GOOD NEWS FOR DEPOSITORS FROM SBI

The State Bank of India (SBI) revises interest rates, raising them from as low as 15 basis points to 75 basis points, depending on the time period and amount of deposits. A few of the interest rates have even been kept constant such as the interest rate for deposit made for the time period ranging between 46 days and 179 days (for an amount less than Rs. one crore) keeping the rate unchanged at 6.25%.

Essentially, the term deposits (fixed deposits or FDs) of State Bank of India (SBI) can be divided into three broad categories: A) The deposit that are for less than Rs. one crore. B) The deposits that are over Rs. one crore but less than Rs. 10 crore. C) The deposits made for over Rs. 10 crore.

Category I: Deposit for lower than Rs. one crore

In the first category, the interest rate for the deposits made for one year has been hiked from 6.25% to 6.40%. The interest rate for the deposits made for ultra-short duration that is between seven days and 45 days, has been raised from 5.25% to 5.75%. At the same time, the deposits made for the long-term duration that is for over two years has been raised from 6% to 6.5%.

Tenors	Earlier	Revised	Earlier (senior citizens)	Revised (senior citizens)
7 days to 45 days	5.25	5.75	5.75	6.25
46 days to 179 days	6.25	6.25	6.75	6.75
180 days to 210 days	6.25	6.35	6.75	6.85
211 days to less than 1 year	6.25	6.40	6.75	6.90
1 year	6.25	6.40	6.75	6.90
Above 1 year to 455 days	6.25	6.40	6.75	6.90
456 days to less than 2 years	6.25	6.40	6.75	6.90
2 years to less than 3 years	6.00	6.50	6.50	7.00
3 years to less than 5 years	6.00	6.50	6.50	7.00
5 years and up to 10 years	6.00	6.50	6.50	7.00

 Category II: Deposits over Rs. one crore but less than Rs. 10 crore

In the second category, the rates of interest have been raised by upto 75 basis points. The minimum increase has been made against the deposits that are made for 5 years and above which has been raised from 6% to 6.25%. The deposits made for one year to 455 days has been raised from 6.25% to 6.75%. The deposits made for the ultra-short duration (seven days to 45 days) has been raised from 5.25% to 5.75%.

Category III: Deposits of over Rs. 10 crore

In the third category, the deposits made for Rs. 10 crore and above will earn an interest that will be higher by upto 75 basis points. The ultra-short duration deposits will earn the interest rate of 5.75% against 5.25% earlier. The moderately long duration interest rates (between 46 days to 210 days) will draw interest rate of 6.7% against 6.25% earlier. The deposits made for a time period that ranges between 211 days to less than two years will draw an interest rate of 6.75% against 6.25%. Similarly, the rate of interest on deposits made for two years to less than three years will be 6.75% against 6% earlier.

BUDGET 2018-2019 BRINGS MORE HAPPINESS FOR SENOR CITIZENS

The burden of a lifetime of extended working hours spent at the office is undertaken so that our families can reap the benefits of our hard work. The smiles on their faces is the reward we are given, which motivates us to continue providing for them.  However, as we age and the strain of 30 plus years of hard work is felt, any small relief sent our way is greatly appreciated.  The recently announced 2018 Budget held good news for senior citizens, providing the expected extra relief.

Amended Deductions for Senior Citizens

1.        During a person’s golden years, most of the income earned is in the form of the interest from the various savings established, such as post office schemes, FD’s etc.  Therefore, the increase in the exemption limit for interest income limit from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50, 000 is well received.

2.        The health insurance premium and/or medical expenditures deductible was also increased from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 u/s 80D.  Additionally, the deductions available under section 80DDB for critical illnesses was increased to Rs 1, 00,000.  Both these deductions is available to all senior citizens, whereas before there was distinction in the allowance between senior citizens and super senior citizens (above 80yrs)

3.        The investment limit for Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana, which provides a return of 8%, by LIC of India (PMVVY) has been increased from Rs 7,50,000 to Rs 15,00,000.

Additionally, the various health schemes the government has introduced, also benefits senior citizens, as they are among the populace that it covers, such as:

·         Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) – which at present provides an annual coverage of only Rs. 30,000, which is proposed to be increased to Rs 5,00,000

·         National Health Protection Scheme – This scheme provides coverage upto Rs 5,00.000 covers 10 crore poor families, which is approximately 50 crore recipients with primary and secondary care.

