A 12-Month Deduction Calendar for 80C, 80D and NPS (FY 2026-27)
A month-by-month routine for 80C, 80D and NPS under the old regime, with a worked regime comparison showing when these deductions are worth claiming at all.
Title: A 12-Month Deduction Calendar for 80C, 80D and NPS (FY 2026-27)
Updated for FY 2026-27 (AY 2027-28).
A 12-month deduction calendar for 80C, 80D and NPS (and how to know they are worth claiming at all)
Most people discover in February that their 80C is ₹40,000 short, buy something unsuitable in a hurry, and then cannot find the receipt in July when the return is being filed. The deductions are real only if three things line up: you are on the old regime, the money actually left your bank account before 31 March, and you have a document with your name on it. This is a month-by-month routine that gets all three right.
Step one: check whether these deductions buy you anything
The new regime is the default under section 115BAC, and it does not allow 80C, 80D, 80TTA, HRA or home-loan interest on a self-occupied house. It does allow the ₹75,000 standard deduction on salary and the employer's NPS contribution under 80CCD(2). So before you plan a single investment, work out which side you are on.
Take Priya, salaried, gross salary ₹18,00,000, no rent paid, living in a flat with no loan.
New regime: total income ₹18,00,000 − ₹75,000 = ₹17,25,000. Tax is nil up to ₹4,00,000; ₹20,000 on the ₹4–8 lakh slab; ₹40,000 on ₹8–12 lakh; ₹60,000 on ₹12–16 lakh; and 20% on the remaining ₹1,25,000 = ₹25,000. Total ₹1,45,000, plus 4% cess ₹5,800 = ₹1,50,800.
Old regime, with every deduction she can realistically reach: standard deduction ₹50,000, 80C ₹1,50,000, 80CCD(1B) ₹50,000, 80D ₹25,000 for self and family plus ₹50,000 for senior-citizen parents, 80TTA ₹10,000. Total income ₹18,00,000 − ₹50,000 − ₹2,85,000 = ₹14,65,000. Tax: ₹12,500 on ₹2.5–5 lakh, ₹1,00,000 on ₹5–10 lakh, and 30% on ₹4,65,000 = ₹1,39,500. Total ₹2,52,000, plus cess ₹10,080 = ₹2,62,080.
Priya is better off by ₹1,11,280 on the new regime, even after maxing out 80C, 80D and NPS. Nothing in this article applies to her except 80CCD(2).
Now take Rahul, identical salary, but paying rent with an HRA exemption of ₹3,00,000 and claiming ₹2,00,000 of home-loan interest under 24(b) on a self-occupied property elsewhere. His old-regime total income is ₹18,00,000 − ₹50,000 − ₹3,00,000 − ₹2,00,000 − ₹2,85,000 = ₹9,65,000. Tax: ₹12,500 + 20% of ₹4,65,000 = ₹93,000, so ₹1,05,500 plus cess ₹4,220 = ₹1,09,720. Rahul saves ₹41,080 by staying on the old regime, and the ₹2,85,000 of 80C/80D/NPS deductions is what makes it work.
The lesson: 80C, 80D and NPS rarely tip the balance on their own. They tip it when HRA or home-loan interest is already in the picture. Do this comparison in April, not in March.
The calendar: what to do each month
| Month | Action |
|---|---|
| April | Run the regime comparison for the new year. Tell your employer your choice. List every existing commitment — LIC premiums, PPF, ELSS SIP, tuition fees, home-loan principal — with its due date. |
| May | Collect last year's Form 16 and interest certificates. Start a folder for the current year. |
| June | 15 June: first advance tax instalment, 15% of the year's liability, for business and professional income. Compute it on post-deduction income if you are on the old regime. |
| July | 31 July: ITR due date for non-audit cases. File with last year's proofs, not from memory. |
| August | Mid-year check: add up 80C paid so far. If you are below 40%, raise the monthly SIP or PPF transfer now rather than in March. |
| September | 15 September: advance tax to 45% cumulative. Renew family health cover if the policy anniversary falls here. |
| October | Parents' health policy renewal is often autumn-dated. Pay it electronically and save the premium certificate the same day. |
| November | Ask payroll when the investment proof window opens. Assemble receipts early; December submissions get processed, January ones get rushed. |
| December | 15 December: advance tax to 75%. Submit proofs to the employer. |
| January | Check the TDS being deducted against your own computation. A mismatch here is fixable; in March it is not. |
| February | Close the gaps. Whatever is short on 80C and 80CCD(1B), fund it now by bank transfer. |
| March | 15 March: 100% of advance tax (and the single instalment date if you are under 44AD or 44ADA). Complete all payments by 31 March and download every statement before the year ends. |
80C: ₹1,50,000 is a ceiling, not a target
The ₹1,50,000 limit under 80C is shared across employee PF, PPF, ELSS, life insurance premium, five-year tax-saving deposits, principal repayment on a home loan, tuition fees for two children, and NPS contributions made by you under 80CCD(1). Add up the automatic items first.
