Employeemoney

1.No PPF for minor 2.Only one PPF Ac 3. Rental income from guest houses 4.TDS 30 % on rent to NRI

1. New rules for PPF (Public Provident Fund) in name of minors - Interest rate applicable to post office saving bank account will be paid on such account till minor attains adulthood ( 18 years ). After that normal PPF rate will be paid. Meaning that account in name of minor will earn interest @ 2.5 % instead of 7 % - this is subject to restriction that all payments to ppf accounts related to you should not exceed Rs 1.50 lakh in a year.

2. New rule for more than one PPF account - Investor has to choose one account as primary account that will earn interest rate applicable to PPF account. If the investment in primary account stays below the applicable investment limit i.e. Rs 1.5 lakh in a year, the balance from second account will earn PPF rate of interest. Excess in second account will be returned to investor without interest, meaning that you will not be able to contribute more than Rs 1.50 lakh to all your ppf account in a year.

3. Extension of PPF account by NRI - NRI is not allowed to open PPF account. Such account will not earn PPF rate of interest after 30th Sept. 2024 or after the date when investor has become NRI whichever is earlier.

4. Guest houses income will now be rental instead of business income - As stipulated in Union budget 2024 income from guest houses, paying guest accommodation, home stays, hostels etc will now can only be declared as " income from house property" head and not under Profits and Gains from business or profession (PGBP). It means that now one can claim only standard deduction of 30 %, property tax & interest on housing loan. So, expenses related to renting and managing property such as maintenance, electricity bills, employee costs, depreciation and other costs which used to be claimed without limit, cannot be claimed.

5. TDS of 31.2% on rental income to NRI - If a person is paying house rent to NRI, he has to deduct 31.2% tax from rent and only pay the rest amount to NRI landlord. TDS has to be deducted regardless of amount of rent. If NRI landlord does not want TDS to be deducted, he has to obtain a certificate from Income tax department for this. The tenant has to deposit TDS so collected in Income tax department's account by 7th of every month.

1.Income tax penalty waived 2. UPI for NPS

Income tax penalty upto Rs 1.00 lakh waived -Finance minister has announced in this budget that tax demands up to Rs 25000 for cases till FY 2009-10 and Rs 10,000 for cases between FY 2010-11 to FY 2014-15. Now department has come with clarification - total tax demand ( including tax, penalty etc ) upto Rs 1.00 lakh shall be waived. Multiple demands from a tax-payer is included in this over-all limit of Rs 1.00 lakh. However, waiver or cancellation will not iinfluence any ongoing, planned criminal or legal proceeding.
Introduction of UPI QR code for making National Pension Scheme Contribution- Now National Pension Scheme (NPS) subscriber can pay their contribution to NPS by using QR code on one's phone. This is likely to attract more young subcriber.

1.Performance of funds under NPS 2.Mahila Samman Patr now in Bank 3.No tax up to income Rs 7.50 lakh

1.Performance of various Funds under National Pension Scheme - Annual return of funds last year-

Equity Plans -

SBI Pension Fund - 20.94%
HDFC Pension Fund- 19.93%

Government Bond Funds -

SBI Pension Fund - 10.17%
HDFC Pension Fund - 9.78%

Corporate Debt Funds-

SBI Pension Fund - 7.72%
HDFC Pension Fund- 7.87%

There are about 10 pension funds and difference between their plans is minimal. If one has invested equal proportions in all three categories, his annual return would have been 13 %.

2. Mahila Samman Bachat Patr -

These accounts can now be opened in 12 public sector banks and in four private banks e.g. - ICICI,HDFC, IDBI, Axis. Earlier the scheme was avilable only through post offices. Mahila Samman Saving Certificate is for women or girls, and it offers 2 year fixed deposit at the rate of 7.5% per annum. Maximum amount that can be invested is Rs 2.00 lakh and available from 1 April 2023 to April 2025.

3.No income tax on income up to Rs 7.50 lakh-

In addition to changes in income tax slabs & rates, New Budget for FY 23-24 allowed an standard deduction of Rs 50,000 on salaried income. So, if your annual salaried income is Rs 7.50 lakh, your taxable income will be Rs 7.00 lakh after deducting Rs 50,000.
Income up to Rs 3,00,000 is exempted and income tax up to next Rs 7.00 lakh will be Rs 25000 - 5 % up to Rs 6.00 lakh & 10 % up to Rs 7.00 lakh. But as rebate is allowed for taxes up to Rs 25000, therefore for income up to Rs 7.50 lakh, one will have to pay no tax.
New Budget announced that there will be no Tax on leave encashment up to Rs 25.00 lakh - earlier tax free limit was Rs 3.00 lakh.

