for October released on Tuesday evening, IMF has forecast a steep 10.3 percent contraction for India’s economy for the current financial year, 580 basis points lower than its June forecast. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. The report pegs India’s FY 2021-22 growth at 8.8 percent, which is 280 basis points higher than what it had forecast in June. Thereafter, the IMF sees India’s GDP growth at 7.2 percent by FY 2025-26.

Cabinet To Consider New PSE Policy: The Union Cabinet will soon consider new public sector enterprises policy that will define strategic sectors, which will not have more than four PSUs, Finance Ministry official sources said on Tuesday. As part of the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ package, the government in May had announced that there will be a maximum of four public sector companies in the strategic sectors, and state-owned firms in other segments will eventually be privatised. Under the policy, a list of strategic sectors will be notified where there will be at least one and a maximum of four public sector enterprises, apart from private sector companies. In other sectors, central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) will be privatised, depending on the feasibility.

The Markets are expected to have a correction and the investors need to be careful while  taking positions.

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