You pay the mediclaim insurance premium of your brother's policy from your salary. And you are not sure of its tax implications. Will you be eligible for tax deduction?

Can you get HRA tax benefits by paying rent to your mother while staying in the same house? Will you bonus and ex gratia be exempt from tax?

You have the power of attorney on your friend's property. Will you have to pay income tax on the money earned by selling that property?

Tax expert Mahesh Padmanabhan answered these and other tax related queries in a chat with Get Ahead readers on March 7.

For those of you who missed the chat, here is the transcript.

Part I: Car loans and tax exemption?

123 asked, I didn't fle my return for 2003-04. Can I do it now?

Mahesh Padmanbhan answers, you would not be eligible to file returns for the Financial year 2003-04. The current eligibility would be 2004-05 till March 31, 2007 and for 2005-06 till March 31, 2008.

Jonathan asked, Does Bonus and Ex Gratia have to be added to Form 16?

Mahesh Padmanbhan answers, yes bonus and ex-gratia are part of your salary and hence have to be incorporated in Form 16

amit asked, Can i get HRA tax benefits by paying rent to my mother while staying in the same house?

Mahesh Padmanbhan answers, technically yes. But please note that you would need to actually make the rental payment to your mother, and she has to issue a receipt for the rent paid. She has to declare such income in her personal tax returns and most importantly she has to own the said house.

jasse asked, Sir, if my friends give me power of attorney of their properties and later transfer money to my account to buy or sell property, do i have to pay Income Tax on that money?

Mahesh Padmanbhan answers, in case you have purchased the house on behalf of your friend using a power of attorney, then you would be treated as the deemed owner of the house.

In case you sell that house then you would be liable to pay the capital gains tax if any.

karthis asked, If a person purchases own house at one place through loan and if he works and stays at different place, Can this person avail both HRA and Interest, loan repayment of loan in the income tax computation?

Mahesh Padmanbhan answers, yes if you are required to stay at a place away from your own house for reasons of employment, then you would be eligible to claim both the deductions on account of HRA exemption as well as interest deduction.

SaurabhVyas asked, Hello Sir, I read somewhere abt tax saving that we can give some amt of money from our salary as a gift to our parents and that amount will not come under tax deduction. So I would like to know more about it ? My father is retired, so Can i give some amt to him as a gift from my salary so that that much amt gets removed from my taxable income and gets added to my father's taxable income ? Please give some idea in this regard.

Mahesh Padmanbhan answers, you probably have got the idea wrong. in case you gift money to your father from your salary, it is not allowed as a deduction from your taxation but such transfer of funds would not attract gift tax which otherwise would have attracted gift tax.

ramesh4591 asked, Sir if 'A' husband earns Rs 12,000 per month and wife earns Rs 10,000 pm. Are they jointly liable to pay income tax?

Mahesh Padmanbhan answers, the tax liability is worked out individually and is not worked out jointly.

Jaideep asked, The Service Tax limit has been raised to Rs 8 lakh for professionals. Is this effective with retrospective effect?

Mahesh Padmanbhan answers, the service tax amendment is a proposed one and would need to be enacted by the parliament and signed by the president. The exact date of applicability would be notified through the gazette. But pls note that the proposed amendment is not retrospective in nature

jason asked, Hello Sir, I have paid medical insurance premium of my brother, (policy is in the name of my brother) then i would be eligible to get tax exemption under section 80D?

Mahesh Padmanbhan answers, yes you would get the deduction under section 80D in case your brother is financially dependent on you.

mahesh bhusari asked, my wife earns Rs 10,000 per month from own architectural consultancy as consultant. will she have to register for service tax?

Mahesh Padmanbhan answers, no she would not be liable to register for service tax under the current income mentioned by you

Padmanbhan says, Dear Viewers of rediff, thanks for the overwhelming response provided by you to this chat session. As all good things come to an end, i am constrained on time for the moment and would be happy to address all your queries directly. You could write to me at mahesh@relaxwithtax.com and/or at support@relaxwithtax.com Thank you once again for your response