1. Mahila Samman Saving Certificate 2.Nomination necessary for selling mutual fund / shares

1. Mahila Samman Saving Cerificates -

This scheme was announced in budget. Main features of scheme are -

Married & unmarried woman can open this account in her name. Even minor can open the account with her graduation.
Account can be opened in any post office, maturity period will be of 2 years and rate of interest on deposit will be 7.5 % p.a. compounded quarterly.
Amount will be returned after 2 years. There is no provision of renewal of deposit at present. Pre-mature withdrawal is possible but it in extreme situation like - death or serious illness of account holder. Withdrawal from deposit after 6 months is possible but will get 2 % less interest.
It is a Good scheme in the sense that it gives a high fixed rate of interest on a short deposit period - more than bank fixed deposit of similar period.

2. Nomination necessary for selling mutual fund / shares -

From 1st April 2023, one cannot redeem mutual fund or sell shares, if you have not make nominations in your mutual fund account or demat account. This has been done by SEBI as crores of rupee are stuck in mutual fund accounts with no one coming forward to claim it.
If account is in single name, nomination can be done online by OTP validation. In case of joint holding in account nomination is possible only by submitting from physically or by sending it by post.
Nominee can be anybody - legal heir or non-relative, minor or NRI. However, company, HUFs, non-religious trust cannot be nominated. More than one person can be nominated and also their shares can be different. Also nominee can be changed anytime. Also if you don't want to nominate any body, it is possible by choosing opt-out option.

1.Changed bank locker rules 2. Digital banking units

1. Changed bank locker theft rules -

If anything is stolen from the bank locker, customer will be compensated up to 100 times of the locker rent - if thieves have broken into your locker and your locker rent is Rs 2000 per year, bank will pay you Rs 2,00,000 lakh. At present, banks refuse to pay any compensation stating that they don't know what are insides the lockers, even if it were clear in many cases that arrangements of locker's security were lax.
Also, whenever the locker is assessed, customer will receive email and SMS that locker has been opened. Bank will have to keep CCTV record of people entering the locker room for 180 days.
Bank will also have to display the list of empty lockers and also the waiting list of customers for lockers.

2. Digital Banking Units -

On 19th October, PM launched 75 " Digital Banking Units". These banking units will provide most of banking services 24 by 7 in your neighbourhood. Banking services shall include - opening of saving accounts, balance check, printing bank pass book, transfer of funds, investment in fixed deposits, loan applications, application for credit-debit cards, etc. These facilities are suitable for customers who doesn't have net connectivity or computers / laptops.
Digital banking units will have two operation modes - self service mode and assisted mode. In assisted mode bank will deploy banking correspondent who will assist customers in banking operations.
Some banks like SBI has started such units earlier, but they will now be more formalised way with more services added to them.

1.Penalty on not linking Aadhar with PAN 2.TDS on crypto-currency 3.Doctors/Professional to bear TDS

1. Penalty on not linking Aadhar with PAN- From July 22, if you have not linked Aadhar number with PAN, you will have to pay penalty of Rs 1000 - note that it is mandatory to link Aadhar with PAN. Linking can easily be done done by going to Income Tax Department website.

2. Tax Deduction on source ( TDS) on crypto- currency - On any payment of Rs 10000 or more, payer will have to deduct 01 % TDS before giving money to payee. If the payee does not have the PAN, then TDS will be at the rate of 20 %. TDS has been imposed to track the transaction in crypto- currencies and digital asset. TDS is must even in case of loss. Earlier government has made rule that profit on crypto currency or digital asset will be taxed @ 30 % & any loss in such cases cannot be carried forward for adjustment in next years.

3. Doctors / other influencers have to bear TDS @ 10 % - Doctors and other social media influencers if they engage in sales promotion, they will have to pay TDS @ 10 % on payment made to them - if such payment is more than Rs 20,000.

1.No income tax notices for 3 year old cases 2.Small jeweller need not sell hall-marked jewellery...

