New Delhi, March 4 -- If you are a retail investor and intend to claim income tax benefits via investments -- there are multiple options to do so. Although you can invest in small savings schemes to claim tax deduction upto Rs.1.5 lakh under section 80C. Besides this, you can claim tax benefits by investing in equity schemes and bonds as well.

Investors can claim income tax benefits via investing in equity as well as debt. In equity, one can opt for equity linked savings scheme (ELSS). And in terms of bonds, investors can opt for tax deduction under section 54EC (capital gain bonds).

I. ELSS (Equity linked savings scheme): It is an investment option which has a total lock-in period of three years. The income tax deduction is permitted u...