Equity is a form of tax-saving investment linked to savings schemes or ELSS-mutual funds. A mutual fund investment takes money from many shareholders and tries to give them a profit. This profit arises from investment in firms and prospects that generate income. The profit earned by the fund scheme is distributed among investors in the form of regular payments or a large payment at the end of the tenure of the fund. Tax-saving mutual funds like ELSS do the same, but this can exempt you from tax of up to Rs 1, 50,000 of your annual revenue in India.

The investments that produce the highest return are equity investments but are considered high-risk investments. Debt instruments also have low-risk investments, but they cannot match the elevated yields of equity investments. Mutual funds mainly differ depending on the type of asset class. On this basis,

There are three main types of ELSS mutual funds: 

• Equity-oriented funds- Investing primarily in companies’ shares and stocks.
• Debt-oriented funds– Those who mainly invest in treasury bills, certificates of deposit, bonds, etc. of companies and government.
• Hybrid funds– Investing in a combination of both. A hybrid fund can be either an equity-oriented hybrid fund or a debt-oriented hybrid fund, based on which it has invested at least 65% of its corpus.

ELSS mutual funds take cash from many investors, investing the majority of it in corporate shares and stocks and the remainder in income securities such as bonds. The fund has a 3-year lock-in for shareholders, which means a 3-year time frame for the fund manager to maximize the potential return on investment. In the recent years, the revenue of this investment has gained a lot of popularity as a way to save on taxes, as Indian taxpayers can reduce their taxable revenue to Rs 1, 50,000 under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Income earned at the end of the three years is also exempt from taxation if it’s under Rs.1 lakh, 10 percent tax on income above 1 lakh is taxable under long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax. 

Why should you invest in ELSS?

ELSS enables Indian citizens to reduce their taxable income to Rs 1, 50,000 under Section 80C. Other investment options are available that help saves under this section, but ELSS offers a minimum 3-year lock-in duty and the most substantial possible return. The funds invested in ELSS schemes are exempt from taxation, but if investment returns are higher than Rs.1 lakh, LTCG taxes them at 10 percent.

Historically, ELSS investments have returned spectacular yields compared to similar investment types. Even with experienced investors who want to add an equity element to their existing investment portfolio, it is the investment route.

What is the best time to invest in ELSS?

Investments in ELSS can be made anytime throughout the year. Mostly, however, ELSS see an increase in popularity just before the investment tax filing season, Indians struggle to reduce their tax liability in some way. Around this time, tax-saving mutual funds are becoming very common. Thus, those who invest in ELSS at the end of the financial year will undoubtedly save on taxes but have almost no opportunity to take advantage of any capital increase or receive any dividend in that fiscal year.