If you are repaying an education loan, Section 80E of the Income Tax Act 1961 lets you deduct every rupee of interest you pay, with no upper limit, for up to eight years, but only if you file under the old tax regime. Many borrowers miss this benefit or wrongly try to claim the principal. This guide explains exactly who qualifies, what is deductible, and how to claim it in your ITR.
Quick answer: Section 80E allows an individual to deduct the full interest paid on a loan taken for higher education of self, spouse, children, or a student for whom they are legal guardian. There is no monetary cap. The deduction runs for a maximum of 8 consecutive assessment years and is available only under the old tax regime, not the default new regime.
Section 80E is an income-tax deduction for the interest paid on a loan taken to fund higher education. Only the interest component qualifies, not the principal repayment. There is no upper rupee limit, and the loan must come from a bank, a notified financial institution, or an approved charitable institution.
The deduction sits in Section 80E of the Income Tax Act 1961, administered by the Income Tax Department under the Ministry of Finance. The statutory language is precise on every point below.
A point many taxpayers get wrong in 2026: the deduction is available only under the old tax regime. Under the default new tax regime in Section 115BAC, Section 80E is not allowed. To claim it you must opt for the old regime when filing.
Worked example
Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak takes an education loan of 20 lakh from a public sector bank for his daughter's engineering degree. He starts repaying in the financial year 2025-26, paying 1.4 lakh as interest that year.
Under Section 80E he can deduct the full 1.4 lakh interest from his taxable income, with no upper limit, provided he files under the old tax regime. There is no relief for the principal he repays.
He can keep claiming the interest each year for up to 8 assessment years from 2026-27, or until the loan interest is fully cleared, whichever comes first.
Section 80E is claimed directly by filing your ITR, so the Right to Information route is narrow here. You cannot RTI the Income Tax Department to grant the deduction. However, if your lender is a public-authority bank (a public sector bank), you can use RTI to obtain your own loan and interest records if the bank delays giving them. For private banks and NBFCs, RTI does not apply; use their internal grievance channels instead.
For drafting, the AI RTI Drafter and the First Appeal Builder can help. A simple request to a public sector bank might read:
To: The Central Public Information Officer [Name of Public Sector Bank], [Branch] Subject: Request for information under the Right to Information Act 2005 Under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act 2005, I request the following information about my education loan account number [____]: 1. A certified year-wise statement of interest and principal paid by me. 2. Copies of all interest certificates issued on this account. Please furnish the information within 30 days as required under Section 7(1). If any part is refused, please give reasons and inform me of my right of first appeal under Section 19(1). I enclose the application fee of 10 rupees. Name, address, signature, date
No. Only the interest paid on the education loan is deductible under Section 80E. The principal repayment gets no deduction under this section.
No. Unlike Section 80C, there is no upper monetary limit. You can deduct the entire interest paid in the financial year.
No. Section 80E is not available under the default new tax regime in Section 115BAC. You must opt for the old tax regime to claim it.
For a maximum of 8 consecutive assessment years, starting from the year you begin paying interest, or until the interest is fully paid, whichever is earlier.
Loans for your own higher education, or that of your spouse, children, or a student for whom you are the legal guardian, taken in your name as an individual.
The loan must be from a bank, a notified financial institution, or an approved charitable institution. Loans from relatives or friends do not qualify.
Yes. Higher education means any course pursued after passing the senior secondary examination, whether in India or abroad, so overseas courses qualify if the other conditions are met.
No. Only an individual can claim the deduction. An HUF, firm, or company cannot.