The improvements to the schemes/deductions available for senior citizens in the recently announced 2018 Budget, allows senior citizens to rest more peacefully in their golden years.

E-WAY BILL ON THE WAY ! #7TH MARCH, 2018

GST’s e-way bill system, which promises to enable faster movement of goods through a seamless portal-driven payment system, may see the light of the day from March 7, after technical glitches aborted its mandatory full-fledged launch on February 1.

While National Informatics Centre (NIC), the government’s nodal IT procurement arm, wants to implement a foolproof e-way bill system from April 1, the finance ministry is pushing for an earlier rollout in its effort to prevent revenue leakages.

On February 1, the portal collapsed as it wasn’t ready to handle the large volumes of inter as well as intra-state bills that were being generated at the time.

“The portal was capable to generating only 500 bills per minute, which was way too small a capacity as compared with the traffic on the day of launch. NIC has been asked to increase its capacity to at least a few thousands so that the system doesn’t collapse again,” the official said.

The Centre has now asked states to rollout intra-state bill in a staggered manner so that it does not put immense pressure on the portal as the government’s priority is smooth and steady implementation.

Besides, the prime rule of securing an e-way bill while ferrying goods worth more than Rs 50,000 within or outside a state through prior online registration of the consignment may be tweaked, for the time being, the official said.

To generate an e-way bill, the supplier and transporter will have to upload details on the GST Network portal, after which a unique e-way bill number (EBN) will be made available to the supplier, the recipient and the transporter on the common portal.

“The idea is to declutter the portal will less number of bills and reduce the load as much as possible,” the official added.

For instance, a single transporter may have five different consignments worth more than Rs 50,0000. Yet, that transporter had to generate five separate bills despite the value of a single consignment being less than half a lakh rupee.

The responsibility of developing an e-way bill system was given to NIC in September and it was decided by the GST Council on October 6 that the e-way bill should be made compulsory beginning April 1, 2018.

However, the Council met via video conference on December 16 and decided to make the rollout of all-India electronic-way bill compulsory from February 1--two months ahead of the earlier plan to mainly plug revenue leakages.

REMOVAL OF INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS TIGHTENED

Government tightens the norms regarding removal of Independent Directors reappointed under Companies Act 2013 

MCA has issued the Companies (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2018 to provide the clarity on removal of re-appointed independent director in a company by way of special resolution.

Independent directors appointed for a second  term at corporates can now be removed only by a special resolution passed by shareholders, with the government tightening the rules. 

Before removal, such independent directors should also be given "reasonable opportunity of being heard", according to the corporate affairs ministry. 

The move comes against the backdrop of concerns in certain quarters about the independence of independent directors in carrying out their functions and instances of such people being removed from the boards of companies by promoter entities. 

A special resolution requires approval from at least 75 per cent shareholders present at a meeting whereas only a minimum of 50 per cent is needed in case of ordinary resolutions. 

Coming out with the new provision, the ministry said the decision is to ensure better corporate governance and balancing of powers of the boards. 

In this regard, the ministry has issued a 'Removal of Difficulties' order to introduce a new provision under Section 169 of the Companies Act. 

EPFO TO REDUCE EPF RATE TO 8.55%

Hello Everyone !

CBT is the highest decision-making body of the EPFO. It is chaired by the labour minister and has representatives of the Central and State governments, besides those from employers and employees.

The Central Board of Trustees of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) recommended slashing the interest rate for its 5-crore subscribers to a five-year low of 8.55 per cent for the current financial year of 2017-18 from 8.65 per cent last year.

 Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Gangwar said that at a rate of 8.55 per cent, the EPFO will have a surplus of Rs 586 crore.

Labour ministry sources also said the reduction in interest rate is in line with advice from the Finance ministry, indicating that the idea behind an interest rate cut this year is to build a good buffer to enable a hike in EPF interest rate next year. Two years ago, the Finance Ministry had proposed to reduce the interest rate on EPF from the earlier 8.8 per cent to 8.7 per cent for the fiscal 2015-16. However, even the minor reduction was opposed by the trade unions which had threatened an agitation forcing the government to retain the 8.8% rate of interest.

However for the subsequent year, the interest rate was reduced to 8.65 per cent in view of the falling interest rates in the economy and keeping the EPFO earnings in view. EPFO has nearly 6 crore subscribers. According to reports, after payment of 8.55 per cent interest for 2017-18, the organisation will be left with a surplus of Rs 586 crore against Rs 695 crore in the previous financial year.

