My Tax app

The My Tax app is being developed in-house by the Income Tax Department.

The Income Tax Department will soon launch a mobile app that will act as a portal for almost anything I-T-related. From payments, tax deducted, to communications from the department, everything can be managed through the My Tax app.

It is being developed in-house, a government official. The individual's profile will be mapped to the permanent account number (PAN), allowing the collation of all tax-related information, including deductions by third parties, pertaining to that login. Taxpayers will also be able to respond to queries from the I-T Department or file complaints via the app, which is being developed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to make the administration non-intrusive and taxpayer-friendly. It will complement similar initiatives by the board such as online scrutiny, which allows tax officials to seek details of transactions and get responses by e-mail.

The department recently unveiled Aaykar Setu, a new taxpayer service module that will have mobile and desktop versions. The app will provide various services such as PAN, TAN (tax deduction and collection account number) and tax payments.

The My Tax app will be personalised, but it's not clear whether tax-filing facilities will be available immediately.

The I-T Department is keen on the initiative as it believes convenience and simplicity are key to alleviating fear of the taxman and widening the tax base, having adopted the motto that taxpayers must be treated as customers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent a clear message to the tax authorities that they need to ensure that taxpayers do not fear the department.The department is working on a number of initiatives to improve its image.

The department is working on jurisdiction-free assessment, which means a taxpayer will not be linked to a particular ward or assessing officer. Assessment, if any, can be done anywhere in India, reducing the scope for interaction and harassment.

How to File ITR for year 2017 - 2018

 

Most income tax assessees have to file their ITR online. Here is the process of doing it in detail

All income tax assesses - including individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), professionals, Trusts, firms and companies-can now file their tax returns online. With a few exceptions, it is mandatory for all taxpayers to file returns online. Here are the steps to follow when you file your tax return.

Who should go for ITR e-filing
All income tax assessees need to file their returns online. However, the following can file using physical forms.

-Very senior citizens (individuals who were older than 80 years at any time during the previous year).

-Individuals or HUFs whose income was less than Rs5 lakh and who do not have to claim any refund.

 

You can file the online return yourself on the income tax department's e-filing website www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.  Most of these websites provide simplified platforms for income-tax assessees to file their returns. You can use these platforms for free if you want to file the return on your own. The websites levy a charge in case you need assistance. The charges are based on several factors such as the type of income and complexity of the tax return.

However, if you prefer to file through the tax department's website, the process remains the same as last year. There is no change in the process of filing ITR (online or offline).

Just like the previous assessment year, two processes are available. One is partially offline and the other is fully online (see graphic: How to e-file your return).

However, before filing, check a few things. You should check Form 26AS and ensure that the tax deducted from your income is as per your Form 16 and matches the figures in Form 26AS. If you file your returns without checking for mismatches between Form 16 and Form 26AS, you could get a notice from the I-T department, he added.

Also, ensure that you mention the correct bank details so that any refund can be directly credited to the bank account. Similarly, make sure you mention the correct PAN, address, email and mobile number.

Remember that the due date for filing returns for AY 2017-18 is 31 July 2017. However, don't wait for the last date.

In the past, there have been instances when the e-filing website has crashed because too many people logged on at the same time, which led to delays and failure in filing returns.

E-filing taxes
While filing your tax return, if you find that you still owe some tax to the income tax department, you can pay it online. This is considered self-assessment tax.

The tax liability could have arisen because maybe you did not consider an income while paying the final instalment of advance tax, or if nil or a lower rate of tax deducted at source (TDS) was applied on an income instead of a higher rate of tax.

Paying tax online
You can pay tax offline as well at designated branches of banks that are empanelled with the income tax department. For this, you need to fill up Challan 280. You can pay the tax either by cheque or cash. Remember to collect the challan receipts and ensure that the challan information number (CIN) along with a 7-digit BSR code of the branch and date of deposit are clearly printed, stamped or written on the acknowledgement.

To pay the tax online, go to the income tax website www.incometaxindia.gov.in. Once you login, you will see an option to "e-Pay taxes". Click here and you will be directed to the website of National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL). Here, select challan no./ITNS 280. You will be presented with two options; choose the option marked '(0021) Income tax (other than companies)'. Fill in details such as PAN, name, address, and contact details. Select the assessment year for which you want to pay the tax. Then, under the head 'Type of payment' select '(300) Self Assessment Tax', click on the drop-down list to choose the bank's name through which you want to pay.

