I have taken education loans of ₹40 lakh for my daughter and ₹30 lakh for my son for their higher studies in a foreign university. The EMI of this loan is being recovered regularly from my bank account. However, the EMI amounts are regularly transferred to my account by my daughter and son from their foreign accounts to enable me to pay the EMI.
Following are my queries: Am I required to show the amounts being transferred to my account by my son and daughter every month for paying the EMI as my income in my IT statement? Will it form part of my taxable income?
We understand that the EMI paid by you for the education loan of your son and daughter is for the purpose of administrative convenience. The actual source of income for the loan repayment is from their respective sources of income. Thus, transfer of funds to you to repay the loan would not be considered as income earned by you and hence would not form part of your taxable income.
Further, you would not be eligible to claim tax deduction in respect of interest on loan taken for higher education as the same is not from your source of income.
Who is the authority to be approached in case of grievances related to tax refunds? Is there an ombudsman?
Surendra Shah
In case of grievances relating to income tax refunds, you could initially approach your jurisdictional tax officer, understand the reason for the delay and submit a request letter for issuing the delayed refund.
If you don’t receive the refund, you could take it up with the immediate higher authority and further with the concerned commissioner of income tax.
Despite these measures, if you still do not receive the refund, as an alternative, you can contact the offices of the ombudsman — a parallel authority to solve grievances against the income tax department — located in select cities across India.
A letter is to be submitted along with all the relevant income proofs/documents supporting the claim.
Further, a copy of the requests filed with the jurisdictional tax officer/commissioner must also be enclosed in support of the efforts made to obtain the refund.
Based on the documents provided and the prevailing tax laws, the ombudsman can pass a decision called an award, which has to be abided by the income tax authorities.
The writer is Partner, Deloitte, Haskins and Sells LLP. Send your queries to taxtalk@thehindu.co.in