Deduction u/s. 80C for tuition / school / education fees.

Deduction u/s. 80C for tuition / school fees paid for education of children.

   Who is Eligible: Deduction for tuition fees u/s. 80c of the Income Tax Act 1961 is available to Individual Assessee and is not available to HUF.

   Maximum Child: Deduction under this section is available for tuition fees paid on two children’s education. If Assessee have more then two children then he can claim tuition fees paid of only two children’s. The Deduction is available for any two children.

   Here we would like to mention that husband and wife both have a separate limit of two children each, so they can claim deduction for 2 children each.

   Expenditure  paid for self education not allowable: - This is the only clause u/s 80 C where assessee can not claim tax benefit for expenditure incurred for self. In other words if assessee has paid tuition fees for his own studies, he will not be eligible for deduction.

   Fees paid for spouse: Deduction is not available for tuition fees paid for studies of spouse.

   Maximum Limit: Deduction for tuition Fees is available up to Rs.100000.  Please Note that aggregate amount of deduction  under section 80C , 80CCC and  80CCD shall not  exceed Rs. 1,00,000/-

   Deduction available on payment basis: - Deduction under this section is available on payment basis.  Fees may be related to any period. For example feed paid for April 2009 if Paid in March 2009 will be eligible for deduction u/s. 80C in A.Y. 2009-10.

   Deduction not available for part time course:- The deduction is available for Full Time courses only.   In our opinion no deduction is available for part time or distance learning courses.

   Fees for Private tuition/Coaching Classes not eligible for deduction u/s. 80C :- The fees should be paid to university, college, school or other educational institution. No deduction available for fees paid for private tuition’s , coaching courses for admission in professional courses or any other type of courses are not covered as that fee is not paid for FULL time education.

   Location of University, college, school or other educational institution: University, college, school or other educational institution must be situated in India though it can be affiliated to any foreign institutes.

   Allowability of pre-nursery, play school and nursery class fees: - Pre-nursery, play school and nursery class fees is also covered under section 80C (circular 9/2008 & 8/2007).

Not allowable Expenses:-

   1. Development fees or donation not eligible.

   2. Transport charges, hostel charges, Mess charges, library fees, scooter/cycle/car stand charges incurred for education are not allowed.

   3. Late fees is not eligible for deduction.

   4. Term Fees is not eligible for deduction.

   5. No deduction for part time or distance learning courses.

   6. no rebate for private tuition.

   7. Building fund or any donation etc not allowed.

Note: Above list is not exhaustive.

Summary of Above Provisions

   1) Deduction from taxable income under Section 80C is available to individual taxpayers up to a maximum amount of Rs1 lakh for education expenses incurred for one’s children.

   2) Each parent can claim the deduction for the tuition fees paid for up to two children each, thereby covering a maximum of four children in a family.

   3) This deduction is available to the parent who has made the payment, to the extent of the tuition fee actually paid or Rs1 lakh, whichever is lower.

   4) The deduction can be claimed only for full-time courses including pre-nursery and playschool. Part-time, distance learning courses, private tuitions and coaching classes are not covered.

   5) This deduction can be availed of on the basis of actual payment made, irrespective of the period to which the fee may pertain.

   6) Only the tuition fee paid is eligible for deduction. Other expenses, such as transport charges, library charges, hostel charges, development fees or donation, are not covered.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON DEDUCTION FOR TUITION FEES U/S. 80C

  Q. Can an unmarried person can claim deduction u/s 80C of Income tax Act, 1961 for school fee paid for 2 children?

   Ans: Yes he can. As clause (c )  of subsection 4 of Section 80C only speaks of children’s of Individual.  Section 80C is silent on legality of child and it does not say that child should be legal child.

  Q. Can I claim deduction u/s 80C of Income tax Act, 1961 for my adopted child’s school fees?

   Ans: Yes you can. As section 80C again silent and do not specify that child should be biological child for the purpose of claiming deduction under clause (xvii) of section 80C.

