Budget 2013 - India

Mr. P Chidambaram, the Finance Minister of India, presenting the budget 2013 on February 28, 2013. The main highlights of the budget for the common man are as follows:

• Implementation of DTC again deferred
• First home loan of up to Rs 25 lacs will get an additional Rs 1 lac interest deduction
• Income Tax Sops on the equity investments under Rajiv Gandhi Equity savings scheme extended to Mutual Funds
• Income level raised to Rs 12 lacs from Rs 10 lacs for Rs 50,000 exemption for the individuals under RGESS
• No changes in Income Tax rates or slabs
• Rs 2,000 credit for those earning up to Rs 5 lacs per annum
• Super rich tax: 10% surcharge on income above Rs 1 cr
• DDT surcharge raised to 10% from 5%
• TDS at 1% of land deals over 50 lacs
• To reduce STT on equity futures, MF units - STT reduced from 0.17% to 0.1%.
•  Cigarettes and SUVs will get costlier
• Custom duty on imported motor vehicles hiked to 100% from 75%
• Mobile phones, priced above Rs 2,000 will get more expensive
• To exempt vocational courses, testing services from Service Tax net
• Gold duty free limit raised to Rs 50,000 for men and to Rs 1 lac for women travelers
• Service tax to be imposed on all AC restaurants

 To summarize, it is clear that there was nothing to offer for a common middle class Indian.
 
  

Budget 2012 - India

Pranab Mukherjee, the Finance Minister of India, presented the budget 2012 on March 16th, 2012. The main highlights of the budget for the common man are as follows:

• Implementation of DTC deferred.
• Income Tax Sops on the equity investments under Rajiv Gandhi Equity savings scheme on 50K for the individuals having income below Rs 10 lakh.
• Income Tax exemption limit hiked to Rs 2 lakh from the existing Rs 1.8 lakh.  
• Income from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh to be taxed at 10 per cent, from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh at 20%.
• Income above Rs 10 lakh to taxed at 30%. 
• Health insurance deduction up to Rs 5,000 for preventive health checkup within the existing limit of Rs. 15,000/-. 
• Senior citizens to be exempt from advance tax payments.
• STT (Security Transaction Tax) cut from 0.125% to 0.1%.
• Interest income from banks will be tax-free up to Rs 10,000.
• Service tax net widened; to include most sectors but Govt services, education, entertainment, public transport exempted from service tax.
• Propose to hike service tax rate from 10% to 12%.
• Sale of residential property exempted from capital gains if invested in equity or equipment of an SME. 
• Large cars duty raised from 22% to 24%.
• Solar power lamps, LED bulbs to become cheaper.
• Iodised salt, match-boxes, soya products to become cheaper.
• Big cars, ACs, refrigerators, phone bills, restaurant bills set to become more expensive.
• LCD, LED TVs to become cheaper.
• Cigarettes, gold, diamonds to cost more.

Importance of Business Cards

Business card holds an important place for business houses. It provides an identity to the business and helps in creating a brand name. Business cards are required not just by business tycoons or higher management, but by all the employees as it help everyone to create their identity and associate themselves with the company. Self-employed individuals can also use business cards to create a separate identity for themselves and their business.

Business cards are one of the types of advertisement also. Whenever you meet someone unknown, you can always exchange your business cards and you will get one more person who now knows about your business name. So, it is must to have a proper business card that can provide basic information about the nature of your business or profession. Remember not to make your business card a piece of clutter with lines of words; it should just have a kind of tagline about your business. Apart from that, a business card must include the name of your company, your name, contact details like email-address, website, contact number and address.

If you are an online blogger or have other kind of identity that may not have a company name, then you should highlight your website name to show it as your brand. You never know, down the line, your website may become the talk of the town and eventually becomes a brand.

Buy Business cards @ Amazon

What are Arbitrage Funds

Arbitrage funds are one type of mutual fund schemes that invest in the equity markets. These funds work differently than other equity funds as these funds buy stocks in the spot market and sell them in the derivative market and earns from the price difference. These funds generates good returns especially when the markets are volatile as there are better arbitrage opportunities.

Remember, arbitrage funds attracts short-term capital gain tax of 10% while there is no long term capital gain tax if held for more than one year.

