Best Income Tax Saving Mutual Funds

I compared ELSS (Equity Linked Saving Scheme) mutual funds on the basis of their AUM (assets under management) size and past performance in 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and 3 years.

Finally following funds were found to be good.

Canara Robeco Equity Tax Saver, Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver, HDFC Taxsaver, SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 93 – Dividend, Franklin India Taxshield – Growth, DSPBR Tax Saver, Fidelity Tax Advantage

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Pankaj Batra

Jack of multiple trades. A generalist! Founder of Sparse Labs. Find me at FB, Twitter or LinkedIn .

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  • Hi Pankaj,
    Happy New Year 2010 !
    I went through your articles & posts. Information on this site is excellent. I would recommend anyone new to investments to go thr' your posts.

    I have few queries on the below investments made by me for tax saving purpose.
    Bajaj -Century Plus -25 K / Annum( Asset Allocation Fund)
    Bajaj -unitgain Plus Gold size one -12k annually( equity Index Fund II) -ECS
    Bajaj - Family Gain -12k/ annum (equity Index fund II)
    Bajaj - Health Guard -1.7 k / annum

    I checked the current value of these policies, i don't see any growth in the current Value.

    Century Plus premium is paid only once in Jan 2008. Premium of 2009 is not paid , now the policy is in the lapse status. Current Value of this policy is 23.k against 25 K invested .
    1.Kindly suggest if it is wise to pay premium for Century Plus in this Jan.
    2.Do you think i need to switch funds to earn better returns or continue in the same . If yes, suggest the right fund
    3.I have another 40 K ( including that of 25 K premium of Century )to invest for tax saving , can you suggest an ideal investment .

    Thank you for your time. Look forward to your expert opinion.
    Regards,
    Anita

    • @Anita
      I don't know why you have all of your investment with Bajaj. There are many good funds in market from Birla, HDFC, DSP, Franklin etc. You should consider investing in funds which have proven records.
      Ideal investment for tax savings is 1. Term insurance 2. Medical insurance 3. PPF 4. ELSS Mutual Fund.
      You must divide your amount among this.

      • Hi Pankaj,

        Thank you very nuch for the reply. I would surely consider your suggestions while investing further.

        'Thanks & regards,
        Anita

  • Hi Pankaj,
    As you mentioned Ideal investment for tax savings is 1. Term insurance 2. Medical insurance 3. PPF 4. ELSS Mutual Fund.
    How should the investment be distributed among these options?
    Please suggest some good Term insurance and Medical insurance policies.

    Thanks,
    Prasad

    • @Prasad
      First get term and medical insurance for a good insured amount based on your lifestyle and age.
      After that, divide remaining amount between PPF and ELSS in ratio based on your age. More the age, increase the PPF share.
      You can get term insurance from LIC (Amulya Jeevan), Max new york life or Metlife. For medical insurance you can get from Star Health, Apollo DKV or any Govt insurance company like national or united insurance.

  • Hi Dear,
    I am interested to invest in ELSS, so please assist me which plan is better running now and also in future

    • @Dinesh
      You can invest in following funds:
      Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver, SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 93, Franklin India Taxshield, HDFC Tax saver, Birla Sunlife Tax relief, ICICI Pru Tax plan, Fidelity Tax Advantage

  • Hi Pankaj

    I have to invest 41000 Rs to save tax.
    Below is my plant to invest, please suggest

    12000- LIC Jeevan Saral
    10000- Fidelity Tax Adv -@
    10000 - Canara Robeco Infrastructure-D
    9000 - HDFC Tax saver

  • Hi Pankaj,
    I am planning to invest 70k..
    but i am totally confused where to invest..
    i hv browsed so many sites on tax saver MFs but still I am not able to finalise..
    can u pls advice me..
    Thanks!
    Ritu

    • @Ritu
      You should divide among 1. Term insurance 2. Medical insurance 3. PPF 4. ELSS Mutual Fund.
      For tax saver MFs, Good funds to invest are Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver, SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 93, Franklin India Taxshield, HDFC Tax saver, Birla Sunlife Tax relief, ICICI Pru Tax plan, Fidelity Tax Advantage

  • Hi Pankaj,

    I am planning to invest 50K as mentioned below.
    10K -> Birla SL Tax Relief 96 (G)
    10K -> Birla SL Tax Relief 96 (D)
    15K -> Can Robeco Eqty TaxSaver (G)
    15K -> HDFC Tax saver.

