5 Tax Saving Tips for Small Business Owners in India

5 Tax Saving Tips for Small Business Owners in India

For running your own business in India you require a string of statutory compliances and remember to pay the attached fees and taxes. Even after the implementation of GST last year, the Indian taxation system remains complex as ever and your business ends up paying a significant amount in taxes to the government.

Today, we are sharing 5 tax saving tips for Indian business owners, including best practices to help you earn more from your business venture.

Claiming benefits on a housing loan

If you have an active home loan, you can claim its interest to be a deduction from house property and claim the principal as deduction under Section 80C (limited to a maximum of Rs. 150,000). This will effectively reduce your overall taxable income by reducing your ‘income from house property’ in ITR.

Electronic payment of municipal taxes You can also claim the taxes paid to your Municipal Corporation or municipality as deductions under income from house property. You simply need to keep a record of the payments and copy of receipts.

Electronic payment of municipal taxes ensures that

your bank account have the necessary proof in case you damage or lose the receipts.

Switch to smart and efficient accounting Since most small businesses in India are labour intensive enterprises, they are used to pay wages in cash. Sometimes, as much as 40% of a small business’s manufacturing expenses may be going into direct and indirect wages. If your business fails to keep track of these expenses, then your profit margins increase because of unrecorded entries in your expenses account and you are liable to pay more taxes. So if you have been neglecting bookkeeping for a while now, it is time to take a closer look at the state of affairs in your accounts

department. You can also take help of a free accounting software to make matters easier.

Claiming Additional Depreciation The Income Tax Act allows a claim of additional 20% depreciation on new machinery installed during the year. The provision meant for the benefit of certain notified industries under the Section 35AD and it is only applicable for the first year of a new machine or equipment’s operation. By claiming the additional depreciation @20% you can claim save that amount as expenses incurred.

Deducting TDS

There are certain transactions which require you to deduct the tax at source, such as payments made as commission to your business agent or a freelance employee. If you fail to deduct the TDS the whole amount becomes inadmissible for claiming tax rebates. So make sure that you keep track of all such transactions and deduct tax @10% for them.

So these are some tips / best business practices which will allow you to save more by reducing your tax burden. In case you have been a little less prudent with accounts management in the past, it is never too late to adopt these practices. In the meanwhile, you can also apply for short term business loans to get out of current financial troubles and start your business’s recovery. To know more about fast business loans, click here.