Remember that online payments can be made only through Net banking and not by credit or debit cards. After clearing the captcha test, pay tax through net banking.

Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax up to Rs 46,350 under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Funds. Save Tax Get Rich

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Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund

Investments in companies with strong fundamentals and scalable business models. The fund follows a multi cap strategy, thus combining the stability of Large Caps with Mid Cap growth potential The fund is currently focused on domestic growth themes, which can meaningfully benefit from the expected economic turnaround.

The fund has an established track record of over a decade. For example:Rs.1 Lac invested in the fund at inception (28-Mar-05) was worth Rs.7.14 Lacs as on 30-June-16, as compared to Rs.4.17 Lacs in the benchmark (S&P BSE 100)

 NAV as at June 30, 2016(Rs.)71.4429 Performance of Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund - Growth Option as on 30/06/2016DateNAV Per Unit (Rs.)Scheme Returns (%)Benchmark Returns
# (%) Additional Benchmark Returns
# # (%) Current Value of Standard Investment of Rs 10000 in the Scheme (Rs)Since inception till June 30, 201610.0000  19.07 13.52 13.46June 30, 2015 to June 30, 201672.9909(2.12) (0.40)(2.81) N.AJune 30, 2014 to June 30, 2015 61.2773 19.129.329.31 June 28, 2013 to June 30, 201440.0867 52.86 33.44 31.03

Since Inception Date - 28/03/2005 # Benchmark S&P BSE 100## Additional BenchmarkS&P BSE SENSEX

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Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Mutual Funds

Top 10 Tax Saver Mutual Funds to invest in India for 2017

Best 10 ELSS Mutual Funds in india for 2017

1. BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund

2. Axis Tax Saver Fund

3. Religare Tax Plan

4. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund

5. Franklin India TaxShield

6. ICICI Prudential Long Term Equity Fund

7. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund

8. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96

9. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund

10. Birla Sun Life Tax Plan

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Invest Online

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Save for Retirement

The basics numbers of saving, investment and life expectancy have changed and we all need to save more for old age

If you want your savings to be worth more, then you should invest more. It sounds like a joke, but it isn't. Over the last few months, while analysing savers' long-term projections and answering their questions, it's become increasingly clear that most people do not save enough. This is not unique to India--financial advisors around the world have started talking about it. In the developed world, this is driven by the realisation that interest rates and the resulting income from fixed-income products could possibly stay at negligible levels for many more years, perhaps a decade or more.

In India, there are a range of reasons why savers need to save more, and interest rates are only one of them. Nominally, in terms of the number that your bank has written on your fixed deposit certificate, interest rates in India are quite high. However, anyone who understands even a little bit about savings and investments knows that this is an illusion and real interest rates over and above inflation are a fairly small one to two per cent. But even that's an illusion. People's personal inflation rates, especially as they retire and get older, are generally much higher than the official one.

What's more, interest rates will likely head down. Raghuram Rajan is the rare RBI boss who was explicitly committed to maintaining a certain real rate of return. In the future, under a governor who is more accommodating to the low-interest cheerleaders, savers will probably have a harder time earning anything at all after adjusting for inflation.

What makes this worse is taxation on interest income. Even if you are in the 10% tax bracket, post-tax real returns from interest on deposits is barely neutral. In the higher tax brackets, it's clearly negative. That's the reality of interest income that few realise. None of this is going to change anytime soon and some of it is going to actually get worse. If, like most Indians, you are a believer in deposits, then you'll just have to put in that much more to get out the same value.

However, that's not the end of the story. What's making this worse is longer life spans. In India, life expectancy at the age of 60 is now 17.8 years. As recently as 1990, this was 14.8 years. That large a change in the average means that some people--specially those with access to better nutrition and healthcare are living a lot longer. We can see this around us. It's very likely that this trend will continue. The flipside is that your retirement kitty may have to last 25 or 30 years. To do this, your savings will have to earn better returns--which, as we've seen--is likely to be a challenge. Even if they can--perhaps for investors who have a reasonable equity allocation--there is no alternative to saving more.