1. No income tax notices for FY 2014-15 & before-

Income Tax Department has asked field offices to not to issue reassessment notices for 2013-14 & 2014-15 financial years to small tax payers wherein the income escaping from tax is less than Rs 50 lakh.
The government had in budget last year (2021-22) reduced the reopening time for I-T assessment from 6 years to 3 years. But still Income Tax Department were issuing notices in cases more than 3 years old, against which a judgement of Delhi High Court had also come. Now, this order will bring an end to all such proceedings.

2. Small Gold Jeweler need not sell hall marked jewelry-

Gold jeweler with an annual turnover of less than Rs 40.00 lakh are exempted from selling hallmarked jewelry.
BIS has also exempted following jewelry from hall marking - (a) Gold article with weight less than 2 gm., (b) any item of gold thread (c) special categories of jewelry like- kundan, polki & jadau (d) gold bullion e.g.-bar, coin,rod (e)gold watch & fountainpen
Also hall marked jewelry must display alphanumeric code in addition to BIS & purity mark

3. Additional payment to employee cannot be recovered after retirement

Supreme court in a recent decision has stated that if any payment has been given to employee as result of wrong increment or any other reasons, then such payment cannot be recovered after retirement on the basis that payment was done wrongly.
However if employee who knows that the payment was undue to him and still he didn't return it, then such wrong payment can be recovered.

1.Tax @ 30% on crypto profit 2.Failure to issue TDS,500 per day fine3.No assured return by developer

1. Income tax at the rate of 30% on profit from trade of crypto asset -

This year GOI has introduced a tax at the rate of 30 % on profit from crypto currency and other digital asset.
If you have incurred a loss in Bitcoin trade - this cannot be carried forward to next year, neither it can be adjusted against any other income,normally carry forward of losses to next year & adjustment against other incomes are allowed for other asset classes. Also if Bitcoin or other digital asset is gifted, gift receiver will have to pay tax on it at the rate of 30 %, gift in hand of receiver is without taxes - if the value of gift is more than Rs 50000. Also person giving gift will have to deduct 1 % tax at source on such gift. Also no expenses are allowed to be deducted against profit on sale of crypto-currency except cost of acquisition.

2. Failure to issue TDS certificate on purchase of property will attract fine of Rs 500 per day -

If you buy a property worth more than Rs 50 lakh or paying rent of Rs 50000 or more per month, then you will have to deduct TDS ( Tax deduction at source) at the rate of 1 % on total amount before paying to seller or rent receiver
If tax is not deducted, penalty of 1 % per month is imposed on payer. Amount of TDS so deducted has to deposited with income tax department within 30 days of deduction - otherwise penalty is liable to be imposed.
If TDS certificate is not issued to home owner within 15 days of depositing money, fine of Rs 500 per day will be imposed on defaulter - earlier this penalty was Rs 200 per day which was found insufficient.

3.Uncertain fate of Assured return schemes of builders -

Developer sometime offer assured returns to buyer - there can be two reasons for this - First, they want to assure buyer that possession of house or shop will be given in time and in case of delay, builder will pay some interest. Second, builder may want to raise money at lower rate of interest.
But it is not clear who will hear the appeal in case of default by builder. SEBI ( Security & Exchange Board Of India) says that builder cannot raise such loans without SEBI prior permission.
NCLT ( National Company Law Tribunal) in a decision has said that buyers are not financial creditors like bank, so such cases does not fall under NCLT.
In such cases, only recourse that is left to home buyer is to approach civil courts. However recently RERA of Haryana & Mahashtra has agreed to here such cases, but situation elsewhere is not clear.

So, buyer / investor has to be extra cautious before opting or assured schemes of builders - because if builder defaults in payment of assured return then your options of recovery methods are very limited.

