New income tax regime: Can I avail of deductions under Section 80TTA/80TTB?

 

One can claim a deduction either under Section 80TTA or 80TTB based on eligibility criteria and not both deductions at the same time

There is a difference between exemption and deduction. Exempt income is not required to be included in your income but income in respect of which deduction is available is first required to be included in your income..

I understand that interest from a post office savings bank account is first included as income under the “income from other sources" and then the deduction is available u/s 80TTA up to ₹10,000 for a HUF and an individual other than a resident senior citizen individual and deduction u/s 80TTB upto ₹50,000 for resident individuals. Does it mean that the 3,500 exemption is no longer available and only deduction under Section 80TTA/80TTB is available?

Yes, the interest on your savings bank account is taxable under the head income from other sources at the slab rate applicable to you. Generally, there is no exemption for interest on a savings bank account received by you but interest received from a savings bank account with a post office up to ₹3,500 in a financial year is eligible for exemption under Section 10(15)(i) read with Circular: No. 410 [F. No. 178/68/83-IT (A-I)], dated 12-2-1985, and interest from a post office savings bank account beyond this amount must be included in your income.

In addition to the above all individuals and HUF are eligible to claim a deduction of up to ₹10,000 in respect of interest on saving bank accounts from banks, post offices, and cooperative banks under section 80TTA. The resident individuals over 60 years old are eligible to claim a higher deduction of up to ₹50,000 in respect of interest received on savings bank accounts and any interest received from banks, post offices, and cooperative banks during the year.

Please note one can claim a deduction either under Section 80TTA or 80TTB based on eligibility criteria and not both deductions at the same time.

There is a difference between exemption and deduction. Exempt income is not required to be included in your income but income in respect of which deduction is available is first required to be included in your income. Then a deduction of the eligible amount is claimed against such income. Please note that the deductions under Section 80TTA/80TTB are not available if you opt for the new tax regime but the exemption for saving bank interest up to ₹3,500 is available under both tax regimes.

Balwant Jain is a tax and investment expert and can be reached on jainbalwant@gmail.com and @jainbalwant on social media platform X