What investments qualify for Section 80C?

Section 80C is a single ₹1,50,000 annual cap shared across a long list of qualifying products: Public Provident Fund (PPF) contributions, Employee Provident Fund (EPF) employee share, Equity-Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS) mutual funds, National Savings Certificate (NSC), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), life insurance premiums (self/spouse/children), home loan principal repayment, tuition fees for up to two children, 5-year tax-saver bank FDs, and NPS Tier 1 employee contributions. You can mix and match — but the combined deduction stops at ₹1.5 lakh.

Can I claim 80C deductions under the new tax regime?

No. The new tax regime (default from FY 2023-24 onwards, with updated slab thresholds for FY 2026-27) disallows virtually all Chapter VI-A deductions — including Section 80C, 80D, 80E, 80CCD(1B), and home loan interest u/s 24(b). The only material deductions still allowed in the new regime are the ₹75,000 standard deduction for salaried taxpayers, the employer NPS contribution u/s 80CCD(2), family pension u/s 57(iia), and the Agniveer corpus deduction. If you want to claim 80C-style deductions, you must explicitly opt for the old regime when filing.

What's the difference between 80C and 80CCD(1B)?

Section 80C is a shared ₹1.5 lakh cap across PPF, EPF, ELSS, life insurance, home loan principal, etc — NPS Tier 1 employee contributions also count here. Section 80CCD(1B) is an ADDITIONAL ₹50,000 deduction available exclusively for NPS Tier 1 contributions, over and above the 80C limit. Together this gives you up to ₹2 lakh of deduction headroom if you use NPS. The smart move when you've already hit the 80C cap with PPF/EPF/ELSS is to shift any extra NPS savings into the 80CCD(1B) bucket rather than wasting them above the 80C ceiling.

How much can I save under Section 80D?

Section 80D lets you deduct health insurance premiums paid for yourself, your spouse, and dependent children, capped at ₹25,000 per year (₹50,000 if any insured person is a senior citizen aged 60+). You can ALSO claim a separate deduction up to ₹50,000 for premiums paid for senior-citizen parents — that's on top of the family premium. So a typical taxpayer with non-senior family + senior parents has up to ₹75,000 of 80D headroom (₹25K + ₹50K). Preventive health-check-up expenses up to ₹5,000 are included within these caps.

Should I choose old or new regime for tax saving?

It depends on how many deductions you can actually claim. The new regime has lower slab rates and a higher rebate u/s 87A (full rebate up to ₹12 lakh of taxable income for FY 2026-27), but disallows almost all deductions. The old regime has higher slab rates but lets you claim 80C + 80D + HRA + home loan interest + NPS. A rough rule: if your total deductions add up to more than ₹3.5–4 lakh, the old regime usually wins at moderate income. Below that, the new regime almost always wins. Run both numbers in the Income Tax Calculator to compare side-by-side for your specific case.

Tax Saving Calculator — Section 80C, 80D & 80CCD (India)

Tax Saving (80C)

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Tax Saving Calculator

Plan your tax-saving investments under Section 80C (₹1.5L cap), 80D (health insurance), 80CCD(1B) (NPS extra ₹50K), 80E (education loan interest), and 24(b) (home loan interest). Shows total tax saved at your slab.

Reviewed by the CalculatorKosh Editorial TeamUpdated June 2026Free · No sign-up

Section 80C

shared ₹1.5 L cap

PPF

₹

₹0₹1.5 L

EPF (employee)

₹

₹0₹3 L

ELSS mutual fund

₹

₹0₹1.5 L

Life insurance premium

₹

₹0₹1.5 L

Home loan principal

₹

₹0₹1.5 L

Tuition fees (≤2 kids)

₹

₹0₹1.5 L

SSY (girl child)

₹

₹0₹1.5 L

NSC

₹

₹0₹1.5 L

Tax-saver FD (5y)

₹

₹0₹1.5 L

NPS Tier 1 (employee)

₹

₹0₹1.5 L

Section 80CCD(1B)

extra ₹50 K — NPS only

NPS Tier 1 — additional contribution

₹

₹0₹50 K

Over and above the ₹1.5 L 80C cap

Section 80D — health insurance

₹25 K + ₹50 K

Self / family

₹

₹0₹50 K

₹25 K cap (non-senior)

