There are three types of life insurance payouts: Claims, maturity payouts and bonus payouts.
Claim payouts, often called the death benefit, are paid out after the demise of the insured. These payouts are usually exempt from income tax. However, the total sum assured should be at least 10 times that of the annual premium. Otherwise, a TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) of 1% will be levied.
Maturity and bonus payouts can also be exempt from any income tax if it follows the below terms:
- For policies issued before 1st April 2012: The premium paid on the policy is less than 20% of the sum assured
- For policies issued after 1st April 2012: The premium paid on the policy is less than 10% of the sum assured
You can read the details of the exemptions under Section 10(10D)** of the Income Tax Act.