Reserve Bank of India to issue Rs 150 coin

On the occasion of 150th anniversary year of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Reserve bank of India has issued currency coins of Rs. 150. The 35 grams 150 rupees coin is 40 mm in diameter. Now, to mark the number of years of taxation in India, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will issue special coins of Rs 150 before his Budget speech of 2011. These special coins will be made of an alloy of Silver, Copper, Nickel and Zinc. The new coin is expected to have an international design with 'Satyameva Jayate' and 'India' on the front side while a portrait of 'Chanakya and lotus with honeybee' on the reverse side.

Along with Rs 150 coin, RBI is expected to issue Rs 100 coin in memory of the Commonwealth Games and Rs 75 coin will also be issued on the occasion of 75 years of RBI. This is the first time that Government of India will issue coins of higher denomination.

How Investment in Stocks Helps to Evade Debt

Are you drowning in debts? Are you facing difficulty in managing your finances? If yes, then why don’t you try your hands in stock investment? Stock investment can be a great help in this regard and can help you to get out of the debt traps pretty fast. It not only provides you with the extra money to pay off your debts but also guides you to manage your future debts in a better way. If you are financially strapped then a debt relief program can help to lead out of this problem. You can still plan your investments wisely and keep yourself constantly updated with the rapid changes and fluctuation in the stock market. You can surely earn sufficient money and can get rid of your debt burden fast.

To be a successful investor first you need to have experience and proficient knowledge on the field of investment. Stock exchange investments are very tricky in nature; thereby thorough understanding of the subject is required to make the investments successful. All investors commit mistakes in stock exchange investments but they aim at not to repeat those mistakes in near future. Therefore before you get involved in stock investments learn about it as much possible and follow these few suggestions given below. Remember investing in stocks involves risks and in case you lack the sufficient knowledge on the subject, you can fall into further debts instead of getting out of it.

How to invest in stocks

• Evaluate the market properly before making your final investment. Analyze the difference between good and bad investments through different case studies. Compare different stocks you are planning to invest on. Search for an experienced stock broker or a reputed firm which can guide you best in this regard. However don’t depend on them blindly and keep a track of market rates of the stocks you invest on. All these helps you to make proper judgments and lessen the amount of risk involved with investing.
• If you are opting for investment in stock market as one of the debt solutions, you should first learn to identify the right time to buy and sell. The money you invest in buying stocks and the time you finally sell off your stocks are two most significant areas of concern. You better not to be greedy while investing. Once you start buying and selling at the right time nothing can stop you from gaining profit and paying off your debts.

Few things to keep in mind while investing

• Stocks have their individual time phases and cycles. Thereby it goes through constant ups and downs. Your job is to identify the exact time when you can maximize your profits. Follow the “buy and hold” strategy properly to earn profits in stock investment.
• Investing in single company or stock is not a very good option. This is because the moment that particular company or stock sinks you lose all your money. Try to experiment with different companies and stocks. This offers a greater chance of profits.
• If you listen to daily stock market result, it can sometimes distract you from making the right decision and can put unnecessary pressures on your head. Remember since stock investment is a long time procedure, daily result does not affect it all the times.
• Evaluate the stock properly before you invest. Don’t invest on it only because it has a cheaper price.
• Remember the basics of stock investing. You buy shares in the ownership of a company. You are not at all liable for company debt and you are free to claim your assets if it declares bankrupt in future.

If you plan your investment carefully, Stock markets are able to provide you with higher returns than other investment sectors. If you can avoid the mistakes in stock exchange investment and act patiently, you can surely gain greater profits and lead a debt free life in future.

Direct Tax Code Updates for 2012

Direct Tax Code (DTC) was much awaited since Government announced it last year in 2009. DTC was supposed to be applicable from the financial year of 2011, but as a major update, it has been postponed for another financial year, i.e. 2012. So, DTC will now be applicable only from year 2012.

Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee has tabled the draft of Direct Tax Code on Monday, 30th August 2010 in Parliament.