  Q. I have divorced to my wife and have custody of my son with me and paying his school fees. Will I be eligible for deduction u/s 80C of Income tax Act, 1961 for school fee paid on his education?

   Ans: Yes you will. As section 80C do not specify that marriage should continue to claim the deduction under clause (xvii) of section 80C.

   Q. Can I claim deduction under section 80C for tuition fees paid to an Indian institution for my wife’s education?

   Ans: No you can’t claim. Deduction u/s. 80C is available only for tuition fees paid for two children’s education.

  Q. I and my wife both paid for education of our one child. My wife paid 70,000 and I paid 1,10,000/- can we both claim deduction?

  Ans: Yes both of you can claim deduction u/s 80C up to a maximum of Rs.  1,00,000 each.  You can claim deduction up to 100000/- and your wife can claim deduction of Rs. 70,000/-.

  Q. I am currently working and studying. If  I pay my tuition fees out my own earnings and do not take an educational loan, will I get any tax benefits?

   Ans: The tuition fees paid by you will not make you eligible for any tax benefits. You will not be able to claim any income tax deduction.

   Q. I am a working women and I am paying the education fees for my husband education. Can I claim the deduction for this?

  Ans: Payment of tuition fee up to Rs 1 lakh can be claimed as deduction u/s 80C of the I T Act. But the payment of tuition fee for full time course must be for for any two children of individual. It follows therefore one can not claim deduction for payment of tuition fee for his/her spouse.

   Q:- Section 80C allows deduction in respect of tuition fee but excludes payments towards development fees, donations or payments of similar nature.

   Does this mean that the items not specifically excluded, such as fees for games, magazines, stationery, Parents’ Teacher Association fees, Staff Benefit Fund, Gratuity Fund, and hostel will not qualify for the deduction?

  Ans:- None of these will qualify for deduction under Section 80C of the Income-Tax Act, 1961.

   The deduction available under this Section is for sums paid as tuition fees (excluding any payment towards any development fees or donation or payment of a similar nature) whether at the time of admission or thereafter to any university, college, school or other educational institutions within India for the purpose of full-time education of any two children of an individual. The principle requirement for qualifying for deduction under this provision would be that the fee paid should be in the nature of tuition fee. All of the items enumerated by you are essentially not in the nature of tuition fee, and so cannot qualify for deduction.

   You may note that the development fee or donation or payments of a similar nature even if they are in the nature of tuition fees will not qualify for the deduction under this Section.

   Q:- Can Mother claim the benefit of tuition fees paid for his son/daughter.

  Ans:  Assessee means both mother and father both can take the benefit u/s 80 C for amount paid by them respectively.

   Q:- If a couple have four children, can they both claim fees for two children each?

  Ans: Yes ,husband and wife both have a separate limit of two children each ,so they can claim deduction for 2 children each.

  Q:- If a Couple has one child and paid a fees of 200000 rs can they both claim tuition fess 100000 each ?

   Ans:  yes ,they both can claim deduction for 100000 each subject to they have actually paid same amount .If husband has paid 1.50lac and wife has paid 50000 then husband can claim 100000 and wife can claim 50000.

   Q:-  Ram has paid tuition fees for his child 2000/- in February 2011  relates to period march to June 2011 ,how much amount he can claim deduction in assessment year 2012-03?

   Ans:  He can claim full 2000 Rs in assessment year 2012-13 , as this deduction is available on the basis of payment and it may or may not be related to the period in which it has been paid.

  Q:-  Is Late fees paid with tuition fees is eligible for deduction ?

   Ans:   No,late fees is not eligible for deduction.

EXTRACT OF SECTION 80C

Clause xvii of section 80C

   xvii) as tuition fees (excluding any payment towards any development fees or donation or payment of similar nature), whether at the time of admission or thereafter,

   (a) to any university, college, school or other educational institution situated within India;

   (b) for the purpose of full-time education of any of the persons specified in sub-section (4);

Subsection 4 of Section 80C

   “(4) The persons referred to in sub-section (2) shall be the following, namely:

   (a) ………………….
   (b) …………………..

   (c) for the purposes of clause (xvii) of that sub-section, in the case of an individual, any two children of such individual.

