You bump into a friend and chances are that he or she is struggling with a tax problem. It is quite natural if you consider that the last day of finalising tax-saving investments for the financial years is only a few weeks away. But the trouble is that you can't offer any suggestions to these friends. For most of them would tell you with a blank face that they have no idea about tax planning. Oh, my chartered accountant does it for me, one would say.

The guy who helps with my investments also helps me file my returns, would be another common answer. In short, all those queries posed to you were just to enhance the personal knowledge. None of your tips would have found their way into the tax-planning exercise because it is the CA, or the guy around the corner, who takes care of the issue. Our friends don't bother.

"I think people, especially in the higher income group of, say, over 10 lakh, don't particularly follow what happens to their tax planning. They are more than happy to let the CA, or the accountant, who files their returns, do the job," says D Sundararajan, investment consultant at Trendy Investments. "However, people in the middle and low income group closely follow their investments to save taxes. So, you could say the behaviour is distinctly different for these two income groups," he adds. "Sadly, it is a common excuse one comes across while going through tax-saving investments made earlier by our clients. But I don't buy that excuse fully.

More often, it looks as if they have settled for things in the last minute rush," says a wealth manager, who doesn't want to be named. "If you look at the list of investments, there is hardly any thought behind the selection process. In fact, some of the investments would be textbook stuff which you always try to avoid," he adds.

Too little information

"It is absolutely fine that people go to CAs for their investment and taxation purpose, as there is a dearth of qualified professionals. But the trouble is that how many of these CAs or the persons who help them with tax filing are up to date with new investment ideas.

Sure, they may know every small changes on the tax front, but the same need not be the case when it comes to investment ideas," says Kartik Jhaveri, director at Transcend Consulting. "That is why we always find the usual stuff like PPF, infrastructure bonds in every portfolio, irrespective of their suitability. They won't be tax efficient in some cases. Or the investment horizon or return expectation won't matcha¦" To cut the story short, many of these facilitators won't be seeking personal information before recommending or implementing the investments. So, there are always chances of mismatches.

Not a serious relationship

According to experts, before treating this as a blame game, individuals need to ask themselves some questions. Before trusting the accountant or advisor blindly, you need to ask how serious your relationship with the professional is. Is it a long-term association? Do you rush to the person every year just before the deadline for filing taxes?

Or do you visit him or her regularly for other investment advices, too. Experts say it is crucial for the person to know your financial and personal situation to recommend the right product. "For example, we always find that most of these people could be biased towards certain products. They recommend insurance plans because their spouse or relatives have an agency," says Sundararajan. "More than the bad product selection, it will adversely impact the wealth creation plan."

No child's Play

"It is not something to be left to some professional without taking any personal interest. Saving 1 lakh under Section 80 C every year is not a small thing. It can help you build wealth in a period of time," says Sundararajan. "Tax planning is not something done in isolation. It is also a way you build a decent corpus for your future needs in a tax-efficient manner," says the wealth manager. "

Also, having different instruments in your tax-saving portfolio would mean they would mature at different intervals. You have to take them out or reinvest elsewhere if you want to maximise wealth. This can be done only if you are monitoring your portfolio or are in touch with your CA on a regular basis," he adds. "Don't treat it lightly. It forms a major part of long-term wealth creation efforts," warns Jhaveri.