NPS Tax Benefits: Simplified and Explained 

The Government of India introduced the National Pension System to provide financial security, and this scheme is available to public, private, and unorganized sector employees. The National Pension System, or NPS, also comes with many tax benefits. The objective of NPS is to encourage people to invest in a pension account regularly and plan for their golden years.

Benefits of Investing in NPS

• Regulated: NPS is regulated by PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority). It is a government body that maintains the transparency, effectiveness of the NPS and also protects the interests of its subscribers.  
• Market-linked returns: NPS invests in equities, corporate bonds, government securities, and AIFs. It has the potential to provide high returns compared to traditional modes of investment such as FDs or PPFs.
• Invest with portability: NPS allows you to contribute regularly at your convenience. If there is a change in your job location, place, or employment, then this won’t hamper your contributions. You can continue contributing to your NPS account. Any Indian citizen between the ages of 18 and 70 can start investing in NPS with as low as ₹500.
• Flexible investment: There are two types of investment methods – auto-choice and active-choice. You can choose any method to continue with your contributions. Also, you can choose different fund managers for different asset classes.
• Tax benefits: You can save taxes up to ₹1.5 lakhs under Section 80(c) and additionally save ₹50,000 under Section 80CCD 1(B) of the Income Tax Act, respectively.

What are the 5 things you should remember while opening an NPS account? Click here to learn. 

Let’s have a look at the NPS tax benefits in detail

• Tax benefits under Income Tax Section 80(C): NPS allows you to save tax up to ₹1.5 lakhs under this section.
• Tax benefits under Income Tax Section 80CCD 1(B): This feature is available for Tier I account holders only. A subscriber can save tax up to ₹50,000 under this section. It is an additional deduction apart from Section 80 (C). So, by investing in NPS, you can claim a tax deduction of up to ₹2 lakh (₹1.5 lakh under Section 80(C)) and another ₹50,000 under Section 80CCD 1(B).
• Tax benefits under Section 80CCD(2): This benefit is available to employed individuals in the private sector. Employees can contribute up to 10% of their pay to their NPS account, and they can also opt for the corporate NPS model, where the employer can contribute up to 10% of the employee’s basic salary, which goes directly to their NPS account. The tax deduction is available under Section 80CCD (2) with a limit of ₹5.5 lakhs.

Conclusion

The National Pension System comes with various tax benefits, and it can help you reduce your tax burden. Moreover, it can help you build a financial corpus over a period of time that can help you during your retirement years. With Sections 80(C) and 80CCD 1(B), you can save tax up to ₹2 lakhs; this is one of the key advantages of investing in NPS.