Confidence building Confidence is a mental attitude that is characterized by assertiveness and optimism about oneself. Our general belief about ourselves has a powerful impact on our self-confidence. People who are self confident are those who acknowledge their capacity and potential to do something. They have the guts to do it no matter what others may say. People who are self-confident take advantage of the opportunities that comes their way and become more successful than their counterparts. Natural enemy of self-confidence Fear is man's enemy that hinders self-confidence. Fear of one’s self is often demonstrated in several ways-shyness, diffidence, bashfulness and timidity.
Some factors that contribute to one’s fear:
Fear increases when we feel separated from the people and surroundings we are familiar with. The insecurity feelings of losing the individuals you love and material things that you own. Being in new surroundings and unfamiliar people brings about fear. Negative memory of past experiences aggravates fear. The thought of losing and being a failure also cause one to fear. How confident are you? Your level of confidence can be shown in many ways. Some of the common behaviors which are associated with self-confidence are: Having faith in yourself. Doing things what you believe in and not bothered about what other people would think. Willing to take risk and not hesitant of handling new situations. Admitting your mistakes and be willing to learn from them. Accepting compliments warmly from others. Believe in living life to the fullest. Feels good about yourself.
Signs of low self-confidence You are running on low self-confidence if:
Do not believe in your ability and have self-doubts. Governing your behavior based on what others would think. Dismissing compliments off-handedly. Avoid taking risks due to the fear of failure. Being sceptical about yourself. Often feel guilty, angry and resentful. Building self-confidence While the process of attaining self-confidence starts from childhood, you can boost your confidence level through determination if you are committed and keen on being confident.
Identify your achievements: Everyone is good at something or the other. Identify your strengths—list out the things you are good at doing and those things that come easily to you. Discover what you have achieved so far. Take pride of the things at which you have excelled. Set goals and achieve them: Think of what you want in life and set goals that exploit your strengths. Identify the skills you need to achieve your goal. Devise a stepwise plan that leads to your goal. Make sure that you start with a small step in which you can complete it in a short time. Get in the habit of achieving the small steps and celebrating them. It will help you to believe in yourself and your ability and makes you more confident. Take risks: Be willing to take risk and take up new challenges as opportunities to learn. Do not get worried about winning or winning. Think positive: The way you think can affect all aspects of your life. Positive thinking is a mental attitude that anticipates happiness, success and favorable outcomes of every situation and action you do. If your mind is filled with negative thoughts, try to replace it with positive thoughts. Positive thinking brings inner peace, happiness and a sense of well being. So take control of your mind and be optimistic. Learn to calm yourself: Try to face every situation calmly. Take time to relax, meditate and other activities like listening to music, going for a walk that makes you feel better. Fake it: Pretend that you are confident even if you do not feel so. Acting confident might actually make you believe it and you will be surprised how nice this makes you feel. Good posture: The way you carry yourself creates a lasting impression on your confidence. Slumping shoulders display lack of self-confidence. Always held your head high, walk straight and make eye contact while talking to people. And, smile often!

How to claim HRA and home loan benefits

In Understanding HRA, we explained the basics of House Rent Allowance.

In Repaying home loan? and Paying interest on home loan?, we spoke about the tax benefits on a home loan. A person repaying a home loan gets tax benefits on principal repayment (Section 80C) and benefits on interest payment (Section 24).

Over here, we address all three issues.

If you are servicing a home loan, do you get the HRA benefit or not? That depends on the situation you are in. Let's look at the various scenarios.

In the examples below, we are assuming you own only one home.

Home in another city

Your house is in one city but you reside in another. Let's say you have taken a home loan to buy a house in Goa [ Images ]. But you work and, hence, reside in Delhi [ Images ].

What you will be entitled to

- Tax benefit on principal repayment under Section 80C
- Tax benefit on interest payment under Section 24
- HRA benefit

Living in your home

You have taken a home loan and are now living in the home you have bought with the help of the loan. So, the home loan is for a home in the same city. For instance, you have taken a home loan to buy a home in Delhi and you reside in Delhi and live in this home.

What you will be entitled to

- Tax benefit on principal repayment under Section 80C
- Tax benefit on interest payment under Section 24

You will not be entitled to HRA, since you are not residing in a rented accommodation.

Home not ready

Let's say you are residing on one city and have taken a loan to buy a home in the same city. But the home is not ready, forcing you to rent a place. For instance, you have taken the loan to buy a place in Delhi but you are staying in a rented accommodation in Delhi itself because your home is not ready for occupation.

What you will be entitled to

- Tax benefit on principal repayment under Section 80C
- Tax benefit on interest payment under Section 24
- HRA benefit

You can claim tax benefits on the housing loan only if your home is ready to live in during that financial year. Once the construction on your home is complete, the HRA benefit stops.

Home not suitable

You took a home loan and have got the home. But you are not staying in it for genuine reasons.

It could be that the home is at a considerable distance from your work place. Or, it could be that the home is rather small and your parents are living in it so you have to stay elsewhere.

Though your rental accommodation and home are in the same city, you can still get all the benefits.

What you will be entitled to

- Tax benefit on principal repayment under Section 80C
- Tax benefit on interest payment under Section 24
- HRA benefit

However, it is necessary you have some of your belongings at your home (the one you own) and you stay there on and off on weekends and holidays.

Despite this, if your employer does not agree and denies your tax benefits, you will have to claim it at the time of filing your tax returns.

House on rent

You took a home loan, got possession of the house and have rented it out for a neat amount. You continue to stay in a rented accommodation.

What you will be entitled to

- Tax benefit on principal repayment under Section 80C
- Tax benefit on interest payment under Section 24
- HRA benefit

However, please note the rent you receive would be considered as your taxable income.

Apart from the above tax benefits, you can also claim a deduction on property taxes and repairs and maintenance on the home you have rented out. Deduction of repairs and maintenance is claimed @ 30% of (Rent received – Property taxes). This is a flat deduction and you don't need to submit any bills for the same. The ceiling of Rs 150,000 on interest deduction is not applicable.

In short, HRA and home loan benefits are independent. If you satisfies the respective conditions, you can claim both.

ADROIT is a Pune-based firm that specialises in providing domestic and international tax services to salaried individuals and professionals. They can be reached at tax@adroitservices.in.