Thursday, May 2News That Matters

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Key Highlights Summary of Indian Union Budget 2019-20

News, Taxation
Finance Minister Piyush Goyal  presented the Budget for 2019-2020 in Parliament on 1st Feb 2019.  Following are the highlights of his speech:   Personal Taxation No income tax for those who earn up to Rs 5 lakh annually!  (increased from current Rs 2.5 lakh) Hike in standard deduction from Rs 40,000 per annum to Rs 50,000 per annum TDS threshold for house rent to Rs 2.4 lakh per annum (earlier it was Rs 1.8 lakhs) TDS threshold on Interest income (bank and PO interest) has been increased Rs 40,000. This is more of a convenience, however note that Interest more than Rs 10000 (where applicable) would still need to be added to the total income and tax to be paid.  Individuals with gross income up to 6.5 lakh rupees will not need to pay any tax if they make investments in p...

Indian Union Budget 2018- 2019 – Highlights, Impact

News
  Arun Jaitley presented the Budget for 2018-19 in Parliament on 1st Feb 2018.  Following are the highlights of his speech: Income Tax No change in personal income tax slabs and rates; Surcharge of 10% on income above Rs 50 lakh but less than Rs 1 cr, 15% on income above Rs 1 cr to continue; Standard Deduction returns after a decade; Rs 40,000 to be allowed in lieu of transport allowance and medical expenses; Growth in direct taxes up to Jan 15, 2018 is 18.7%; Corporate tax reduced to 25% for firms with turnover of Rs 250 cr in 2016-17; Interest income exemption on deposits with banks and post offices for senior citizens increased from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000; Senior citizens will be able to claim benefit of deduction up to Rs 50,000 annually on health insurance premiu...

IT dept launches facility to correct PAN or Aadhaar details

How to Series, News
The government, under the Finance Act 2017, has made it mandatory for taxpayers to quote Aadhaar or enrollment ID of Aadhaar application form for filing of income tax returns (ITR).Also, Aadhaar has been made mandatory for applying for permanent account number with effect from July 1, 2017. To link PAN with Aadhar, IT dept has launched online facility, but the details in PAN and Aadhaar needs to be same. Read my post on - How to link PAN with Aadhaar online with/without login. If for some reasons, your details in PAN and Aadhaar are not matching, IT dept has launched the facility to correct these details.  Taxpayers can go to www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and click on the link on the left pane-> Links to correct name, [xyz-ihs snippet="ad1"]

IT dept launches new simple facility to link PAN with Aadhaar

How to Series, News
The Income Tax Department has made it easy for taxpayers to link their PAN with Aadhaar. Responding to grievances of taxpayers regarding difficulties in linking PAN with Aadhaar their names did not match in both systems (Eg. Names with initials in one and expanded initials in another). the Department has come out with a simple solution now. There is no need to login or be registered on E-filing website. This facility can be used by anyone to link their Aadhaar with PAN. Taxpayers can go to www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and click on the link on the left pane-> Link Aadhaar,  provide PAN, Aadhaar no. and ENTER NAME EXACTLY AS GIVEN IN AADHAAR CARD (avoid spelling mistakes) and submit. After verification from UIDAI, the linking will be confirmed. In case of any minor mismatch in Aadh...

How to link Aadhar card to PAN online?

How to Series, News
Government has made it mandatory to link Aadhaar card to your PAN before 30 July otherwise, PAN card may be rendered invalid.  However, a case is pending in Supreme court to challenge its constitutional validity. To be on safer side, you may want to link Aadhaar card to PAN online - the process is quite simple. Login to Income Tax efiling website - https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/ Under Profile Settings tab - there is an option "Link Aadhaar". You need to enter your Aadhaar number & Name as per Aadhaar The Aadhaar will be now linked to your PAN. If you data is different that what’s mentioned on your PAN, the Aadhaar will not be linked to your PAN. In case your details in PAN and Aadhaar are not matching, you can see how to correct these - Read details in my other po...

Now you can invest in Mutual funds via digital e-wallets

Mutual Funds, News
SEBI has issued guidelines for using e-wallets in Mutual funds investment. After demonetisation many people are using e-wallets and it will make it easier for them if mutual funds investment is allowed via e-wallet.  Following are the guidelines: Investment upto Rs 50000 per mutual fund per financial year can be made using e-wallet. Further, this limit of Rs 50,000 would be an umbrella limit for investment by an investor through e-wallet and/or cash, per mutual fund per financial year. E-wallet's balance loaded through cash or debit card or net banking, can only be used for subscription to mutual funds schemes and balance loaded through credit card, cash back, promotional scheme etc. should not be allowed for subscription to MF schemes E-Wallet companies must not offer any incentive...

30th April deadline for self-certification for your bank account (FATCA)

News
CBDT has issued statement that all bank accounts that were opened between July 1 2014 and August 31 2015 require submission of self-certification forms by 30th April 2017. If you do not submit it within time then the accounts will be blocked. This self-certification is related to compliance with Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) provisions. The transactions by the account holder in such blocked accounts may, thereafter, be permitted once the self-certification is obtained and due diligence completed. Submitting the self-certification under FATCA is not complex. It does not require one to submit the Aadhaar card in order to comply with FATCA requirements.  See below the sample FATCA form for ICICI Bank. https://www.icicibank.com/managed-assets/docs/form-center/fatca-individual....

Deadline extended to 30th June for providing PAN for savings account holders

News
In Jan 2017, CBDT has amended the Income Tax rules and asked all banks to link PAN or Form 60 to all existing bank accounts by 28-Feb-2017. However, now the deadline is extended to 30th June 2017.  If you have not yet provided PAN or Form No. 60 for your bank account, do so at the earliest to avoid unnecessary hassles later. Background for this rule Post-demonetization, several changes were made to track black money and the know-your-customer (KYC) norms were made stringent. In a circular dated 15 December 2016, the RBI put restrictions on some of the banking transactions where PAN or Form No. 60 was not available. In the circular, the RBI stated that, “No debit transaction, transfer or otherwise shall be allowed in accounts which do not comply with the KYC norms.” To begin with, these ru...

How NRIs can exchange old Rs 500 / 1000 notes or convert / deposit them?

News
  Latest Update: RBI has extended the facility for NRI to deposit old notes at designated RBI offices by June 30 2017. Under new facility, NRI can carry upto Rs 25000 (as per relevant FEMA regulation) via declaring them to customs and deposit it into RBI offices at in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Nagpur. NRI travelling to India should go through the "red channel" at the airport, fill one page declaration form. A stamped document will be issued by Customs detailing the number of notes, date etc. Documents required to be submitted at RBI office: Stamped document from Customs Passport & 1 copy ID - Aadhar, PAN Declaration that the person has not used exchange facility earlier Copies of bank statement to proof that notes were not deposited earlier. The pr...