With a view to encourage savings and to promote health care among individual taxpayers, a number of measures have been taken by way of incentives under the Income-tax Act.

Some of these are mentioned below:-

1. Investment in Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme will be eligible for deduction u/s 80C and any payment from the scheme shall not be liable to tax.

2. The limit of deduction u/s 80D of the Income-tax Act has been increased from Rs 15,000/- to Rs 25,000/- on health insurance premium (in case of senior citizen from Rs 20,000/- to Rs 30,000/-).

3. The limit of deduction in case of very senior citizens u/s 80DDB of the Income-tax Act on expenditure on account of specified diseases has been increased from Rs 60,000/- to Rs 80,000/-.

4. The limit of deduction u/s 80DD of the Income-Tax Act in respect of maintenance, including medical treatment of a dependant who is a person with disability, has been increased from Rs. 50,000/- to Rs. 75,000/-.

The limit of deduction has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.25 lakh in case of severe disability.

5. The limit of deduction u/s 80U of the Income-tax Act in case of a person with disability, has been increased from Rs. 50,000/- to Rs. 75,000/-. The limit of deduction has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.25 lakh in case of severe disability.

6. The limit of deduction u/s 80CCC of the Income-tax Act on account of contribution to a pension fund of LIC or IRDA approved insurer has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh.

7. The limit of deduction u/s 80CCD of the Income-tax Act on account of contribution by the employee to National Pension Scheme (NPS) has been increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.50 lakh.

A deduction of Rs. 50,000/- over and above the limit of Rs. 1.50 lakh to any individual who makes contribution to NPS has been allowed.

8. Allowance expenditure for the purpose of commuting between the place of his residence and the place of his duty was increased from Rs 800/- per month to Rs 1600/- per month.

Transport allowance exemption granted to an employee who is blind or orthopedically handicapped with disability of lower extremities was increased from Rs 1600/- per month to Rs 3200/- per month.

9. The facility of filing self-declaration of non-deduction of tax by the recipients of taxable maturity proceeds of life insurance policy has been provided.

10. Under the existing provisions of the Income-tax Act, an individual buying an immovable property from a resident is required to deduct tax but is not required to obtain TAN for depositing the tax so deducted.

The same facility has been extended to an individual or HUF purchasing an immovable property from a non-resident.

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