1. If bank fails, get upto Rs 5 lakh in 90 days 2.No opening of I.T. assessment record after 3 years

1. If banks fails, depositor will get up to Rs 5.00 lakh in 90 days -

Recently YES Bank, a reputed private bank failed & this is not the single episode. Every year we learn one two such cases. For common depositor bank failure means that depositor will not get money, be it in Fixed deposit or saving bank account.
Now if a bank goes bust, depositor will get upto Rs 5.00 lakh - meaning that if You have deposited Rs 1.00 lakh in bank, you will get Rs 1.00 lakh. But if you have Rs 10.00 lakh in bank, then instead of Rs 10.00 lakh you will get Rs 5.00 lakh.New thing is that you will get it in 90 days of RBI declaring Bank failure. Earlier maximum amount depositor used to get was Rs 1.00 and there was no time limit.
This is very welcome step for common depositor. Although there is very little chance of government bank to fail, problem is with private bank, small finance bank and payment banks. These banks offer very high interest - 6 to 7 % per year even on saving account whereas govt banks offers 2 to 3 %.
But here is the catch - maximum amount depositor will get is Rs 5.00 lakh. So, instead of parking all your funds in a bank , keep it in several bank, so that bank failure may not wipe all your savings.

2. Delhi High Court order - no reopening of income tax assessment record after 3 years -

Delhi high court in an order in Dec21 has declared that income tax department cannot re-open old assessment cases- more than three years old. Income tax department was issuing notices to tax-payers opening old assessment record saying improper disclosures of income. High court said that as per finance bill of 2020, income tax department cannot reopen cases more than 03 years old. Earlier this time limit was 6 years.

3. Income tax return filing date not extended -

There is no extension of last date of filing income tax return beyond 31 December for salaried employee. Recent announcement of income tax department of extending last date for filing return is only for those assesse who are required to give audited report of income. So, if one has not filed return ( ITR-1, ITR-2), he will be able to do this with fine of Rs 10,000 upto 31st March 22. After that no return filing will be allowed.

1. Retail investor can directly buy govt bonds 2. Only 1 or 2 crypto-currency to survive

1. Retail investor can now directly buy govt. bonds - Govt bonds are issued by central or state govt. They are fully secure, meaning that there is no chance of default and offer interest rate higher than bank fixed deposit which is at present around 7 %. Till now general public wishing to invest in them had to go through debt mutual fund.

For the first time, retail buyer i.e. individual will now get an online facility to invest in government securities - both primary & secondary. It will also allow individual to investment in central govt securities, treasury bills, sovereign gold bonds and state development loans. RBI has provided an online trading platform NDS-OM to retail investors.
by investing in G-sec, one is directly lending to government - similar oppurtunity is there if you invest in post office small saving schemes. But rate of interest in small saving schemes are higher.
Further, debt mutual fund investing in G-sec are more tax efficient then investing in G-sec directly. If you hold the fund for three years, tax is only 20 % on capital gains after indexation - which is more beneficial to higher income groups. In G-sec, interest will be added to your income every year.

2. Only 1 or 2 crypto-currency likely to survive - These are the words of Shri Raghu Ram Rajan, former governor of RBI. There are now more than 6000 crypto currencies in market.He also said that most cryptos have value only because there is a greater fool out there in market willing to buy.

All indications are that India is likely to ban crypto-currencies and introduce its own digital currency backed by RBI. Bill for this is all set to be introduced in current winter session of parliament. This has led to crash in prices of crypto-currencies by as much as 20 % in a day.
Crypto-currency is nothing but computer programme, which people buy & sell with hope that government will ultimately recognise them as currency. At present most of illegal trade across borders are done in crypto-currency.

1. Retail investor can now directly buy govt. bonds - Govt bonds are issued by central or state gov

1. Aadhar to be linked with EPF account - If you have not linked EPF account number or UAN ( Universal Account Number ) with Aadhar, your employer will not be able to deposit his contribution in your EPF account. Also EPF subscriber will not be able to withdraw money from EPF account if Aadhar is not linked.

(2) Auto-debit may fail - From Oct 1, auto-debit mandate for payments of subscription to OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Spotify, mobile bills, insurance premiums, Utility bills may fail if they are being paid by using debit/ credit card or by using mobile wallets. Before deduction of payment, you will receive SMS / email alert at least 24 hours before. You will have to confirm payment before it can be deducted. This rule will not apply if payment is below Rs 5000.

(3) Submission of life certificate for pensioners - Now life certificates can be obtained at doorstep by service provided by alliance of 12 govt. banks and also by post office. For this one can book service by mobile app or by calling their customer care number. Representative of bank or post office will visit your home and after verifying documents, he will issue life certificate which then can be uploaded online. However this will be for a fee - for SBI this service will cost you Rs 75.

(4) Cheques of merged banks invalid from 01 Oct. - Cheques of Allahabad bank, Oriental bank of Commerce, United bank of India etc shall no longer be valid from 01 Oct as they have been merged with other banks.

