5 bank charges that most have no clue about

Tax Advisor in India

Banks charge clients for a plethora of services to recover their costs. And it is not a recent phenomenon. There are charges for PIN generation, demand draft, duplicate bank statement, and even account balance updates that you get via SMS on your phone.

Here are some common bank charges that we all should know about.

1) Cash Transactions
You cannot do unlimited cash transactions from your bank account. There is a cost to it and banks charge you for that. For example, SBI Bank allows just three free cash transactions per month and thereafter charges Rs 50 per transaction. The charges were introduced last year by the bank.

Similarly, India's biggest private sector bank, ICICI Bank, reintroduced cash transaction charges post demonetization at branches from January 1, 2017.

There are no charges for first four transactions in a month at branches in the same city. Thereafter, Rs 5 per Rs 1,000 is charged.

2) Non-maintenance charges
Non-maintenance charges have always been a point of dispute between a customer and a bank. It is always advisable to ask your banker at the time of opening an account about the minimum balance required.

For example, HDFC Bank charges Rs 600 if the minimum balance (Rs10,000) falls below Rs 2,500. If the balance is between Rs 7,500 and Rs 10,000, the penalty is Rs 150. 

SBI recently brought back the penalty for failure to maintain the monthly average balance (MAB) in metro, urban and rural centres. In a metro city, failure to keep the Rs 5,000 balance will attract a Rs 50 charge if the shortfall is 50 per cent, Rs 75 if the shortfall is 50-75 per cent and Rs 100 if the shortfall is 75 per cent or more. 

Different types of accounts have different minimum balances. So, while opening any account, ask the bank about the minimum balance for your account and the penalty for not maintaining it.

Banks calculate the MAB by adding daily closing account balance and dividing by the number of days in the period. Considering the method involved you might meet the minimum balance limit just by keeping your salary for a few days in your bank account.

3) Home branch and non home-branch transactions
Though the banking industry has adopted core banking, several banks still distinguish between home and non home-branch transactions. Large transactions are generally not encouraged at non-home branches  and therefore charges are levied on them.

For instance, HDFC Bank has capped the amount that can be transacted in the home branch at Rs 2 lakh. Above Rs 2 lakh, it charges Rs 5 per Rs 1,000.

At non-home branches, there is a cap of Rs 25,000; above this, customers are charged Rs 5 per Rs 1,000, subject to a minimum charge of Rs 150.

It is always good to shift your bank account to the place you reside so that there is less cost to the transaction

4) ATM transactions
You cannot make unlimited cash transactions from your ATM. There is a limit to it. According to RBI rules from your own ATM you can make at least first five transactions in a month free. From other ATMs you can make three free transactions per month in six metro cities and five in other cities.

Banks charge Rs 20 per financial transaction and Rs 9.55, including tax, for every non-financial one beyond this limit.

5) International Transactions
If you make payments abroad through debit or credit card, a charge of 3-4 per cent is added to the exchange rate. So, before swiping the cost abroad, add 3-4 per cent extra cost on the transaction amount.

Next time when you do any banking transaction do keep the above-mentioned charges in mind.

Original Source: http://bit.ly/2ojeg8W

The Lazy Investor’s Quick Guide To Last Minute Tax Savings

Tax Consultant firms in India

The financial year is fast coming to an end. If you’re reading this article then you probably haven’t taken your investment and tax planning as seriously as you should have. Worry not though. There’s just enough time left for you to sneak in a tax-saving investment. Just make sure you don’t put it off for much longer.

Here are some options for you to save tax under , where you can invest and save up to Rs. 1.5 lakh in taxes.

What To Buy	How much	Where	Benefits	You need	Processing time
Rs. 100 upwards	Through authorised banks, post offices	Safe investment, 8% ETE returns, 5-year lock-in	Investor’s name, cash or DD.	1 working day	Recommended for long-term investmentf
Rs. 500 to Rs. 1.5 lakh	Through authorised banks, post offices	Safe investment, 8% EEE returns, loan on investment facility, 15-year maturity	ID & address proof, 2 colour photographs, account opening form (for offline application)	1 working day	Best saving scheme for the general investor, great tool for long-term wealth building.
Rs. 500 upwards	AMCs, distributors, agents	Market-linked and tax-free returns, 3-year lock-in	KYC documents, cheque,	1 working day	Great for long-term wealth creation; can be bought easily online.
Depends on coverage, age	Insurers, agents, online aggregators	Life cover with investment benefit	KYC documents, cheque, photograph. For some term plans, income proof and health check	1 day to 1-2 weeks	Go online to compare and buy a cover as per your needs. Pick a term plan if you have dependents.
Rs. 200 upwards	Insurers, agents, online aggregators	Safe investment, 6.6%-7.5% returns	KYC documents, PAN card, cash or cheque,	1 working day	Low returns currently along with poor tax efficiency. Use minimally, buy online.

Original Source: http://bit.ly/2nftOZi

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Implementation of GST will expand Indian economy by 1%

Service tax consultant in Delhi

According to Mr. Prashant Kumar, Additional Commissioner, Service Tax, Mumbai-I informed GST holds the potential to make Indian products improve compliance, globally competitive and contribute to the expansion of the Indian Economy by at least 1% of GDP.
On March 20, 2017, the Union Cabinet approved 4 crucial GST bills, viz. CGST, iGST, UTGST and the Compensation Bill. These Bills are expected to be tabled in parliament shortly as Money Bills.

The Government is all set to roll out crucial GST on July 1, 2017.

GST is a major step towards streamlining various Union and State indirect taxes and will help in speeding up the transportation of goods and services between various states.
One of the key promises of GST is the ability to data mine the vast information which will be collected by the government.

This will help the Government to ensure strict enforcement of rules and regulations and go after defaulters and tax evaders. 

Source: http://bit.ly/2nOwH84
http://www.narendramodi.in/media-coverage/534811

How to save service tax?

Tax consultant in India

 As the name reveals, it is the tax on services that one person provides to another person. Service tax is nothing but the tax we have to pay for using the different services. For example, when we take dinner in a restaurant and then we have to pay bills that are nothing but the service tax. There are many ways to save services tax (like LIC policies, medical insurance, charities, etc.). Further, we discussed them one by one. But before we talk about how to save service tax, one thing I want to ask that, Is saving service tax is good for our country?

Service tax registration in India

Service tax is a backbone of a country & the main source of government revenue and it also affects the development of a country because if the government does not have a proper revenue, then they will not be able to execute their plans for the development of the country. In my opinion, YES, if any option is available for us and if it is beneficial then we must use it.

For saving our tax, we should plan our policies for this. There are many sections in our constitution that helps us deduct our taxes. We discuss them one by one.

Under the section 80C, LIC insurance premium paid in order to insure our family for any future incidence. This can also help us to save our taxes and reduces about 20% of the amount of insurance into tax amount.

Under the section 80D, Medical insurance premium is undoubtedly one of the best investments. It can cover for comprehensive hospitalization expenses related to accident and sickness and insure us and our family for any other medical problems. It also deduct our taxes up to 15000 to 20000 Rs for the age below 60 and up to 40000 Rs for the age above 60.

Under section 80EE, you can claim deduction in your tax amount for interest payments towards your home loans and tuition fee of your children. If someone takes educational loans for his/her children then he would also claim a deduction of the amount of loan interests from tax amount.

Under section 80G, you can claim deduction for 50% to 100% of donations made by you to a charitable institution. The total deduction for cash donation should not exceed the 10% of your gross income.

With the help of all these methods, any person can reduce his service tax without breaking any of the laws.

You may concern with Tax consultant in India for all queries.