Almost nobody's financial plan has a line for giving, and almost every household does it — a sibling's fees, a domestic worker's medical bill, a temple, a cause, envelopes at every wedding. Because it is unplanned it arrives as a series of individually unrefusable requests, and it is one of the few large expenses people feel guilty about in both directions.
A house where the door has no latch is not generous; it is simply open. Whoever knocks gets in, and whether the family can afford it depends on who happened to knock that month. Fitting a latch does not mean turning people away — it means deciding rather than being decided for.
An unbudgeted giving policy works the same way. Without a decided amount, every request is judged individually under emotional pressure, and the total is discovered afterwards.
Deciding the number in advance
- 1Set an annual amount
A percentage of income, or a rupee figure. Whatever is genuinely affordable. Most people find naming it is the hard part and living within it is easy.
- 2Split it into planned and responsive
Perhaps two-thirds to things you have chosen — a cause, a scholarship, ongoing family support — and one-third for what arrives unannounced. The second bucket is what stops an unexpected request breaking the plan.
- 3Fund it monthly, like everything else
Move it to a separate account with the sinking fund. When someone asks, you already know whether the money exists, which is a very different conversation from calculating under pressure.
- 4Say the number, not the reason
"I can do ₹15,000" is complete and needs no justification. Explaining why you cannot do more invites negotiation about the reasons, which is a conversation nobody wins.
Family, which is the harder half
In most Indian households the largest giving is not to charity. It is to family — parents, siblings, cousins, a relative starting something. It is frequently unavoidable, genuinely right, and the source of more long-term resentment than any other financial arrangement.
- A stated monthly amount, treated as a fixed expense
- A specific purpose with an endpoint — "fees until the course finishes"
- A gift called a gift, with no expectation of return
- Both parties know the amount and the duration
- Reviewed once a year, deliberately
- Ad-hoc transfers whenever asked, of varying size
- A "loan" everyone privately knows is a gift
- Support that grows without anyone deciding it should
- One sibling carrying it while others do not, undiscussed
- Resentment accumulating on both sides for years
The practical bits
- Section 80G allows a deduction for donations to eligible institutions — 50% or 100% depending on the organisation, some with a qualifying limit. It applies only under the old tax regime. Get a receipt with the registration number.
- Gifts to specified relatives are not taxable in the recipient's hands under Indian law — parents, children, siblings, spouse. Gifts to non-relatives above ₹50,000 in a year are taxable for the receiver.
- Larger transfers should be traceable. A bank transfer with a note beats cash, particularly for anything that might later need explaining to the tax department.
- Verify before giving to an organisation. Registration under 12A and 80G, published accounts, and what share of receipts actually reaches the programme. Indian charity regulation is real but uneven.
- Recurring beats one-off, for a cause. A small monthly amount is worth more to an organisation trying to plan than a larger irregular gift, for the same reason a salary is worth more to you than a bonus.
A cousin asks for ₹2 lakh for a business, framed as a loan. You can afford it but doubt it will be repaid. What is the least damaging approach?
Jis ghar ke darwaze pe kundi nahi, woh udaar nahi hai — bas khula hai. Jo khatkhataye woh andar. Saal ka ek amount pehle se tay kar lo, aur poochhne pe number bolo, wajah nahi — wajah batao toh mol-bhaav shuru ho jaata hai. Aur jo wapas nahi maangoge, usko udhaar mat kaho, tohfa kaho.
- Decide an annual giving amount in advance, split into planned and responsive.
- Say the number, not the reason — reasons invite negotiation.
- If you would not chase repayment, call it a gift and say so.
- 80G relief applies only under the old regime; gifts to specified relatives are untaxed.
- Supporting parents and festival giving are certainties — budget them, do not absorb them.
Mark it done to track your progress through the curriculum.
Common questions
Short, direct answers to what people ask about this topic.
- section 80g deduction limit
- Section 80G allows either 50% or 100% of a donation as a deduction depending on which institution received it, and for many categories the donation that qualifies is capped at 10% of adjusted gross total income. Cash donations above ₹2,000 do not qualify at all, so anything larger must go by bank transfer, cheque or digital payment. Keep the receipt carrying the institution’s 80G registration number.
- is 80g available in the new tax regime
- No. The deduction for donations under Section 80G is one of the reliefs the new tax regime does not permit, so it can only be claimed by a taxpayer who opts for the old regime. Because the new regime is now the default, many people get no tax relief on a donation at all unless they deliberately choose the old regime and their total deductions there make that worthwhile.
- is money received from my brother taxable in india
- No — gifts from specified relatives, a category that includes siblings, parents, spouse and lineal ascendants and descendants, are exempt in the recipient’s hands with no upper limit. Gifts from anyone outside that list are taxable for the receiver once the total received from non-relatives crosses ₹50,000 in a financial year, and at that point the whole amount is taxable, not merely the part above ₹50,000.
- money set aside every month for an expense that is expected but irregular is called a
- A sinking fund. It is the same mechanism used for an annual insurance premium or a future car replacement, applied here to giving: a fixed monthly transfer into a separate account so that when a request arrives you already know whether the money exists. That is a very different conversation from working out affordability under emotional pressure in the moment.
- how to say no when a relative asks for money
- Say the number rather than the reason — “I can do ₹15,000” is a complete answer and requires no justification. Explaining why you cannot do more converts it into a negotiation about your reasons, which is a conversation nobody wins. Deciding an annual giving amount in advance, split between planned support and unannounced requests, is what makes the number answerable calmly.