Every salaried Indian gets a ₹1.5 lakh deduction under Section 80C — but most people only use one or two options and leave money on the table.
If you're in the 20% tax slab, using the full ₹1.5 lakh limit saves you ₹31,200 in tax (with cess). In the 30% slab, that's ₹46,800 back in your pocket.
Here are the 7 options that count toward this limit.
What this means for you
- EPF contributions (deducted automatically from your salary) already count — check how much of your limit is used.
- PPF, ELSS mutual funds, life insurance premiums, 5-year tax-saving FDs, home loan principal, and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana fill the rest.
- ELSS has the shortest lock-in (3 years) and historically the best returns among these options.
What you can do
- Check your payslip for EPF deduction, then calculate the remaining 80C gap for this year.
- If you have 10+ years left to invest, consider ELSS over a tax-saving FD — same deduction, better growth potential.
Tax saving works best when it's planned in April, not rushed in March.
Grow with clarity 🌱