Section 80C of Income Tax Act, 1961, sets out a number of options or tax-saving instruments that are eligible for tax deduction. Broadly, we can divide tax-saving avenues into two categories: first is expenditure related deductions such as tuition fees and home loan principal repayment; and second is investment instruments or options such as EPF (Employees provident fund), VPF (Voluntary provident fund), PPF (Public Provident Fund), NSC (National Savings Certificates), ULIPs (Unit-linked insurance plans), ELSS (Equity linked savings scheme), SCSS (Senior Citizens Savings Scheme), 5-Yr POTD (Post office time deposits), 5-Yr tax-saving fixed deposits (FDs) of banks, Mutual funds pension plans , NABARAD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) Rural Bonds and life insurance premium.