All your questions on how to save income tax can probably be solved with this popular ‘hack’ by a man from Karnataka. Kerala-based content creator Shrinidhi Hande’s satirical video on the same topic has gone viral online.

The video comes days after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Budget 2024, which introduced major changes to the new tax regime. Since then, how to save tax has become a hot topic of debate and ridicule.

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Hande, a resident of Udupi, begins his video by claiming that income tax can be saved through a “very easy, legal and simple process”. What follows is a detailed list of step-by-step instructions.

‘Growing grass in your home’

“Step one: You have to grow grass in your house, on your balcony or on your patio, and it’s a very, very legal process,” he explains

“Now go to HR and tell them that you don’t want a salary. They would be happy. Tell your HR that your company has to buy grass from you to the value of your salary. If your salary is Rs50,000, maybe they can buy 50 strands of grass for Rs1,000 each. A completely legal process,” he added.

“What happens now is that your salary income becomes zero and you only have income from sale of agricultural produce, which is not taxable in India. This way you can save 100 percent on income tax. You don’t have to worry about TDS or investments,” he concluded.

When Hande shared the video on Instagram, he added a disclaimer: “Written with humorous intentions only.” He also thanked Instagrammers for the million views.

The satirical video also received hilarious reactions on Instagram, where the video has been viewed no fewer than 2.5 million times since it was first shared on July 23.

Several users started posting funny comments. One user wondered if it should be called “grass salary” or “gross salary.” Meanwhile, another joked: “I did that, HR called the cops and asked me what kind of grass I’m trying to sell for 50k.”

With all seriousness, someone pointed out a loophole in the law that Shrinidhi Hande had overlooked: “Agricultural income from agricultural land alone is exempt from income tax.”