December
21, 2012, we all waited for the world to end. But fortunately or unfortunately
the world still exists and so do we. We moved on, bid adieu to 2012 and
welcomed 2013. Let us begin this year by marking out what is important to us
financially.
INCOME TAX – An alert to all those who have not filed
their Income Tax return for the FY 2011-12. The last date is March 31, 2013.
To calculate your tax liability log on to:http://law.incometaxindia.gov.in/DIT/Xtras/taxcalc.aspx.
To calculate your tax liability log on to:http://law.incometaxindia.gov.in/DIT/Xtras/taxcalc.aspx.
While
filing return also check whether you got refunds (if any) for the last FY
2010-11. If not, check the status here https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/oltas/refundstatuslogin.html
RGESS - This year brings to you the Rajiv
Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme. New retail investors with annual income of
Rs 10 lakh and below are eligible to claim a deduction of 50% on a maximum
investment of Rs 50,000. Applicable for those who invest for the first time
into equities, Exchange traded funds (ETFs) and Close Ended mutual funds listed
on stock exchange and invested only in BSE 100, CNX 100 and blue chip public
sector stocks. Shares of PSU firms categorised as Maharatna, Navratna or
Miniratna by the central government will be eligible for RGESS. Follow on
public offers and IPOs of PSUs will also be eligible (Under sub-section (1) of
Section 80CCG of Income Tax Act 1961). Talk to your Tax Consultant to know more.
SIGN UP WITH EPF - It is
necessary that you know more about your EPF (Employees’s Provident Fund)
account now that it is online! Sign up by clicking http://www.epfindia.com/. This
helps you know your current balance etc. thru one time mobile number
registration.
CTS CHEQUES - It is time to get a check on your
cheque. Cheque Truncation System (CTS), is a project undertaken by
the Reserve Bank of India – RBI, for faster clearing of cheques. CTS is
basically an online image-based cheque clearing system where cheque images and
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) data are captured at the collecting
bank branch and transmitted electronically.
Based
on the experience gained and the benefits that would accrue to the customers
and banks, it was decided to implement CTS across the country.
Starting April 1st, 2013 only CTS-2010 compliant cheques would
be accepted for clearing. Check, whether your bank has sent you the CTS
compiled cheques.
UNIFORM KYC - Effective 1st Jan12, the Market regulator
the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) announced introduction of
uniform forms and documents for the purpose of customer identification by
different market intermediaries like stock brokers and mutual funds, a step
intended to bring uniformity to the process.
With
a view to bring about uniformity in securities markets, it has also been
decided that the same Know Your Customer [KYC] form and supporting documents
shall also be used by all captioned SEBI registered intermediaries.
Those
who have done their Mutual Fund KYC prior to 1st January 2012, should get their
IPV (In-Person-Verfication) done immediately else they will not be able to
invest in Mutual Funds (apart from existing folios). Therefore, contact your
Mutual Fund Advisor and get it done. However, if you have it already, you can
check the status of your KYC at https://www.cvlkra.com/kycpaninquiry.aspx (if
you have done from CDSL) or athttps://kra.ndml.in/ (if you have
done from NSDL)
INCOME TAX CONCESSION TO EMPLOYERS UNDER NPS:
For those who are Entrepreneurs or Owner of Companies, please note
that The Finance Act, 2011 amended section 36 so as to provide that any
sum paid by the assessee as an employer by way of contribution towards a
pension National Pension System (NPS) to the extent it does not exceed ten per
cent of the salary of the employee, shall be allowed as deduction in computing
the income under the head “Profits and gains of business or profession”. Use
this as a tool to retain your employees!
This
amendment will be effective from 1 April 2012 and will be applicable to the
assessment year 2012-13 (for the income earned in the financial year 2011-12)
and subsequent years.
NATIONAL
PENSION SCHEME – Have you opened your Account yet? Started by PFRDA
(Pension Fund Regulatory And Development Authority) it is one of the low cost
models for creating your retirement corpus. Please contact one of the service
providers and get your account openedhttp://www.camsonline.com/PensionSystemServices.aspx
KNOW YOUR CREDIT SCORE
- Your Credit Score is critical to the loan approval process. It provides
lenders an indication of how likely it is that you will pay back a loan. The
credit information is based on the millions of updates received by CIBIL from
its strong member base comprising of Banks, Financial Institutions, State
Financial Corporations, Non-Banking Financial Companies, Housing Finance
Companies and Credit Card Companies.
Why
it is important? By understanding your credit history it enables you to take
control of your financial situation, make informed financial decisions and also
helps to protect yourself from identity theft.
Get
yourselves “your score” before the bank rejects your loan request for a reason
which even you are not aware off, example – your old credit card dues which you
cleared but still showing as outstanding in the books of the Credit Card
issuing bank or some wrong bills raised by the credit card company and not
received by you and showing as outstanding! These all are going to minimise
your score which affects you overall score. Contact http://www.cibil.com/help-center or http://www.experian.in/consumer/index.html
OBTAIN AADHAAR CARD
– Aadhaar is a 12 digit individual identification number issued by the
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on behalf of the Government of
India. This number will serve as a proof of identity and address, anywhere in
India. Any individual, irrespective of age and gender, who is a resident in
India and satisfies the verification process laid down by the UIDAI can
enrol for Aadhaar.
Each
individual needs to enroll only once which is free of cost. Each Aadhaar number
will be unique to an individual and will remain valid for life. Aadhaar number
will help you provide access to services like banking, mobile phone connections
and other Govt and Non-Govt services in due course.
Aadhaar
will ensure increased trust between public and private agencies and residents.
Once residents enrol for Aadhaar, service providers will no longer face the
problem of performing repeated Know Your Customer (KYC) checks before providing
services. They would no longer have to deny services to residents without
identification documents. Residents would also be spared the trouble of
repeatedly proving identity through documents each time they wish to access
services such as obtaining a bank account, passport, or driving license etc
Locate
the nearest enrolment Centre: http://appointments.uidai.gov.in/easearch.aspx
This
is just a bird’s view of everything that you need to check and do for your
finance during the year. Wishing you all a great year ahead!
This article was also published in "Chatterpiller", the newsletter of Carma Connect
https://carmaconnect.in/newsletters/2013/01/16/finger-food-7/