    Is it seems to be fine or you advice something else.
    Thanks!
    Ritu

    • @Ritu
      These are good funds, you may also consider Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver, SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 93, Franklin India Taxshield, ICICI Pru Tax plan, Fidelity Tax Advantage

  • Hi, Pankaj,
    I have to invest 40K for tax saving. Please let me know, which one is better.. ELSS vs ULIP plan. I am just concerning about return and risk factor.
    in ULIP I found Kotak dynamic floor.
    and in ELSS I think HDFC tax saver-G, or SBI magnum will be better..
    I appricite your valuable comments on this.
    Regards,
    Arun

    • @Arun
      Go for ELSS plus a term insurance (30K in ELSS and 10K in term insurance)
      for ELSS, you may invest in Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver, SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 93, Franklin India Taxshield, HDFC Tax saver, Birla Sunlife Tax relief, ICICI Pru Tax plan, Fidelity Tax Advantage.
      For Term insurance, you can get LIC Amulya Jeevan 1.

  • Hi Pankaj,
    Good day!!!

    Thanks for sharing the info on MF's. Its really a good site. I have few questions that I would like to get them clarified.

    I want to invest 40K for tax savings for 2009. It would be great if you can suggest me funds that give good returns. I am willing to go for 20K per fund.

    My sal is 40K per month and would like to go for funds that would give me good returns in which l dont want any tax saving. I just want returns. In this case I am willing to go for short term gains(short term l mean by is max of 1yr). Please suggest me on the same.

    I have invested 35K in LIC for the past 5yrs, HDFC ULIP (34K in total) which I stopped from last year. Have SBI magnium(10K) and PNB principal tax saving (10). Most of the responses that l read from you have TERM and Medical insurance. I dont have any of them. Do u suggest me to go for them too?? My age is 32.

    Looking forward for your reply.

    Regards,
    Srinivas.

    • @Srinivas,
      You can choose among Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver, SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 93, Franklin India Taxshield, HDFC Tax saver, Birla Sunlife Tax relief, ICICI Pru Tax plan and Fidelity Tax Advantage.
      For a shorter term like 1 year, I won't suggest you to invest in Equity funds as nobody knows whether markets will be up or down in next one year. Stock market/equity investments are good for longer terms (more than 4-5 years). Although some people may have earned very good income from 2005-2008 by investing in market, but there is no guarantee. So If you want sure returns in one year, stay away from equity and invest in Fixed deposits or debt funds.
      Everybody should get medical and life insurance first and insurance should not be combined with investment. Insurance is for safety and not for generating returns. So from one's saving, one must get a term insurance and then think about investment which should be in PF and Equity MFs (a mix with ratio depending on one's age).
      As you are 32, you must invest 70% in equity and 30% in debt funds and at-least get term insurance of cover 100 times to your monthly income.

      • Thanks for the reply Pankaj. In MF's is it better to go for MF's that give Dividend or the option of reinvesting the Dividend.

        • @Srinivas
          Growth/Reinvest option is better if you want to be invested for a longer period, dividend when you need you money back at regular intervals.

  • Hi Pankaj,

    Say l invest 10K in a MF, in 2009, and after one year I invest another 10K the next year and continue the same. As the locking period is 3yrs, I wanted to know if I keep on investing in the same fund will the locking period change or will it same as that it was in 2009?

    Regards,
    Srinivas.

    • @Srinivas
      No locking period does not change.
      Say you invested 10K in Feb 2006 and got X no of MF units. So in Mar 2009, you can sell X no of units as 3 years gets completed for these X units.

      • If l buy Y no of Units in 2007/2008 of the same fund will the locking period change? or will I get a new locking period of 2020/2011 for them?

          • Hi Pankaj.. Thanks for the replies and the advices.. wanted to know if its worth going for "ICICI Prudential Fixed Maturity Plan – Series 51 – 15 Months Plan E"...

  • I am 24 years and am planning to start investing in mutual funds for a 1 year period .
    i also plan to invest in SIP'S .
    Which are good mutual funds and SIP'S.
    i also heard of a fund know as principal bluechip emerging fund(g) is it good for a year ....from now..

    • @Rohan,
      You can invest in following funds:
      Sundaram BNP Paribas Taxsaver, SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 93, Franklin India Taxshield, HDFC Tax saver, Birla Sunlife Tax relief, ICICI Pru Tax plan, Fidelity Tax Advantage

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