Major highlights and changes to check in DTC are:

• Postponed DTC to be applicable from April 1, 2012
• Income Tax slabs has been changed and raised giving some relief to tax payers
• Exemption of Rs 100,000/- under 80C is limited to PF,  Pension and Annuity Funds
• Additional deduction of Rs. 50,000/- provided
• No change in long term capital gain tax for listed securities and equity mutual funds
• Change in formula for short term capital gain tax
• STT to remain there
• Corporate Tax is maintained at 30%
• MAT is increased to 20%
• 5% Tax on Maturity of Mutual Funds and equity oriented Life Insurance
• 5% Tax on Dividend Distribution (DDT) for equity mutual funds
• Tax break for SEZs

The above mentioned updates for new tax code may differ in the final draft as it has now been postponed by one year. This is actually the third revised draft after being first proposed by the cabinet.


Revised Tax Slabs:
0 - 2 lacs : No Tax
2 - 5 lacs : 10%
5 - 10 lacs : 20%
Above 10 lacs : 30%

Additional 50,000/- is for health insurance, pure life insurance, education and any medi-claim type of policy.

If there will be some changes or modifications required in the above points, they will be updated. Still there are few points need some clarification. Nothing is clear about LTA whether it will become Taxable or remain Non-Taxable.
As an update, Finance Ministry has cleared that individuals will continue to enjoy the benefits of LTA as before. So, nothing much really changed for individual tax payers except the changes done for Sec 80C.

ELSS (Tax Saving Mutual Funds), ULIPs, Tax Saving FDs will not come under section 80C from April 2012.

Direct Tax Code Updates for 2011

On 26th August, 2010, Union Cabinet of India cleared the new Direct Tax Code (DTC). The new tax code proposes to raise the basic exemption limit from Rs 1.6 lacs to Rs 2 lacs. The new bill is expected to be introduced and discussed in Parliament on Monday, 30th August 2010.


New Expected Tax Slabs:
2 - 5 lacs : 10%
5 - 10 lacs : 20%
Above 10 lacs : 30%

The revised draft that came in June earlier this year, already exempted proposed tax on long-term savings. More picture will be cleared once it will be discussed in the parliament on Monday.
Find out the latest updates of DTC as discussed on 30th August 2010.

Consultancy - A Low Risk Business

If you are looking to start a business which involves low risk, Consultancy Business could be a great option for you to start a business. To start a Consultancy business, you do not require a huge infrastructure and setup cost is quite low. What you basically need is to make as many contacts as possible. Identify the target industry, make contacts and check out the requirements of the industry.

Every corporate and big industries requires consultancy for many of their work to get done on time. If you can properly identify their needs and gives them a perfect solution, you can easily build a good reputation among your clients. Consultancy business will continue to grow with time as more and more industries will expand their businesses. Know more details about how to start a consultancy business and what you all need to grow you business.

http://www.moneymanagementideas.com/consultancy-business.html

How to type Indian Rupee Currency Symbol

Indian Rupee Currency symbol may not be typed directly from your keyboard unless the new symbol is accepted by the Unicode Consortium's Unicode Technical Committee. But it does not mean, you cannot type this symbol. There are ways to type this symbol from your keyboard, one such way is to install a special font and type the new rupee symbol. This font can be used to type the Indian Currency symbol by hitting (`) symbol, which is just above the 'Tab' key on your keyboard.

Learn step by step how you can type the Indian Rupee currency symbol from the below link.

http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-type-the-new-Indian-currency-symbol-Rupee

Currency symbol finalized for Indian Rupee

India has finally got the unique currency symbol for Indian Rupee, which till now was denoted using 'Rs' or 'Re'. The new symbol is a perfect blend of modernity and Indian culture. It includes both the Devnagiri 'Ra' and the Roman capital 'R' and includes two parallel lines, which denotes "equals to" sign. Now Indian Rupee can be recognized globally by having its unique identity and symbol.

A unique currency symbol shows the robustness of the country's economy and now India too will be recognized as a global economy among other countries. It lend a distictive identity to the currency and further highlight the strength and global face of the Indian economy. The selected symbol has been designed by an Indian Institute of Technology postgraduate 'D Udaya Kumar'. Earlier, a committee headed by a Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) shortlisted five symbols and then redesigned them to give a new design to show robustness and perfect blend of modernity and Indian tradition. On Thursday, July 15th 2010, the Union Cabinet approved this design among the five selected symbols.

