To answer these and various other money and invetsment related queries, financial planning expert Mahesh Padmanabhan, hosted a chat with GA readers on March 4.

For those of you who missed the chat, here's the unedited transcript:

kps asked, please inform deduction under 80DDB (Mother Cancer patient) upto 40,000 is expemted. my mother has retired from government service. she may get approx. from department 1.5 lac as reimbursement out of the 2.5 lac spent in last 2 months. my father and mother both are not waorking now. please confirm can i get 40,000/- exemption out the money i spent in cash. also confirm required document other then Form No. 10-I.

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers,  at 2009-03-04 14:02:28Hi, in case your mother is dependant on you, then you can claim deduction u/s 80DDB to the extent of Rs. 40,000 (60,000 in case your mother's age is 65 years or above) or the actual expense incurred whichever is lower. In case she is not dependant on you then she can claim the deduction. However, the proof of such expense would need to be retained.

AMIT asked, HOW DO I GET TAX BENIFIT IF THE INCOME IS OVER 2LC

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, Hi, you can invest upto Rs. 1 Lakh u/s 80C investments such as life insurance, PPF, ELSS etc and reduce your tax outgo to that extent

Ashok asked, without taking a homeloan what are the good investment options for decent returns in a longrun

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, In case you are not a risk averse person, then you can invest in ELSS mutual funds that would generate decent returns in the long run.

pankaj asked, Hello, What are the ways by which can save my TAX other than 1 Lac?

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, Investing in a home with borrowed money, taking out health insurance policies on your & family's health, making donation to good cause are few basic ways to save tax outside the scope of section 80C investments

Srinivasan asked, I bought a house this year jointly with my wife after selling off my mutual funds by absorbing short term losses (withdrawn 1 week before 1 year). My father gave sale proceeds from selling our home in our village. In fact, I got the cheque in my name from the buyer. What would be the tax implications for me?

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, The capital gains would be taxable in the hands of your father regardless of the money being received by you. the two option you have here is that, you treat this amount as a loan received from your father OR treat it as a gift from your father. In case of treating this as gift then create a gift deed and keep the same on record.

paul asked, I want to build a corpus of 10 million for retirement. If an investing 5000 pm in HDFC [Get Quote] LT advantage for the past 1 year. If I continue this for the next 30 years, can I achieve my retirement goals. Please advice

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, if we assume that the investment returns a yield of 10% compounded basis, then after 30 years you would end with approx Rs. 1.13 crores. 9% yield would generate something like Rs. 92 Lakhs

Nikhil asked, Can a person claim Rs.20000/- extra mediclaim benefits u/s 80D even if his parents are filing their eturn of income separately?

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, the deduction is allowed in case your parents are dependant on you

Maniventhan asked, Which is the best way to invest mutual funds, shares,Insurance etc?

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, if you are a beginner then start with mutual funds and then slowly graduate to fundamentally good stocks. However, insurance is something different. Look at insurance from the perspective of risk mitigating tool instead of as an investment option. Cheap insurance such as term insurance are available to cover your life risk cover

Mukund asked, i want to pay tax this year,this is first time.so what is the prosedure.

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, your question is unclear. do you mean to say that you want to file your income tax returns for this year. If yes you could either file the returns online or through a tax consultant

sanju asked, When and how one can liquidate Investments in tax saving mutual funds done through SIP??

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, the lock in period of elss mf is 3 years and you can sell after holding the same for a minimum period of 3 years without any capital gains impact

nm1 asked, Hi, Is the educational allowance/reimbursement (upto 1000 per month per child) taxable which is introduced in the 6pc ? If I claim this reimbursement, shall I need to pay tax? Pl. answer

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, educational allowance is exempt from tax to the extent of Rs. 100 per month per child for maximum 2 children. Any other amount that you get would either be taxable as salary or perquisite

sangamesh asked, I draw a salary of Rs.58,000/- pm and stay in my brothers house in bhopal. I am not paid HRA by my employer. I pay a rent of Rs.8,000/-pm to my mother as my wife and children stay in Hubli(Karnataka). Can I claim exemption of Rs.2,000/- pm under 80 GG?

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, as the rent is not being paid for your accomodation at the place of your employment, you would not be eligible to avail of the said deduction

praful asked, Praful Says, I had taken housing loan, and in housing loan there are two name my and my wife ,she is housewife and I am paying EMI.Can I clain full amount for Interest & principal?