Most people just save whatever they can, or they save some arbitrary number driven by tax saving needs. Instead, we'll have to start projecting future needs and projecting backwards from there to see how much we need to save. The best thing to do is to be pessimistic in these calculations--assume that needs will be higher and returns lower.

This is for those who manage their own savings. For the millions who depend on statutory schemes like PF, the government should tweak the system to lead to higher savings and returns. In the last budget, there was an attempt to reform EPF that had to be rolled back in the teeth of protests. However, an increase in the EPF contribution or some other fundamental tweak is needed to ensure that those dependent upon it can cope with the changes that are taking place.

Longer lifespans and lower returns are a lethal combination for being comfortably off. All of us will have to recognize the threat and act sooner rather than later to manage it.

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Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Mutual Funds

Top 10 Tax Saver Mutual Funds to invest in India for 2017

Best 10 ELSS Mutual Funds in india for 2017

1. BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund

2. Axis Tax Saver Fund

3. Religare Tax Plan

4. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund

5. Franklin India TaxShield

6. ICICI Prudential Long Term Equity Fund

7. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund

8. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96

9. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund

10. Birla Sun Life Tax Plan

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Check LIC Policy status

Check LIC Policy status without registration by Mobile Phone or SMS

 

Many of LIC policyholders might be struggling to get their status. Because they feel it is cumbersome to visit LIC Office, contact agent or creating login to check on LIC Portal. But do you know we can check LIC Policy status without registration through Mobile Phone or SMS?

You can check your LIC Policy status by going online, registering your policy account details and all those. Because there is a possibility (in many cases) of forgetting the password or username itself. However, below I will explain you how to check your policy status without registration using your mobile phone or SMS facility.

What you need to avail these facilities?

1) Mobile phone (For calling or sending SMS) or Land phone (For calling).

2) You must know your policy number.

1) Check LIC Policy Status without registration by calling to LIC's IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System)–

LIC offers you IVRS calling. This you can use for getting your policy status without any manual intervention. As I said earlier, policy registration is not at all required for this.

For making a local call from any MTNL or BSNL number simply dial 1251 and for other than local users IVRS can be accessed by dialling the city STD code of the IVRS center followed by 1251.

When you call to this number, the only information you need to know is your policy number. You can check your policy status, loan availability, bonus accumulated and few more other policy status details.

I checked dialling 1251 from my BSNL landline and it worked fine and within a second I got the status of the policy which I need. However, when I tried to dial from my non-BSNL mobile phone (using the Bangalore area code of 080 followed by 1251), I found it was not working. I don't know what may be the reason.

 

This I felt a negative point of this facility. Because it worked fine from a landline but not from a mobile phone. Along with that LIC also claiming, "To know Policy details through IVRS, simply dial 1251 available 24×7 in the following cities." This means the 1251 policy status inquiry facility is not available for 24X7 for other cities. If yes, then LIC not provided any details about the timing for other than below listed city customers. Anyhow, this facility is available for 24X7 for below-mentioned cities.

Asansol, Allahabad, Aurangabad, Bareilly, Coimbatore, Dharwad, Gorakhpur, Gwalior, Hazaribagh, Jodhpur, Jammu, Kozhikode, Kota, Kolhapur, Meerut, Mysore, Nashik, Patna, Pondicherry, Rajkot, Ranchi, Salem, Surat, Shillong, Shimla, Thanjavur, Vadodara and Varanasi.

Here it is not clear whether the rest of the cities are not able to get this service 24X7 or not. Also, the cities mentioned particularly are not big cities. Hence, doubt also is there, whether apart from a metro and other big cities, this facility will be available for the above-listed cities or not.

Anyhow, I checked from Bangalore BSNL Landline and it is working perfect. Let me know some user experience with this.

2) Check LIC Policy status without registration through SMS-

You check your policy status by sending SMS. Here also you no need to register your policy number. Just from a mobile number you have to send SMS with predefined short and long codes. Below are the codes for the same.

PREM (Premium)-To check the premium due for your policy.

REV (Revival) -If a policy already lapsed, then to check the revival amount payable.

BONUS-Amount of bonus accumulated as of today.

