Education loan tax exemption: Section 80E of the Income Tax Act, 1961
If you have taken an educational loan to fund your higher studies in India or in a foreign country, you can get tax benefit under Section 80E of the Income Tax Act, 1961 - education loan tax exemption policy.
Under Section 80E - education loan tax exemption, the interest that you pay on the educational loan can be claimed as a deduction.
How to calculate the 80 E tax exemption benefits for you?
80 E Tax exemption calculation benefits are explained in detail with an example for your understanding. Let's assume you are taking an education loan form a public bank like SBI or Bank of Baroda (BOB). The actual interest rate reduces to the below mentioned when you claim the income tax benefits:
Save 30% of your interest if you or your co-applicant’s income is above 10 lacs, making your effective rate of interest as 6.33% (female students) and 6.68% (male students)
Save 20% of your interest if you or your co-applicant’s income is between 5-10 lacs, making your effective rate of interest as 7.24% (female students) and 7.64% (male students)
Save 10% of your interest if you or your co-applicant’s income is below 5 lacs, making your effective rate of interest as 8.14% (female students) and 8.6% (male students)
How to claim the benefits?
An employee can avail tax benefits on education loan by informing their company's HR or accounts department so that less TDS is deducted from their salary. You can also claim it by filing tax returns online.
When you are submitting your tax deduction forms and documents you need to simply mention the amount of interest you have paid for the previous year for an education loan, which is usually paid in installments. The interest amount from the installments has to be summed up and reported. Provide supporting documents, if necessary.