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, in case you are using the house for self occupation, you can claim deduction of interest upto Rs. 1.5 Lakhs and principal deduction of upto Rs. 1 Lakh within the ceiling limit of section 80C

Murali asked, IS it a right time for invest in MF, If yes let me know three equity funds for a term of 5 years and reason for chosing those. Thnx.

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, you can wait for a couple of months before you start investing in mutual funds. Alternatively, in case you are using the SIP route then you can start investing with a long term time horizon

karan asked, Sir, I have taken interest free loan of Rs. 45000/- from my employer during F.Y. 2008-09. O/s balance as on 31.03.09 would be Rs. 21000/-. This a taxable perquisite for F.Y. 2008-09? Will it be taxable for F.Y. 2009-10 or could I save tax on it by reducing it to Rs. 20000/- or less than Rs. 20000/-.

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, interest free loan is a taxable perquisite. The current rate of interest defined is 15.5% and the interest is worked out on the outstanding balance as on the last day of the month. Accordingly, whenever you make the repayment, the perquisite valuation working for that month would undergo a change

Rajesh asked, I am salaried person. The house where I stay is in joint name (Me and my mother being the co-owners). My Mothers share was being arranged by sale of our old home and my share by taking a loan. I claim deduction under section 80C (Principal) and Sec 24 for interest on the loan i took. Now, since I am only 50% owner, can i also claim HRA since rest 50% belongs to my mother and can i pay rent to her? Please help.

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, The point to be noted here is that you already own a house and accordingly you would not be eligible to avail of rental deduction from your salary.

rasika asked, Hi Mahesh, I live in joint family (I, wife, Father, Mother and daughter). I am bearing all expenses. Except Medicals, is there also way so that I will get tax benefit? If yes, how to get it?

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, you can claim deduction for the health insurance premium paid on the health of your dependant family. Apart from this there would not be any related deduction available to you

eurit asked, Sir,I m a self employed professional(Doctor).As a self employed professional what kind of Income tax benefits can I claim and how? I have assets like a home(loans are paid). medical equipment, a car etc etc.

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, as you are a professional, you would be needed to maintain proper books of accounts detailing all profession related expenses. the related expenses including depreciation on medical equipments, car would also be available against the income earned by you. You would need to consult a tax practitioner to guide you through this process

sanyal asked, Dear Sir, Does any term policy will give tax benefit. Sanyal

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, life insurance policies have a term policy option, which does not return back any money at the end of the term but provides life insurance coverage at very cheap price and tax benefit u/s 80C

Mukesh asked, Sir, I am working as a Accountant & getting 7500.00 per Month , I want to Safe investment Suggest Me..

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, PPF is a good saving option that generates tax free guaranteed returns of 8%

sms asked, What will happen If I didn't claim the Telephone Reimbursement? Will it come to Taxable Income & Tax deducted at My tax slab or any Fixed deduction applicable?

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, in case you do not provide proof of such telephone expenses, then the same would be taxable as salary and charged at the applicable slab rate

gkm asked, I have a TRICARE policy (premium 5000)which covers accidental, life and health. Can the entire amount be claimed for tax deduction. If yes under which sections?

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, the premium paid for health coverage would be available as deduction u/s 80D and the premium paid for life coverage including accidental death is available as deduction u/s 80C

SACHINM asked, HI, i pay mediclaim for my parents who are dependent on me... cn i claim that

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, yes you can

saagar asked, Hi what is the maximum amount to invest in mutual fund to get tax benefits?

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, mutual fund eligible for tax investments (ELSS mutual funds) are covered under section 80C and accordingly the ceiling limit of section 80C of Rs. 1 Lakh is applicable

Rajatgarg asked, i am working as consultant and company is deducting TDS of 10.3%. How my tax will be calculated? Which ITR Form i need to fill?

Mahesh Padmanabhan answers, the income & expenditure account would need to be prepared to identify the gross income and related business expenses and accordingly define the taxable income. You would need to use ITR 4 format to file your tax returns

Mahesh Padmanabhan says, Times up friends, thank you for participating in this chat session, we would be back with more later. Have a good day. Team RelaxwithTax

Mahesh Padmanabhan is principal advisor -- direct taxes group, RelaxWithTax (http://www.relaxwithtax.com) Consultants Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based personal taxation and finance solutions provider.