Benefits For Senior Citizens & Very Senior Citizens Under Income Tax Regulation In India

According to the Income Tax (IT) regulation in India, senior citizens and very senior citizens will be able to avail of higher exemption limits rather than normal taxpayers. Here, the benefits for the senior citizens and very senior citizens have been mentioned below.

Benefits for a senior citizen

The senior citizens should have the age of 60 years or above but less than 80 years. The Income Tax regulation in the country informs that the exemption limit for FY2022-23 to senior citizens will be Rs. 3,00,000, while the exemption limit for non-senior citizens will be Rs. 2,50,000. So, an additional benefit of Rs. 50,000 in the form of a higher exemption limit will be entitled to resident senior citizens.

Additionally, Section 80TTB, of the Income Tax regulation gives provisions relating to tax benefits available on account of interest income from deposits with banks or post offices or co-operative banks of an amount up to Rs. 50,000 earned by the senior citizen, the official IT portal informs. The interest earned on saving deposits and FD or fixed deposits will be eligible for a tax deduction. However, Section 194A gives corresponding provisions that no tax will be deducted at source from payment of interest by bank or post-office or a co-operative bank to a senior citizen up to Rs. 50,000.

Benefits for a very senior citizen

The very senior citizens should have the age of 80 years or above. The IT rule informs that a very senior citizen will have the benefit of a higher exemption limit compared to others. The exemption limit for FY2022-23 for the very senior citizens will be Rs. 5,00,000, while the exemption limit for non-senior citizens will be Rs. 2,50,000, as mentioned before. So, an additional benefit of Rs. 2,50,000 as a higher exemption limit will be available for the resident very senior citizens than the normal taxpayers.

In addition to that, the official IT portal informs, "A very senior citizen filing his return of income in Form ITR 1/4 can file his return of income in paper mode, that is, for him, e filing of ITR 1/4 (as the case may be) is not mandatory. However, he may go for e-filing if he wishes."