1. Banks to pay for loss of contents of locker 2.NACH settlement 24*7

1. New Locker Rules -

Now in case of loss of contents in locker, bank will have to pay compensation equal to 100 times of locker rent. Bank will pay compensation in case of fire, theft, fraud, negligence etc. No compensation will be paid in case of negligence of customer. Earlier bank were taking no responsibility even in case of theft.
Locker owner will get email & SMS alert if locker is accessed . Also bank will have to maintain CCTV record of entrance to locker room and common area adjacent to it for 180 days.
Bank can ask for fixed deposit of amount equal to 3 years rent of locker plus sum required to break open the locker in case of default of payment. Also bank will have to maintain on their website list of wait listed customers for locker and also number of vacant lockers.
These new locker rules will come into effect from 1st Jan 22.

2. NACH ( National Automated Clearing House ) -

NACH settlement will be available on all days 24*7 & holidays - meaning that your salary payment, EMI deduction, dividend payment, insurance premium, investment in mutual fund, bill payment etc would be made on any day.
Earlier it was not done on Saturday, Sunday & holidays. So, now your home loan, vehicle loan EMI can be deducted on Sunday.

1.No tax on corona treatment loan 2. Penalty TDS if return not filed 3. Only hallmark jwellery now

1. Loan taken for corona treatment will not be treated as income, hence no tax -(a)Loan taken from relative, friend or well-wisher for treatment of corona will not be considered as income, hence no income tax will not be levied on them. Similarly in case of death of employee, ex-gratia payment will also be free of tax. (b) Tax will not be levied upto Rs 10.00 lakh of ex-gratia, however exemption will not be allowed on cash transaction and hospital bills should be kept for record.

2. Penalty TDS if income tax return is not filed for last 2 years.- (a) If you have not filed your income tax returns for last two years and your total TDS ( Tax Deducted at Source) liability is more than Rs 50,000 per year, then person paying you will deduct TDS at twice the rate prescribed or 5 %, whichever is higher before paying you. (b) Income tax department has made special provision on income tax website, so that TDS deductee can verify whether one has filed income tax return or not. (b) But this is not applicable for TDS on salary - however if interest on your fixed deposit, dividend income is more than Rs 50,000- your will come under higher TDS regime.(c) Again if PAN is not given to bank, bank is required to deduct TDS at the rate of 20 % instead of 10 % - here TDS is collected even if TDS is below Rs 50,000.

3. Only Hallmark jewellery now - Gold hallmarking has become mandatory from June 16, 2021. Every jewellery has to be marked whether it is 22, 18 or 14 carat - jewellery will be marked with 916 or 750 585 numbers respectively.

1.Tax on cash withdrawal 2.Faceless on i-tax officer 3.Wage code delayed

1. TDS ( Tax Deduction at Source ) on cash withdrawal - If one is withdrawing cash from banks and post offices, then tax will be deducted from payment if he has not filed income tax return for last 3 years. Tax deducted will be 2 % for amount Rs 20.00 lakh to RS 1.00 cr and 5 % for amount exeeding Rs 1.00 cr. (b) Income tax department has launched special utility for banks and post offices to enable them to verify whether the person has filed income tax return. In such cases, TDS will be deducted even if you submit 15 G / 15 H forms.

2.Jurisdiction less income tax officers - Income tax officers are now not mentioning their jurisdiction on their nameplates, instead "Faceless" is mentioned on nameplate. This is because, as announced in budget, scrutiny of return will be distributed by Centralized Processing unit in NOIDA. Meaning that an Assessing Officer in Delhi may be doing scrutiny of return of an assessee living in Agra.Not only this, neither the income tax officer nor the assessee will know the identity of each other.

3. Dividend in income tax return form - In new income tax form, you will now have to mention quarter wise dividend received. This is due to fact that dividend is now taxable in the hands of tax payer.

5.New wage code delayed - New wage code was to come into effect from 01 April 2021. In new wage code, all allowances cannot add up to more than 50 % of salary. It means that your basic salary will most likely to increase as result of recalculation of allowances. So your provident fund contribution will increase and take home salary will decrease. But promulgation has now been postponed.

Budget 2021 - what is for employee ? - Part- II

This is the second part of our series about finer points in Union Budget 2021 that may concern employee.