Note- (Republished with Amendments)

Source:http://taxguru.in/income-tax/deduction-us-80c-for-tuitionschool-fees-paid-for-education-of-children.html

E-filing of Income Tax Return – Frequently Asked Questions.

It’s time to file your Income Tax Return for the year 2011-12 (Assessment Year 2012-13). The last date for filing ITR for this year has been fixed as 31st July 2012.

Sl. No.	Questions	Answer
1.	What is e-Filing of Returns?	Filing of Income Tax returns is a legal obligation of every person whose total income for the previous year has exceeded the maximum amount that is not chargeable to income tax under the provisions of the I.T Act, 1961. Income Tax Department has introduced a convenient way to file these returns online using the Internet. The process of electronically filing your Income tax returns through the Internet is known as e-filing of returns.
2.	How is e-Filing different from the regular filing of returns?	E-filing offers convenience of time and place to tax payers. This facility is available round the clock and returns could be filed from any place in the world. It also eliminates/ reduces interface between assessee and tax officials. The procedure of e- filing is explained on the home page of the website.
3.	What are the steps in brief to upload the tax returns on this website?	Visit ITD e-filing website incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in Select appropriate type of Return Form based on Sources of Income and status of taxpayer. Download the excel based utility from the ITD e-filing website. Fill your return offline in the downloaded excel sheet and generate a XML file. Register your PAN on the ITD e-filing website, if you are using it for the first time. User id / Login id will be the PAN itself. After successful registration an activation link will be sent to your registered email id. Upon activation you can avail various facilities available on e-filing website including submission of income tax return. After login, click on “Submit Return”. Select the AY and type of form to be uploaded. Browse to select XML file for uploading in the ITD e-filing website and click on “Upload” button. On successful upload, acknowledgement details would be displayed. Click on “Download” to download the acknowledgement i.e. ITR-V Form for the taxpayers, who are not using digital signature. This is an acknowledgement cum verification form. The tax payer has to print and duly sign the same and send it to “Income Tax Department – CPC, Post Bag No – 1, Electronic City Post Office, Bengaluru – 560100, Karnataka” within 120 days of uploading the return on the ITD e-filing website by ordinary post or speed post only. Upon receipt of the ITR-V, the ITD will send an e-mail acknowledging the receipt of ITR-V to the email id entered in the return form. No Form ITR-V shall be received in any other office of the Income-tax Department or in any other manner. This completes the return filing process for non-digitally signed returns. For the taxpayers using digital signature for uploading the form, taxpayer has to register the DSC before uploading the return. In these cases, no ITR-V will be generated. Website will generate ”Acknowledgement” instead and return will be treated as filed. Taxpayer may take a printout of the “Acknowledgement” for his/her record.
4.	I have forgotten my password. What is to be done to retrieve it ?	Click on the forget password link from the login page in ITD e-filing website. In the password reset page, one of the following can be selected by the taxpayers: Enter the answer to the secret question, taxpayer has entered in the registration details. OR Enter the A.Y. and acknowledgement number of any of earlier e-filed return by the taxpayer since A.Y. 2007-08 Enter the new password twice and also the CAPTCHA CODE appearing on the screen. Click on Reset Password to reset the password of your user id. Further if do not have either, send a email request from registered email-id, which taxpayer has entered in the registration profile, to validate@incometaxindia.gov.in having following details PAN, Name of the assessee as appearing in the PAN card, Date of Birth / Date of incorporation, Name of the Father as appearing in the PAN card Address Mobile number Registered email id. The ITD will send its response via email.
5.	What to do if there is an "INTERNAL ERROR" at the time of registration?	Kindly try again and if the problem persist, kindly send a email request to efiling@incometaxindia.gov.in with the following details required for registration PAN First Name Middle Name Last Name Date of Birth/Date of Incorporation Father’s First Name Father’s Middle Name Father’s Last Name Address Phone Email id
