To boost women empowerment several states in India offer additional benefits to a women property buyer. Previously in India, it was unusual for women to make any financial decisions, as the financial decision-making power remained with the men in the family. Times have changed now and so have the social and economic status of women in our society. Women are now financially independent and they can now make their own choices when it comes to buying a house. Real estate sector is the one sector where women still have to come on par with men.
Hence, to change this and increase the women’s involvement in creating assets for themselves, the government is offering additional benefits to the women home buyers.
Let’s know the home loan benefits offered to women in India
Lower interest rate: A right home loan can prove to be cost-effective where a wrong one opted can drain your finances.
While hunting for a lower interest rate home loan product, you can’t skip the fact that Indian women get a concession on the rate of interest when taking a home loan. The concession ranges anywhere between 0.05% and 0.1%. You may think that this is not a huge concession and why should you go for it, but when you do the calculation this small difference for the entire tenure can make a remarkable difference. This is because a home loan is a long tenure loan that stretches anywhere from 15 to 30 years.
For example- SBI home loan interest for women is – 8.7% -9.25 whereas for others SBI home loan interest rate is- 8.20% – 9.35%.
Reduced stamp duty: Stamp duty is another factor that adds to the cost of the property. It is the tax that the state government imposes on the sale or transfer of property. To encourage women empowerment and to increase women owned property, different states are offering reduced stamp duty charges on the property which are on women’s names. The concession offered is from 1% to 2% which varies from state to state. This again makes for considerable savings. For example, for a house worth ₹ 1 crore, the saving can be up to ₹ 1 lakh to ₹ 2 lakhs.
Jharkhand is top on the state’s list as the stamp duty charge here is 7% for men and only ₹ 1 for women.
Where other states offer the standard reduction.
Tax Benefits
The tax benefits of buying a home in the woman’s name include a deduction of ₹ 1.5 lakh on the principal amount and ₹ 2 lakh on interest repayment every financial year for the self-occupied house.
In the case where the house is jointly owned, both husband and wife can claim tax deductions individually under the income tax act. Here the tax benefit will also depend on the ownership share of the property as the ones who are co-owners and co-borrowers both can avail the maximum benefits.
It’s a good idea to buy a home in the name of one’s wife or make them the co-owner of the property. However, the tax benefits offered to women home loan buyers can only be availed if she has a separate source of income. Moreover, applying for a joint home loan brings more benefits to you and increases your eligibility.