Reduction in time limit for income tax proceedings - Except in cases of serious cases where concealment of income is more than Rs 50.00 lakh, no re-opening of income tax assessment will be allowed after three years earlier ir was six years. However if income concealed is more than Rs 50.00 , reassessment can be opened till 10 years. Which means that one has to keep income tax records only for three years.
TDS, have to show proof of filing income tax return - In case of TDS ( tax deducted at source ) or TCS ( tax collected at source - if the assesse cannot give proof that he has filed income tax return for last two years - TDS or TCS will be deducted at twice the normal rate or 5 % which ever is higher. TDS is the tax which is deducted by a company on payment to individuals like salary payment while TCS is the tax collected by seller on sales of goods. It means that if you are making payments to contractor of more than Rs 30,000 you will have to levy TDS at the rate of 5 % if he does not give you proof of filing income tax return.It also means that income detail of a person will come in public domain.
No more income tax return for person of age 75 years or more - If a person is of 75 years or more of age and he has no income except pension or bank interest then he will not have to calculate and pay taxes on these incomes. But this facility will be available only in specified banks which will be notified by government. In fact in such cases, bank will calculate tax and pay it on behalf of senior return.
No advance tax on dividend income - Now, payment of tax on dividend is the responsibility of tax payer. But now there will be no advance tax on dividend.Tax will be due after receiving it - however it has to be paid by due date of advance tax payment.
Tax relief on interest on housing loan to continue - Additional tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh on interest payment on housing loan for purchase of new house will continue in FY 2021-22. This will be in addition to Rs 2.00 lakh ( it means total deduction of Rs 3.50 lakh on interest payment ) deduction allowed in ordinary course and additional tax relief will be available only for the first time buyer in affordable home category - that is for houses that cost less than Rs 45.00 lakh.

Budget 2021 - what is for employee ?

Although there is no change in income tax rates, still there are important things that employee must know -

Pre-filled income tax return form - Tax payer were already getting details of salary, tax paid etc in their tax return forms - going a step further income tax return form will also have details of capital gains from listed securities, dividend income, interest from bank & post office account-fixed deposits etc., pre-filled. What this means for employee. Those employees who were not paying income tax on sale of shares or bank fixed deposits by not giving their details in income tax return forms, will have to pay taxes on them as they will be already mentioned in return form.
Tax on ULIP - ULIP ( Unit linked insurance plan ) has been brought under tax bracket. At present if premium paid under ULIP is less than 10 % of sum insured, redemption on maturity was tax free. But now if you are paying ULIP premium of Rs 2.50 lakh or more, redemption will attract capital gain tax. After capital gain on sale of mutual fund was taxed, people were depositing their money in ULIP to save tax. This anamoly has now been removed. This rule will come in effect from Feb1, 2021. Also premium will be cumulative of all ULIP policies.
Tax on provident fund contribution - If someone is contributing more than Rs 1.50 lakh ( his contribution) for provident fund, interest accrued on deposit above Rs. 1.50 lakh will be taxed as interest on bank fixed deposit is taxed. After rates on bank fixed deposit were reduced from 8 % to 5.5 % , employee were depositing more and more money in provident fund as interest on provident fund is around 8 % and that was till now totally tax free. This advantage has now been removed.
Reduction in time of tax assessment - Finance minister has announced that tax assessment on income tax return submitted will be completed within three months of filing return. It means that if any additional tax is imposed on you or if any there is any refund, you will get intimation within three months of filing return. Also time limit of filing belated return has been reduced from 31 March to 31st December of next financial year. Suppose if you have not filed tax return for FY 2021-22, you were allowed to file belated tax till 31st March 2022 earlier. Now you can file belated tax only till 31st December.