LOAN-Amount of loan you can avail from your policy

NOM (Nomination) -To know the details of a nomination.

For example, to know the premium due for any particular policy, then send the SMS in below format.

ASKLIC <POLICY NO> PREM

To 56767877 (with short code) or 9222492224 (with long code).

I checked using a lapsed policy and I immediately received the message as "Contact Branch". Tthis is a great initiative

If you have a pension policy with LIC, then you can check the details of that policy as below.

STAT-IPP Policy status

ECDUE-Existence certificate due

ANNPD-Last pension released date

PDTHRU-Pension payment through (CHQ/ECS/NEFT)

AMOUNT-Pension amount

CHQRET-Cheque return information

For example, to know the IPP policy status, then send the SMS as below.

ASKLIC <STAT> STAT to 56767877

I felt SMS facility more convenient than the IVRS facility and want to know from all you about the user experience of these two facilities of LIC to check the policy status without registration.

For further information contact SaveTaxGetRich on 94 8300 8300

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Birla Sun Life Advantage Fund

Birla Sun Life Advantage Fund
(An Open-ended Growth Scheme)

With a superior track record of over 10 years, BSL Balanced Advantaged Fund, an open-ended diversified equity fund aims to offer long-term capital growth, at relatively moderate levels of risk through a research-based investment approach.

 

•	Long-term Capital Growth
•	Investments in Equity and Equity related securities.

 

Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax up to Rs 46,350 under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Funds. Save Tax Get Rich

For further information contact SaveTaxGetRich on 94 8300 8300

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HDFC Equity Savings Fund

HDFC Equity Savings Fund - One fund

 With the strength of three

HDFC Equity Savings Fund is suitable for investors who are seeking *

 

• capital appreciation while generating income over medium to long term


• provide capital appreciation and income distribution to the investors by using equity and equity related instruments, arbitrage opportunities, and investments in debt and money market instruments

HDFC Housing Opportunities Fund

HDFC Mutual Fund today sought SEBI approval to launch HDFC Housing Opportunities Fund – Series 1, a close-ended equity oriented hybrid fund.

As the name suggests the fund will invest in housing theme to take advantage of the expected growth in housing and allied business, said the fund house in a draft offer document.

Sharing the rationale behind launching this fund, a senior official of the fund house said, "In the budget 2017, the government has given a thrust to affordable housing sector. In fact, we have seen growing demand of housing sector among investors. Hence, we plan to launch a fund focussing on housing sector."

The fund house plans to introduce three plans in the scheme depending on the tenure ranging between 24 and 66 months.  

The scheme will invest a minimum of 70% in equity instruments of entities in housing and its allied business activities, which include the cement and steel industries. The fund can also take exposure of up to 10% of corpus in REITS and InvITs. It will also invest up to 30% in debt and money market instruments.

HDFC Housing Opportunities Fund is the first housing-oriented fund to seek SEBI approval. Experts say the fund is suitable for investors having high-risk appetite.

Srinivas Rao Ravuri will manage this fund.

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L&T Business Cycles Fund

Win through all market cycles by investing in L&T Business Cycles Fund

Check if you need to File Tax Return Even If you do not have Taxable Income

 

It seems obvious that if you don't have any taxable income, there is no need to file a tax return. But in some situations return filing may be necessary or even mandatory, irrespective of whether you have taxable income or not. Do file your income tax return if any of these apply to you –

You need a tax refund:

Your income is below taxable limit but your bank has deducted TDS on interest on fixed deposit. You are a freelancer and your income does not exceed Rs 2.5lakhs but a client deducted TDS before paying you. This is a common scenario especially for small freelancers, such as designers or parlors or boutiques, usually they run their business from home and don't have income above the exemption limit. But sometimes TDS gets deducted on their income. If this is true for you, file your tax return and claim a refund.

You are an NRI with rental income in India:

If you are a NRI but own a house in India which gives you rental income, you should file your taxes. NRIs must report income from India if it exceeds Rs 2.5lakhs per annum. You are allowed to deduct municipal taxes of the property which are paid by you from its rental income. You can also claim 30% standard deduction towards maintenance costs of the property. This is especially important if TDS has been deducted on rent paid to you. By filing a return, you may be eligible for a refund of TDS.