"The symbol will be adopted in a span of 6 months in the country, and within 18 to 24 months globally", as told by Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni. Later, it will feature on computer keyboards and softwares for worldwide use.

Shortlisted Currency Symbols for Indian Rupee

Earlier in 2009, Indian government decided to give the Indian currency a symbol to get it recognized globally and invited designs from all over the country. A committee headed by a Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) has shortlisted five symbols and expected to finalize the symbol on June 24th 2010. The Finance Ministry asked that the selected symbol should represent the historical and cultural ethos of traditional India.

As of now, there is no official symbol to represent Indian Rupee and India is using abbreviations “Re” and “Rs” for its currency. These abbreviations are also used by Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal for their currencies. Now, we have to wait and check which symbol will be finalized and when notes will start bearing the new symbol. You can bookmark this page to stay updated.

On 15th July 2010, the Union Cabinet finally approved the symbol for Indian currency. The new symbol is a redesign of the shortlisted symbol to give a perfect blend of modernity and Indian culture.

Updates on Direct Tax Code for 2011 by Pranab Mukherjee

Earlier in 2009, Indian Government proposed a new tax code for year 2011. In this proposed tax code, government indicated radical tax reforms to simplify taxation. To make it robust and accepted by citizens, this draft was open for public suggestions. Now on June 15th 2010, government released its revised version of proposed Direct Tax Code (DTC).

The major change that came is that tax on provident fund and life insurance products are to be treated on Exempt-Exempt-Exempt (EEE) basis instead of EET (Exempt-Exempt-Tax). Another major decision is for ULIPs. From the year 2011, new ULIPs will not have EEE benefit but existing ULIPs will continue to get EEE benefit. Further, there will be no capital gains on savings schemes.

Tax Saving Mutual Funds

Mutual Funds are considered to be the best investment option with moderate risk. Though, Mutual Funds are linked with market, but they are managed by professional fund managers and fund-houses. You also get the option to invest your money in balanced or pure-equity funds. You can get really good returns from MFs, if you invest for a minimum period of 3-5 years.

As Mutual funds are so popular, special funds were introduced for the investors to save income tax. These funds are called as tax-saving mutual funds and popularly known as ELSS (Equity Linked Savings Scheme). ELSS has a lock-in period of three years, so when you invest in these funds, your money will be locked for three years. But, you can expect better returns after 3-5 years than other traditional savings schemes and you also get the tax rebate under section 80C.

But financial year of 2010 – 2011 may be the last year for you to invest in tax-saving mutual funds in India. As per the upcoming tax-code for the financial year of 2011-2012, Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister of India has proposed a new tax code for the financial year 2011. As per the new tax code, there will be no income tax benefits under section 80C for ELSS, Tax-Saving Fixed Deposits, and NSCs.

If the current proposal gets passed in the assembly next year, you will not be able to avail tax-benefits for ELSS from the financial year of 2011 onwards. So, it may be the last year for you to put some decent amount of money in tax-saving mutual funds. The decision of abolishing ELSS from 80C can definitely harm mutual fund industry as a major part of investment goes in tax-saving funds. Best feature of ELSS is its three years lock-in period, so you can easily withdraw your complete amount after three years of time and avail tax-benefits. Only alternative that will be left after new tax-code implementation would be ULIP with moderate risk and to grow your money. Though, as per recent announcement from SEBI, no new ULIP plans will be offered to users. Well, nothing much can be commented as of now as things are not transparent, but it might be a step towards direct tax code implementation and they might be planning to abolish even ULIP from 80C indirectly.

So, if you want liquidity of money along with tax-saving, tax-saving mutual funds can be the best bet for the financial year of 2010-2011.

Update:
As an update, direct tax code has been delayed by one year, i.e. 2012. So now you can invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds (ELSS) in 2011 also and avail tax benefits under sec 80C. Click on the link to find the updates of new tax code for 2012.

Tax Saving Fixed Deposit

Financial year of 2010 – 2011 may be the last year for you to invest in tax-saving fixed deposits. There is a question in everyone’s mind, what can be the effect of abolishment of tax-saving FDs, NSC for investors and banks? For those who still are not aware of upcoming tax-code for the financial year of 2011-2012, Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister of India, has proposed a new tax code for the financial year 2011. As per the new tax code, there will no income tax benefits under section 80C for Tax-Saving Fixed Deposits, NSCs, and ELSS.