( to be continued in next issue )

1.RBI cautioned digital lending 2.Positive pay for cheque 3. Contactles transaction limit

1. RBI cautioned against digital lending platforms -

Recently a Tv actor of " Tarak Mehta Ka ulta chasma " fame committed suicide due to high handed manner of loan recovery used by online lending platforms. More than 300 online lending platforms have sprung up on net during pandemic. They promise quick loans without any physical visit or physical document submission.
It has come to light that these online lending platforms are charging exorbitant interest rates ( 20 to 50 % per month) and processing fees.In addition during applying, they ask permission to access contact list. In case of non or delayed payment of loan, these platforms not only threatens borrower but family members. They also threaten to make your personal information public. Many of these APPs are situated outside India, specially in China.
RBI has cautioned that - (a) Lending activities can only be undertaken by banks or NBFC ( non-banking financial companies ). So, online lending platforms must mention the name of bank or NBFC which they have tie-up. Bank or NBFC have to disclose names of their digital lending platforms on their websites. (b) Consumer should never share copies of KYC ( know your customer) documents and bank account information with such sites or agent. (c) Loan agreement paper must be issued by parent bank or NBFC - They ( bank or NBFC) will be responsible for addressing citizen's grievance. (d) If high handed methods are adopted by lending platforms, bank / NBFC will be responsible for their actions.

2. Positive pay mechanism for Cheques - From January 1, issuer of cheque of value more than Rs 50,000 may be asked by the banks to give details of cheque like date,name of the payee, amount etc via SMS, mobile app etc. This is to verify the genuineness of the cheque that has been presented for clearance.

3. Relaxation in contactless card transaction limit - It has been extended to Rs 5000 from Rs 2000. It means tha you will not be required to enter PIN for this extended limit.

1. Income Tax at your doorstep

A.Income tax department is now at your doorstep to help you -

On the income tax department website, an enquiry form is available in which you can post your question alongwith PAN, Social media user id, mobile number. Income tax department will respond within two days. All your query will be kept confidential and will not be used for assessment or scrutiny.
Ayakar Sampark Kendra - A toll free number 1800-180-1961 is available for general query on phone. It is available form Monday to saturday, 8 am to 8 pm.
Tax Retuen Preparer (TRP) -

They are the professionals trained by Income Tax department to prepare your income tax return at minimal cost and from comfort of your home.( But it is not for assesse who are required to get their accounts audited. )
Maximum fee that can be charged is Rs 1000 but in most cases it is Rs 500 and below.
You can register on income tax website for visit of TRP or can phone - list of TRPs is available on income tax website.
You can call on phone no - 1800-10-23738 to fix appointment for home visit of TRP at your convenience.
Services of TRPs can also be availed of for preparation of TDS (tax deduction at source ) like eployee tax deduction or submitting TDS while selling property.

1.SENSEX turns 40 2.Banks to pay 8 % interest for delay in crediting pension

1. SENSEX turns 40 -
On April 1, 2019 SUNSEX has completed 40 years. SUNSEX has moved from 100 in 1979 to 39000 on April1, 2019- it means a return of 16.1 % per year for last 40 years.
It means that that if you have invested Rs 10,000 in 1979 in SENSEX, it would have grown to Rs 45 lakh today- 450 times of original amount.
Same amount invested in Bank Deposit would have grown to Rs 2.68 lakh and in Gold have grown to Rs 4.08 Lakh ( return of 10 % p.a.)
Data on real estate ( house etc.) return for such a long term is not available - but do you think that investment of Rs 1,00,000 in 1979 would have become Rs 4,50,00,000 ( Rs 4.5 crore) in 2019 - certainly not.

2. Banks to pay 8 % interest for delay in crediting pension -

RBI has asked all government pension paying banks to pay an interest at the rate of 8 % per annum for the delay or part theirof.
Interest should be credited to pensioner's account automatically without any claim from pensioner on the same day when bank credits revised pension/pension arrears.
Banks have been instructed to obtain pension orders directly from concerned authorities.
Bank branch should be point of contact for pensioner and he should not be asked to go anywhere.

1. Income tax - faceless from Sept 2019

Following changes are expected from September 2019 -

Assessment of your return will be completed in three months of filing your return.
Any communicion with income tax department will be papaerless - letters from income tax department will have DIN ( Document Identification Number). If any communiction does not have DIN, you are not required to reply to it. Also, you can check authencity of communication by visiting your e-filing website. This means that any mischief attempted by your local tax authorities will be the thing of past.
Any interaction with income tax department will be faceless - you will receive online notice and you will have to reply online.You may not know that income tax authority from which city has issued you the notice. therefore going to your local income tax office will be of no use.
Income tax authorities will have a softer face now - they can approach you if you have not shown any income in your return, or not made calculation in your tax return correctly or not filed your return. This approach will be before formal notice. As you know, ITR -1 form for filing return is now pre-filled, you are now required only to verify the information given there..

Look Beyond Bank Fixed Deposits