You are resident in India and own foreign assets:

If you are resident in India but lived abroad at some point in time. And continue to hold a foreign bank account, or retirement accounts, or properties, or any financial interest in an entity outside India (ESOPs), you must file a tax return and report it.

You want to carry forward losses:

If you have short term losses from shares or loss from carrying on a business or profession, you must file a return. Even though there is no taxable income, filing a return for losses allows you to carry them to future years. In subsequent years these can be adjusted from taxable income.

You are a company:

 If you have recently incorporated a company, remember that tax filing is mandatory for a company. This is irrespective of whether you have profits or losses.

 

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Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax upto Rs 46,350 under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Funds

Top 4 Tax Saver Mutual Funds for 2017

Best 4 ELSS Mutual Funds to invest in India for 2017

1. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund

2. Invesco India Tax Plan

3. Tata India Tax Savings Fund

4. BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund

Invest in Best Performing 2017 Tax Saver Mutual Funds Online

Invest Best Tax Saver Mutual Funds Online

Download Top Tax Saver Mutual Funds Application Forms

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Debt Market Update - June 2017

 

The yield on new 10-year benchmark (6.79% GoI 2027) ended the month of June at 6.51% down by 15 bps over the previous month end. The yield on 10-year AAA Corporate Bond ended the month at 7.42% as against 7.64% at the end of May 2017. Thus, corporate bond spreads during the month narrowed to 80 bps as against 87 bps in the previous month.

Liquidity conditions continued to remain positive during the month of June 2017. As against ~Rs. 340,058 crs of average liquidity absorbed by RBI during the month of May 2017 through various sources (Liquidity Adjustment Facility, export refinance, marginal standing facility and term repos/reverse repos), ~Rs.309,030 crs of liquidity was absorbed by RBI during the month of June 2017. Cash Management Bills (CMBs) were issued twice during June totaling Rs.60,000 crs. On 30th June, RBI announced an Open Market Operation (OMO) sale of G-secs totaling Rs.10,000 crs. The overnight rate ended at the same level of 6.25% as against previous month.

INR closed at 64.58 versus the USD in June as against 64.51 in May 2017. The net FII investments in equities & debt were ~US$ 4.55 billion in June 2017, up from US$ 4.17 billion in May 2017. FII's have purchased close to US$ 22.65 billion in Indian debt and equity markets between Jan'17 to Jun'17 as compared to ~US$ 1.2 bn during Jan'16 to Jun'16.

The annual rate of retail inflation, CPI fell to 2.2% YoY in May 2017, lower than 3.0% in April 2017. The drop was largely on account of fall in food inflation, which decreased to -0.22% in May 2017 from 1.2% in April 2017. Fuel & light inflation also decreased to 5.46% in May 2017 from 6.13% in April 2017. Core CPI (excl. food & fuel) also declined to 4.14% in May 2017 from 4.4% in April 2017.

On the economic front, Gross Value Added (GVA) grew 6.1% YOY in 4QFY17 partly reflecting impact of demonetization. FY17 GVA growth was at 6.6%, lower than FY16 GVA growth of 7.9%.

In its June meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 5-1 in favour of leaving the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.25% in line with consensus expectations. The RBI sharply lowered its inflation projections for first half of FY18 to 2.0%-3.5% (from 4- 4.5% earlier) and for second half of FY18 to 3.5%-4.5% (from 4.5-5% earlier). It also lowered its FY18 GVA growth projection marginally to 7.3% from its 7.4% projection made during the April policy meeting.

Outlook

The MPC in its June'17 credit policy review kept policy repo rate unchanged with a less hawkish tone and sharply lowered inflation projections for the current fiscal year. In case the incoming data reaffirms the moderating path of inflation, it may create some space for easing in our opinion. With a benign inflation outlook, steady INR, implementation of GST and good progress of monsoon, there is room for moderate downside in yields in our view.

Source for various data points: RBI Website, Bloomberg, Reuters and HDFC AMC Research.

Invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax up to Rs 46,350 under Section 80C. Get Great Returns by Investing in Best Performing ELSS Funds. Save Tax Get Rich

For further information contact SaveTaxGetRich on 94 8300 8300

OR

You can write to us at

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