6.	In case, taxpayer has entered the wrong email-id during registration and taxpayer is not able to activate its user id, what is to be done by taxpayer to activate the account ?	Kindly send an e-mail request to validate@incometaxindia.gov.infor activation of your user-id with the following details required for registration PAN First Name Middle Name Last Name Date of Birth/Date of Incorporation Father’s First Name Father’s Middle Name Father’s Last Name Address Phone Email id Once the user-id is activated by the ITD, kindly login on the ITD e-filing website and go to My Account to update the email-id, mobile number, answer to the secret question etc. to avoid this problem in future.
7.	Can a LEGAL HEIR file the return of the deceased assessee for compulsory DSC cases ?	Yes. First, the legal heir has to obtain a DSC in his own capacity. The DSC of the legal heir, so obtained can be registered in the ITD e-filing website as follows: The details of Legal heir and the deceased assessee, such as : PAN First Name Middle Name Last Name Date of Birth Father’s First Name Father’s Middle Name Father’s Last Name Mobile Number have to be sent through e-mail to efiling.administrator@incometaxindia.gov.inalong with the documentary evidences (in scanned format) i.e. death certificate of the deceased assessee. After receiving these details by the e-filing administrator, the Legal heir’s PAN will be linked to the deceased assessee and a confirmation email will be sent to email id of the Legal heir and then only, the return of the deceased assessee can be filed electronically by Legal heir.
8.	My Challan of payment of Advance Tax or Self Assessment Tax does not contain correct PAN or Assessment Year. Will the claim be allowed?	No. You are advised to get it corrected by making written request to Branch of Bank from where payment has been made upto 15 days of payment and thereafter to your Assessing Officer. Detailed challan correction mechanism is available at ChallanCorrectionMechanism_26082011.pdf
9.	If the last date of filing falls on Saturday or Sunday or Public Holiday and Income Tax Department is closed on these days, can subsequent Monday be treated as "Last date of Filing"?	Yes, if Income Tax Department is closed on these days. Otherwise, No.
10.	The Assessing Officer (AO) designation and code as per 'Know your PAN' is different from Jurisdictional AO that I know?	Please apply before the jurisdictional Assessing officer to initiate the process of acquiring PAN by Jurisdictional Assessing Officer.
11.	How can taxpayer find his Assessing Officer (AO) Code?	Click on ”Know your Jurisdiction” Sub Menu under ”Services”menu on the home page of ITD e-filing website.
12.	How can I come to know about TAN of my deductor?	Kindly refer to Form 16 or Form 16A issued by the employer for the TAN number. You can also see the details of deductor in the 26AS Tax credit statement made available by the NSDL in its website, which can be easily accessed through ITD e-filing website.
13.	How do I know whether my e-return is being processed at CPC Bangalore or the Assessing Officer.	The taxpayer is advised to login to the website using his/her userid and password and select the sub menu option ‘CPC Processing Status’ under the menu option ‘Services’ on the homepage of ITD e-filing website to check the status of return for a given assessment year.
14.	What are the due dates for filing of returns for non-corporate and corporate tax payers?	As per the provisions of section 139 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 the due dates for filing of returns of income for different category of assessees are as under: For all Corporate assessees and all such non corporate assessee, whose accounts are required to be audited, including working partners of such firms, the….. 30th Sept. of the Astt.Year. For such corporate assessee which is required to furnish a report u/s 92E of the I T Act, 1961, the 30th Nov. of the Astt.Year. For any other assessees, the 31st July of the Astt.Year.
15.	Is it mandatory for all firms to file their return electronically?	No. Only those firms, who have to get their accounts audited under 44AB of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
16.	Is it mandatory to file return of income after getting PAN?	No. The liability to file return of income arises only when you have taxable income.
17.	Who can file the return for a deceased assessee?	A legal heir can file the return in such case.
18.	If I have paid excess tax, how and when will it be refunded to me?	To claim the excess paid tax, the assessee has to be file returns of income, irrespective of the fact whether the income is taxable or not. The amount of refund will be remitted to the assessee either through cheque or directly to the back account as mentioned in the ITR form after the processing of the return.

Courtesy: www.gconnect.in