8 Best ELSS Tax Saving Mutual Funds to Invest in 2023-2024

This allows your money to grow in the equity route and you can also get tax benefits till Rs.1,50,000 and this can help you in many ways. Apart from that, you will also notice that this scheme has a short term investment provision unlike the other tax saving options available in the debt market. This is by far the simplest way to save taxes as you need not worry about complex calculations while investing your money in the equity market.

How ELSS is different from other investment options?

• Unlike the regular investment options in equity markets that attract long term capital gains tax, you will be able to get lot of relief by investing in ELSS funds.
• In this scheme, you can get tax exemption up to Rs.1.5 lakhs and this can save you lots of money in the long run.
• The lock in period for such schemes is around 3 years which is very less when compared to the PPF and other savings scheme offered in the market.
• Even though the risk profile of this scheme is slightly higher when compared to traditional debt market investments, you will be able to enjoy higher returns in future depending on market conditions. You will be able to get better returns if you stay invested for a longer duration in such schemes.
• Both the dividend along with the long term capital gains out of such investment is eligible for tax exemption and this can save you lots of money.
• The minimum investment required to be part of such scheme is Rs.500 and there is no cap on the maximum amount you can invest in this fund. This is a good option for people having lump sum money as they will be able to get maximum returns in a safe manner from the market. On the other hand, for people having regular income, they can choose the SIP route and be part of this scheme so that they can save money regularly and enjoy huge benefits at a later stage in life.
• The returns you can get from this scheme directly depends on the overall market conditions and the performance of the fund during the investment tenure.

Is ELSS suitable for me?

• You can invest in these funds and get excellent benefits whether you are a salaried individual or a businessman.
• Even senior citizens can take advantage of such funds and get to make money in the equity market and also save tax at the same time.
• As the funds get locked in for a duration of 3 years, you will be able to save money for specific events in your life and plan your investment in the proper manner.
• The biggest advantage of such funds is that it does not have any ceiling for maximum investment and this is a suitable option for retired people as they can invest lump sum money from retirement fund into this scheme.
• This will help them to get better returns in the long run when compared to traditional methods of savings.
• Even salaried individuals who want to save money on a regular basis can choose such options as this can be done through the SIP route and you can invest some part of your monthly savings into this scheme.
• In this manner, you will be able to get good returns from equity funds and also get to save money in a systematic manner. You will also be eligible for income tax deduction as per section 80 and this is a good advantage for common investors.

How to pick the best mutual funds in the market?

• To begin with, you need to understand that investing in equity market can be a risky affair when you do not have complete knowledge about the working of the financial market.
• Apart from that, you need to track the movement of the markets closely and see to it that you are invested in the best stocks that can give good returns in the long run.
• This can become a huge burden for the common investor and they will not be able to handle such complex calculations of the market volatility.
• For this reason, it always makes sense to invest in mutual funds as they are managed by professionals in the market. This is a good way to invest your money and you can choose such funds that will also provide tax benefits in future.
• In usual cases, the funds that offer tax benefits and take part in the equity market will have a lock-in period for nearly 3 years. This means that you will not be able to exit your investment during this period and you should think about this as a medium term investment scheme.
• The ELSS schemes allow you to get tax benefits and you will be able to get additional benefits in this manner.
• You can go through some of the top ELSS mutual funds given in this article and track their performance for the last few years. This should give you some idea about how much returns you can expect from these schemes.
• Apart from that, you can also get in touch with your financial advisor and get to know the complete details about such funds in the market.
• When you have decided to invest your money in such schemes, you need not invest all the money in one single scheme. The better option is to split your investment among different funds so that you will be able to distribute the risk among different funds.
• In this way, even if one fund fails to give you the expected returns, you will be able to get better returns from another fund in the market.

Top ELSS Mutual funds for your investment

These are some of the top performing ELSS funds available in the market and you can easily choose anyone of them based on your individual needs. It is also possible to split your investment among multiple funds so that you can get to diversify the risk and this will give you better returns in the long run.

Axis Long Term Equity Fund

• This is one of the top most ELSS funds available in the market and it has huge assets of more than 15000 crores under its management. This should give you some idea about the confidence people have in this fund over the years.
• The fund also has good rating from reputed agencies and you can easily rely on the performance of the fund based on its previous record.
• In the last 5 years, the fund has delivered a returns of more than 23% and this is very good when compared to the overall performance of the market.
• The one year performance of the fund is close to 45% and this speaks volumes about the performance of the fund.
• You can work out the calculation yourself and check how much you could have earned if you had invested in this fund in the last few years.

Reliance Tax Saver Fund

• The company is well known for its high quality funds and you can easily choose this ELSS fund from Reliance as it is delivering good returns in recent years.
• The company manages over Rs 10000 crores of assets and you can trust the fund due to this factor. It is very popular among the market participants due to its high quality performance.
• It has a good track record and has given more than 23% returns over the last five years period.
• When it comes to the previous year performance, it has given close to 39% which is excellent considering the market performance in this period.

Aditya Birla SL Tax Relief 96

• This company has been delivering consistent performance over the last few years and it is very popular among small and medium sized investors.
• It has a good rating from several agencies and it manages assets worth more than 4000 crores in the market.
• In the last five years, it has delivered excellent returns that comes close to 22% and this is very good when you consider the overall conditions of the market.
• In the last one year, this fund has given nearly 46% returns and this is phenomenal when compared to other investment options available in the market.

DSP BR Tax Saver Fund

• This company has one of the best investment funds and you can expect good returns from them in future considering their previous track record.
• The company is very big and it manages assets worth more than 3500 crores that shows how much confidence participants have in this fund.
• It has delivered close to 22% returns in the last five years and the last year returns come close to 38% which is excellent when compared to market average performance.

Franklin India Tax Shield Fund

• The assets under management for this fund is close to 3400 crores and you should ideally choose such companies when you want to invest in tax saving equity instruments.
• The overall performance of the fund in the last five years is close to 19% and you will not get such returns with conventional investment options in the market.
• In the last one year alone, the company has delivered nearly 31% returns and this is very good when compared to other funds.

Tata Tax Savings Fund

• The fund handles assets of close to 1000 crores and it is trusted by many investors for its consistent performance in the past few years.
• The overall returns in the last five years for this fund is close to 22% and the last one year returns stand close to 47% which is very good in terms of market performance.
• The fund also has very good rating from reputed agencies and it is considered a good investment fund that can give you excellent returns in the long run.

IDFC Tax Advantage ELSS Fund

• This fund is a good option when you want to save tax and earn good returns from the equity market. With more than 800 crores of assets under management, the company has delivered good returns in the past few years.
• The last five years performance of the fund has been very good with nearly 22% returns.
• In the same way, the past one year performance of the fund has been solid with more than 55% returns.

ICICI Pru Long Term Equity Fund

• The fund has been in existence since 1999 and it has given very good returns in the last decade.
• You can expect good returns for your investment in future when you consider the fact that it has given close to 14% returns in the last five years.
• When it comes to the performance in the last one year, it has given nearly 30% returns which is a decent performance for a fund of its size.

While investing in tax saving equity funds, your only concern should not be about saving taxes and you should also give importance to earning good returns in future. For this reason, you should always consider the previous track record of the fund and select them based on this factor. Apart from that, you can also consider the rating given by several agencies for these funds and pick your favorite among them. It also makes sense to get in touch with your financial advisor as they will guide you to pick the best funds that can meet your individual needs. In this manner, you will get double benefits of saving taxes and getting excellent returns from the equity markets by choosing ELSS funds.

Helpful Resources: Tax Calculator