FLAME Newsletter - 06 March 2013

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“There are substantial number of people with good income who are not paying taxes and the focus should have been more on bringing them under the tax net” — Sunil Duggal, CEO, Dabur India, in Firstpost

YOUR FINANCE DEMYSTIFIED:

Union Budget: What’s in for aam janata

“Only 42,800 persons in the whole country who admitted to a taxable income of exceeding Rs. 1 crore per year, I propose to impose a surcharge of 10% on persons whose taxable income exceeds Rs. 1 crore per year,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram said while unveiling Budget proposals for 2013-14 in Parliament. While the 1 hour and 45 minute speech highlighting the expenditures and revenues was a massive task, we cut through the business jargon to help you understand in simple terms what the Budget has for you.

Income tax slabs have been left untouched this year in view of the objective of widening tax base and increasing tax compliance. The income tax slabs remain the same as FY12-13. The same tax slab rates for taxpayers this year, implies zero savings as far as the basic payment of income tax is concerned… Read more

RGESS saves tax & engages new investors for the long term

Medical allowance vs medical reimbursement

Tax Planning: Important that we do our planning timely

Every year all of us sit before the TV set and watch our Finance Minister read out our General Budget, with whatever little knowledge we have, we make our own presumptions about how good or bad the budget is for us.

Thus when it comes time for us to submit or proofs in our respective offices or to our CA’s we start scurrying for answers, answers which can help us save maximum amount of Tax. Who doesn't want to save on tax? Thus in this quest of ours to save the maximum possible in the best product we usually end up making a few wrong investments. These wrong investments usually happen around the time of December & January, when we get a email reminder from CA’s or our Finance team at our place of work, requesting us to submit proof of investments done by us… Read more

Tax planning through Muslim Wills

Avail tax deductions & exemptions on stock investments

Investing in equity not only helps you diversify your portfolio but also fetches high returns in the long term. Investing in equity also offers various tax exemptions and deductions which you can avail of on your stock market investments.

Listed below is a comprehensive picture of the deductions and exemptions that you are entitled to in various stock instruments, whether you invest directly or indirectly… Read more

Know all about the taxes you pay

QUOTE, UNQUOTE

“I am quite happy about this surcharge. In a country like India where there is so much of poverty, people earning Rs. 1 crore shouldn’t crib about paying 10% surcharge”

Dr Narayana Murthy, Founder, Infosys

“I believe there is a little bit of spirit of Azim Premji in every affluent taxpayers and I am confident when I ask relatively affluent taxpayers to bear a small burden for one year they will do so cheerfully… fiscal consolidation cannot be effected only by cutting expenditure. Where ever possible, revenues must also be augmented”

P Chidambaram, Finance Minister, while unveiling Budget proposals for 2013-14

“He (Finance Minister) should have ensured compliance so that more people who have avoided taxes are brought into the net of taxes”

Issac George, Director, GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd, in Firstpost

DID YOU KNOW?

What is wealth tax

A person is liable to pay wealth tax if his wealth amounts to over Rs. 30 lakh. He is required to pay 1% of the wealth value as wealth tax… Read more

TERM OF THE WEEK

What is securities transaction tax

STT is levied on every purchase or sale of securities that are listed on the Indian stock exchanges. This would include shares, derivatives or equity-oriented mutual funds units…Read more

IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK

RBI to issue Rs. 20 notes soon

PF subscribers to get 8.5% interest rate for FY13

More than Rs. 226bn is lying in inoperative PF accounts

0.01% CTT on non-agro commodity trades: Budget 2013

MFs redeem net equity worth Rs. 52.12 billion in January

NSE introduces T+0 (Today) settlement scheme

Insurance, Pension Bills will be passed in Budget session

FM reduces STT to encourage investment: Budget 2013

RGESS...income limit increased to Rs. 12 lakh

Disabled people to get relaxation in insurance premium rates

ABOUT FLAME

FLAME (Financial Literacy Agenda for Mass Empowerment) is an IIFL initiative to promote financial literacy amongst the masses in order to make them an integral part of India’s spectacular growth story.

In an era of accelerating GDP and rising per capita growth, financial literacy has become more critical than ever before such that we all reap the tangible benefits of the nation’s economic prosperity. Financial inclusion has been quite high on the governmental agenda, given its emphasis on widening the Banking & Financial services network across the country.

IIFL’s FLAME initiative stands committed to complement this effort by helping common people gain financial growth and security though better awareness and education on the variety of financial products while avoiding the lure of and loss from unrealistic claims made by unscrupulous agents and ponzi schemes.

Our objective is to light a FLAME, as the name suggests, which will set ablaze a chain of FLAMEs across the country. The new-found light of knowledge will undoubtedly dispel the dark clouds of financial illiteracy and ensure the bright sunshine of financial growth and prosperity.

This portal is but one of the various IIFL initiatives that would be part of FLAME.