If the current proposal gets passed by assembly next year, you will not be able to avail tax-benefits for FDs under sec 80C from the financial year of 2011 onwards. So, it may be the last chance for you to put some money in these tax-saving FDs. As an investor, you must invest some amount of money in this tax-saving instrument. You can check for interest rates offered by major banks (SBI, ICICI, HDFC and other private & government banks), so whenever you find an increase in interest rate, invest some amount to avail tax benefits.

These FDs comes with a 5 year lock-in period, and the investment options that will be available after the new tax-code implementation will not be much flexible. ULIPs could be the only option available for you to invest money with a lock-in of 3 years, but as per the various studies, ULIPs do not give much return before 7-10 years.

So, if you want liquidity of money along with tax-saving, tax-saving fixed deposits can be the good option to look out for in the financial year of 2010-2011. As an investor and tax-payers, we may lose some freedom after the new tax code implementation, so utilize the current year to get the maximum benefit.

Update:
As an update, direct tax code has been delayed by one year, i.e. 2012. So, you have an option to invest in Tax Saving Fixed Deposits for one more year, i.e. 2011. Click on the link to find the updates of new tax code for 2012.

New Income Tax Code for 2010 - 2011 by Pranab Mukherjee

Government on Friday, 26th Feb 2010 has proposed new income tax code for the financial year 2010 - 2011. As per the new tax code, positive modification has been introduced in tax slabs.

There will be no income tax till Rs. 1.6 lakh (1,60,000) same as before.
But there are good changes done for other slabs-

There will be only 10% tax from 1.6 lacs to 5 lacs changed from 1.6 - 3 lacs
20% tax from 5 lacs to 8 lacs changed from 3 - 5 lacs
30% tax on the income above 8 lacs.

To give infra sector a boost, additional Rs. 20,000/- tax break is given for infra bonds. Now one can invest upto Rs. 20,000/- in infrastructure bonds.

This is a positive step taken by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to cheer the tax payers in the country. Share Market also welcome the budget and gained more than 2%.

Business Taxes in India - Indian Tax Structure

Every country has its own tax structure and you pay tax depending on the source of your income, whether you are salaried, self-employed or running a business. In India, there are different taxes that you need to pay depending on the nature of your business. If you want to know all the taxes that you need to pay to run a business in India , below link can help you in finding the taxes.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Tax-Structure-for-Businesses-in-India

Money Management Steps

To do any task, you need some way/steps to properly accomplish that work. Same is true when it comes to manage your money, you need to know proper steps to successfully manage you money. Managing your money simply means how you are spending your money and saving it for your future and without being full of debt.

So to manage money, follow the steps provided in this link and save more money and become debt-free.

http://hubpages.com/hub/10-Steps-to-manage-and-save-money

Retirement Planning - Invest Now

It is very important for every individual to plan for his/her retirement. But unfortunately, most of the persons do not plan for their retirement at the right age. They start thinking for retirement when they are near to 40 or 40+. At this age, you will left with around 15 years to build your retirement fund. So if you will start your investments at that time, you may not be able to have sufficient funds to cover your remaining life.

It is always better for you to start planning for your retirement at the right age to have sufficient time to build up your retirement fund to easily live your retirement life.

Click on the link to see more benefits to plan your retirement at the right age. Also check the various investment options you have to invest your money.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Plan-your-Investments-now-to-enjoy-your-retirement-life
http://www.moneymanagementideas.com/investment-options.html

NHPC IPO allotment

NHPC IPO allotment is out. NHPC, India's biggest hydroelectric power generator IPO closed on 12th August 2009. It was priced in the range of Rs. 30-36 and was subscribed by 23.74 times.

Now its allotment status is out on the registrar site, Karvy. You can directly go to http://www.karvy.com/ipoStatus to check the status of NHPC shares allotment by giving your Application ID. You will get the status of allotment of shares.
If you do not know the Application ID, login to your demat account and check in your order book of IPO section to know your Application ID.

Good Luck.