#GSTR-B SIMPLIFIED

Hello Everyone out there.....

Hope you all doing good...!

Filing GSTR-3B is now made more User friendly

Some important points to be noted for filing of GSTR-3B from now onwards:-

• Fill either CGST or SGST/UGST amount, other tax will get auto filled.
• You can now save the Form on confirming details filled in the Table. You can fill balance details  later.
• Preview Form or download it for cross verifying saved details in any table(s) anytime.
• No more Submit requirement to freeze details and know the liability.
• Changes in any table can be made before making payment towards liabilities.
• Once you proceed to payment, you can also see details of existing balances in cash and credit ledgers (Table 6.1 - Payments Table).
• Wow! System suggested Tax Credit (ITC) is already filled for discharging liability. Be aware, it is only   suggestion. You can edit the same before finalizing the Return.
• Once you confirm ITC and cash utilization for payment of tax liability in Payments Table, system does   automatic calculation for shortfall in cash ledger.
• Once you are Ok with shortfall, System will generate pre-filled challan for shortfall and navigate to     payments option.
• Once you make online payment, system will navigate back to Payments Table.
• Satisfied with the details filled, click "Proceed to file", select authorized signatory, Submit with EVC or   DSC.

      Your Return is filed!

GOVERNMENT EASES NORMS FOR PPF ACCOUNTS

PROPOSED BENEFITS IN PUBLIC PROVIDENT FUND ACCOUNT

PPF or public provident fund is one the most popular saving schemes. Apart from higher interest rates compared to bank deposits, PPF also offers a host of income tax benefits. In terms of income tax implications,PPF enjoys an EEE - exempt, exempt, exempt - status. This means the contribution, interest and maturity proceeds are all tax-free. PPF contribution up to Rs. 1.5 lakh in a financial year is eligible for tax deductions under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. Now, PPF accounts are likely to come with more benefits.

10 Important Things to be noted for New PPF Account Rules(As proposed ):-

• The government has proposed to allow premature closure of Public Provident Fund (PPF) accounts.
• According to the current PPF account rules, premature closure of PPF account is allowed only under specific conditions such as expenditure towards medical treatment and higher education. The account has to complete at least five financial years.
• "To make provisions for premature closure easier in respect of all schemes, provisions could now be made through specific scheme notification. The benefits of premature closure of small savings schemes may now be introduced to deal with medical emergencies, higher education needs, etc," the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
• The government has also plans to consolidate PPF Act under the proposed Government Savings Promotion Act. The government has said that "no existing benefits to depositors are proposed to be taken away through this process".
• "The main objective in proposing a common Act is to make implementation easier for the depositors as they need not go through different rules and Acts for understanding the provision of various small saving schemes, and also to introduce certain flexibilities for the investors," the Finance Ministry said.
• PPF accounts are immune from attachment under court decree order. The Finance Ministry has also clarified that there is no proposal to withdraw the provision and the existing and future depositors will continue to enjoy protection from the attachment under the amended umbrella Act as well.
• The government has also said that apart from ensuring existing benefits, certain new benefits to the depositors have been proposed under the bill to merge Government Savings Certificates Act, 1959 and Public Provident Fund Act, 1968 with the Government Savings Banks Act, 1873.
• "The existing Acts are silent about grievance redressal. The amended Act allows the Government to put in place mechanism for redressal of grievances and for amicable and expeditious settlement of disputes relating to Small Savings," the Finance Ministry said.
• As per existing provisions of the Acts, if the depositor dies and nomination exists, the outstanding balances will be paid to nominee(s). But Supreme Court in its judgement stated that nominee(s) is merely empowered to collect the amounts as trustee for the benefit of legal heirs, the Finance Ministry said. "It was creating disputes between the provisions of the Acts and verdict of Supreme Court. Hence, right of nominees have now been more clearly defined," the ministry said in a statement.
• No change in interest rate or tax policy on small savings scheme is being made through this amendment, the government clarified. The interest rate on PPF accounts, like other small savings schemes, is reset on a quarterly basis. Currently, PPF accounts fetch an interest rate of 7.6 per cent (for January-March quarter).Some banks offer the facility for opening a PPF account online for the convenience of their customers. They are no longer required to visit a branch. They are also no longer required to submit physical documents. The banks offer the facility to open PPF account through internet or mobile banking.