A salaried person on a ₹18,00,000 package may already have ₹70,000-odd going into employee PF and ₹60,000 of home-loan principal. That leaves roughly ₹20,000 to find, not ₹1,50,000. Buying a ₹1,00,000 insurance policy in March because "80C needs filling" is how people end up with products they cannot exit.
The deduction attaches to the year of payment, not the year of commitment. A premium due on 28 March and paid on 2 April falls into the next financial year. Set the bank mandate for the 15th of the due month, never the last three days.
80D: the limits are per-person-group, and the payment mode matters
Under the old regime, 80D gives ₹25,000 for self, spouse and dependent children, rising to ₹50,000 where the insured person is 60 or above. On top of that comes a separate ₹25,000 for parents, or ₹50,000 if either parent is 60 or above. A 40-year-old paying for her own family and for both senior-citizen parents can therefore claim up to ₹75,000.
Two practical points. First, the deduction belongs to whoever pays, so if your brother pays half the parents' premium, split the claim accordingly and keep the bank entries to prove it. Second, the mode of payment matters for 80D — pay by bank transfer or card and keep the insurer's certificate showing the premium, the policy period and the names covered. If you are considering a cash payment or a preventive health check-up claim, check the position with your CA before you rely on it.
NPS: three sections, and only one survives the new regime
- 80CCD(1) — your own contribution, counted inside the ₹1,50,000 of 80C. It does not create extra room.
- 80CCD(1B) — an additional ₹50,000 for your own NPS contribution, over and above 80C. At the 30% slab plus 4% cess, that is ₹15,600 of tax saved. Old regime only.
- 80CCD(2) — the employer's contribution to your NPS, allowed under both the old and the new regime. This is the one that still works if you are on the default new regime.
If you are on the new regime and your employer offers a salary-restructuring option, moving a slice of your cost-to-company into an NPS employer contribution is usually the only deduction lever left. The permitted contribution is a percentage of salary, and the percentage differs between government and other employers — confirm the exact figure with your CA or payroll before restructuring.
Fund the ₹50,000 under 80CCD(1B) in two instalments, say September and February, rather than one scramble in March. The NPS transaction statement for the financial year is your proof; download it in early April for the year just ended.
If you run a business, keep personal deductions out of the books
A proprietor paying an LIC premium or an NPS contribution from the business current account has not incurred a business expense. It is drawings. Posting it to "insurance expense" overstates nothing in the tax computation if your CA catches it, but it corrupts your profit figure and your 44AD or 44ADA working.
| Account | Dr | Cr |
|---|---|---|
| Drawings — proprietor | 1,50,000 | |
| Bank — HDFC current | 1,50,000 |
A company contributing to an employee's NPS under 80CCD(2) is in a different position — that is staff cost, and it is deductible in the company's accounts.
| Account | Dr | Cr |
|---|---|---|
| Employer NPS contribution (staff cost) | 84,000 | |
| Bank — current account | 84,000 |
Keep a single running sheet per financial year with five columns: date paid, section, amount, who is covered, and where the certificate is saved. When your CA asks in July, the answer takes two minutes instead of two evenings. Reconciling the bank account monthly is what makes that sheet trustworthy — the bank reconciliation routine catches the premium that bounced and nobody noticed.
Doing this in FlipAccounts
Import the bank statement under Banking and let the categorisation rules tag recurring premiums, PPF transfers and NPS debits, so the year's total for each section builds itself. Personal payments out of a business account get posted to drawings rather than expenses, which keeps the P&L and the 44AD or 44ADA working clean. The personal tax computation screen runs the new-versus-old comparison with your actual 80C, 80D and NPS figures and produces an ITR pack you can hand over. Invoices, GST summaries and the statements pack sit in the same company file, and a CA can be added with read-only or full access under multi-company roles. Core accounting is free, with no card and no limits.
What to do this week
- Run the new-versus-old comparison on your expected income for FY 2026-27 and write down the number. If the new regime wins, stop planning 80C entirely and look only at employer NPS under 80CCD(2).
- List your existing 80C commitments — PF, home-loan principal, tuition fees, running SIPs — and work out the actual gap, if any.
- Open a folder named "FY 2026-27 deductions" and put the first certificate in it today.
Frequently asked questions
Can I switch between the old and new regime every year?
A salaried person with no business income can generally choose each year at the time of filing, and can tell the employer a different preference for TDS purposes. Taxpayers with business or professional income face restrictions on switching back. Confirm your specific position with your CA before you rely on an annual switch.
My employer rejected a proof in January. Is the deduction lost?
No. The employer's rejection only affects TDS. You can still claim a valid deduction in your return and the extra TDS comes back as a refund, provided you hold the documents. Keep them for the years your CA advises.
Does a payment on 31 March count for that year?
If the money has actually left your account and the receipt is dated on or before 31 March, yes. Transfers initiated late on 31 March that settle on 1 April do not. This is why the calendar above puts the deadline at mid-March.
I am a freelancer under 44ADA. Do these deductions still apply?
Yes, if you are on the old regime. Under 44ADA you offer 50% of receipts up to ₹75 lakh as income (where cash receipts are 5% or less), and 80C, 80D and 80CCD(1B) are then claimed from that income. Remember that presumptive taxpayers pay their full advance tax in one instalment by 15 March.
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