Senior parents (60+)

₹

₹0₹50 K

Separate ₹50 K cap

Section 80E

no cap (interest only)

Education loan interest paid

₹

₹0₹1000 Cr

Up to 8 years from start of repayment

Section 24(b)

₹2 L cap (self-occupied)

Home loan interest paid

₹

₹0₹2 L

Settings

Your tax slab

Tax regime

Annual Tax Saved

₹1,38,000

80C waste check

You're investing ₹65,000 above the ₹1.5 L 80C cap — that ₹65,000 gets no tax benefit. Either reduce 80C investments or shift to 80CCD(1B) (NPS) for an additional ₹50,000 deduction.

Total deductions

₹4.6 L

80C used (of ₹1,50,000 cap)

₹1.5 L

80CCD(1B) used (of ₹50,000 cap)

₹50,000

24(b) used (of ₹2,00,000 cap)

₹2.0 L

Deductions by section

Section	Cap	Used	Cap ok?
80C	₹1,50,000	₹1,50,000	!
80CCD(1B)	₹50,000	₹50,000	✓
80D (self)	₹25,000	₹20,000	✓
80D (parents)	₹50,000	₹40,000	✓
80E	no cap	₹0	✓
24(b)	₹2,00,000	₹2,00,000	✓
Grand total deductions		₹4,60,000

How It Works

This calculator helps you plan your tax-saving investments under the OLD tax regime — adding up Section 80C, 80CCD(1B), 80D, 80E, and 24(b) deductions and showing the exact rupee amount you save at your slab. Caps are enforced section-by-section, and any 80C money you invest above the ₹1.5 lakh ceiling is surfaced as "wasted" so you can redirect it.

The deduction sections explained

Section 80C (₹1.5 lakh shared cap) — A single annual cap that pools together a long list of qualifying products: PPF, EPF (employee share), ELSS mutual funds, life insurance premium, home loan principal, tuition fees (up to 2 children), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, NSC, 5-year tax-saver FD, and NPS Tier 1 employee contributions. Investing more than ₹1.5L total across these gets you no extra tax break — the excess is simply unused 80C headroom.

Section 80CCD(1B) (additional ₹50,000) — An exclusive extra deduction for NPS Tier 1 contributions, on top of the 80C cap. This means a taxpayer using both 80C and NPS can claim up to ₹2 lakh of deduction in total.

Section 80D (health insurance) — Premium paid for self/spouse/children is deductible up to ₹25,000 per year. Premium paid for senior-citizen parents (60+) gets its own separate ₹50,000 cap. Preventive health check-up expenses up to ₹5,000 are included within these caps.

Section 80E (education loan interest) — Interest paid on an education loan is fully deductible with no statutory cap for up to 8 years from the start of repayment.

Section 24(b) (home loan interest) — Interest on a home loan for a self-occupied property is deductible up to ₹2 lakh per year. For let-out property there is no cap (this calculator assumes self-occupied for simplicity).

The big caveat — new vs old regime

The new tax regime (default from FY 2023-24 onwards, with updated slab thresholds for FY 2026-27) disallows almost all of these deductions. If you opt for the new regime, the only material deductions still allowed are the ₹75,000 standard deduction (salaried), employer NPS u/s 80CCD(2), family pension, and Agniveer corpus. The numbers below assume you've opted for the old regime — if you switch the regime toggle to "new", the calculator zeros out everything and shows you the warning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Section 80C is a single ₹1,50,000 annual cap shared across a long list of qualifying products: PPF (Public Provident Fund) contributions, EPF (Employee Provident Fund) employee share, ELSS mutual funds (3-year lock-in), NSC (National Savings Certificate), SSY (Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana), life insurance premiums (self/spouse/children), home loan principal repayment, tuition fees for up to two children, 5-year tax-saver bank FDs, and NPS Tier 1 employee contributions. You can mix and match — but the combined deduction stops at ₹1.5 lakh. Anything above the cap is simply unused headroom.