If you surrender the policy and opt out of the annuity scheme, the entire sum received by you from the insurance company will be treated as income.

I invested in a pension plan and paid a total premium of Rs 15 lakh between 2009 and 2013 (Rs 3 lakh per annum). The value of the accumulated corpus is Rs 27.40 lakh. The plan will mature in September 2019. If I surrender the policy and opt out of the annuity scheme, what would be my income tax liability on Rs 27.40 lakh? I fall in the 30% tax slab.

Amit Maheshwari, Partner, Ashok Maheshwary and Associates replies, "If you surrender the policy and opt out of the annuity scheme, the entire sum received by you will be treated as income and will be taxed at the applicable slab rate. At 30%, the tax will work out to be Rs 8.22 lakh. If you wait till the policy matures, you can withdraw a third of the maturity amount without any tax implication. The rest will be paid to you as annuity. Annuity will be included in your income and taxed as per the applicable slab rate."

I am a 45-year-old businessman. I received Rs 30 lakh from the sale of a property, in accordance with my father’s will. Will this be added to my income for the current year? Will I have to pay tax on this?

Rakesh Bhargava, Director, Taxmann replies," Gifts received from relatives are not taxed. The list of relatives includes parents. So, the amount received won’t be taxed in your hands. However, you father or his legal heirs may be liable to pay tax on the capital gains that may arise from the sale of this property."