#OPPRTUNITY FOR BIG CASH DEPOSITORS TO REVISE OR FILE INCOME TAX RETURN BY 31ST MARCH 2018

Hello Everyone.....


If  any large unexplained cash deposits in your bank account have ben made during demonetisation, then you still have time to 'COME CLEAN' by filing revised or belated income tax return by March 31, 2018, as per the income tax department's latest advertisement in leading newspapers. 

In its advertisement, the income tax department has pointed out that taxpayers have time till 31.3.2018 to file belated or revised returns for the Financial Years 2015-16 and 2016-17. After the earlier Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes were demonetised on November 8, 2016, people had to deposit all cash that they held in these two types of notes with banks. Later the tax department had asked all those with large unexplained cash deposits to file replies via an interface on their site. 
Now advertisement specifically mentions that people who have made large and unexplained cash deposits or have high value transactions which are not reflected or accounted for in the returns can still come clean by filing belated or revised ITR with interest, if any, for late filing. 

Interest will be levied under section 234A for the late filing of returns at the rate of 1 percent per month - this is equal to 12% an year. 

IF a person with unaccounted income (which came to light as it had to be deposited as unexplained cash in his/her bank account) were to now include it in a previous income tax return by filing a revised return then he/she would have to pay tax plus interest and penalty (if applicable) on this income as well. However, the total of tax, interest and penalty payable in such a case is likely to be less than if the department was to issue the concerned person a notice and then take up his/her case for scrutiny assessment or conduct a raid and proceed accordingly. It may be noted that the income tax department already has the details of all cash deposits made above a certain level with banks during demonetisation. 

Hence Taxpayers with unexplained cash deposits can still 'come clean' by March 31, 2018 

Hope you all find the news regarding taxation useful.

Enjoy the reading.......

RS 119 CRORE FINE FOR NOT PASSING OFF THE BENEFITS OF GST ON RENOWNED COMPANY

Hello Everyone.......

#FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Limited has agreed to pay Rs 119 crore as penalty to government under anti-profiteering clause of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) after notices were sent for not passing rate-cut benefits to customers.

The Company Said that Effective November 15, 2017, GST rates were reduced for some of HUL's  FMCG categories from 28% to 18% which due to paucity of time was not possible for it to pass on the entire benefit of this rate reduction on some of the pipeline stocks during the transition. An estimated value of Rs 119 crore was proactively disclosed to the CBEC (Central Board of Excise and Customs) on this count and we have offered to pay this amount suo motu to the government. This amount is not recognised as revenue and is accounted as a liability as on December 31, 2017,

In this way, HUL decided to return Rs. 119 GST Gains to the Government of India. 

AMENDMENT IN IEC MODIFICATION PROCEDURE

Amendment in Chapter 2 of the Handbook of Procedure (2015-20)

• When an IEC holder seeks modification/ change of Head Office/ Registered Office address in its IEC and which involves a shift in its jurisdictional RA, a request to that effect will have to be made to the new RA, to whose jurisdiction the applicant is shifting its office.
• The new RA shall make appropriate amendments, based on documents submitted to it by the applicant. The new RA will also separately inform the RA, who had initially issued the IEC, of the changes made in the concerned IEC. Thereafter, the new RA shall allow the applicant to carry out necessary functions and also apply for eligible benefits as per FTP through its office

E-WAY BILL INTO FORCE

#E-Way-Bill Key Updates

Rajasthan

• E-Way bill shall be required to carry with inter-state movement of 33 commodities in the State, according to notification no. F.12(46)FD/Tax/2017-Pt.-IV-145 dated 18.12.2017. 

           As confirmed by GST Circular 2/2018 dated 05/02/2018.

West Bengal

• Online waybill system which existed till 31.01.2018 is hereby restored with immediate effect in variance of the Trade Circular No. 01/2018 dated 08.01.2018 and until further order. 

         As confirmed by GST Circular 3/2018 dated 05/02/2018.

#ewaybill #sssolutions

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#LAST OPPORTUNITY FOR AVAILING BENEFITS VIA FILING OF ITR FOR FY 2015-2016 AND FY 2016-2017

Income Tax Returns for FY 2015-16 and 2016-17 cannot be filed after 31.03.2018. Last date for both years is 31.03.2018

After 31.03.2018, 2 Years ITR filing will stop and at any point of time Only 1 year return filing can be done.

So hurry up and file your ITR to avoid departmental queries.