ULIPs remain popular despite tax tweak, on par with equity mutual funds

Industry players say awareness of products rose after Budget

Demand for unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs) whose annual premium exceeds Rs 2.5 lakh appears not to have slowed even though the government did away with tax exemption for such products under Section 10(10)D of the Income Tax (I-T) Act. In fact, it has picked up in the past few months and most insurers expect this trend to continue.

In this year’s Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sith­araman announced that ULIPs whose annual premium exce­eds Rs 2.5 lakh will be taxed at maturity at the long-term capital gains tax rates. With this, the tax treatment of high-value ULIPs will be on par