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In response to the coronavirus pandemic, India announced a 21-day lockdown from 24.Mar.2020. Crores of low-income and migrant workers were the first ones to be hit hard by this drastic measure. To provide support to their livelihood during the lockdown period and subsequent recovery period, Finance Minister Smt.Nirmala Sitharaman announced a Rs.1.7 Lac Crore relief package on 26.Mar.2020, the details of which are presented below. The PM Gareeb Kalyan Scheme A. The Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Anna Yojana Under this plan, 80 crore poor people in the country will get 5 kg of rice or wheat per month free of cost, in addition to the 5 kg they already get on a monthly basis. Each household will additionally get 1 kg of preferred dal for free for the next three months. B. Cash transfer scheme PM-KISAN Scheme (since 2019) - 8.7 crore farmers will get the first of the three installments of Rs 2,000 front-loaded to their accounts on 1.April.2020. MGNREGA: Wage increased from Rs

The previous blog gave an idea on the depth of the impact created by covid-19 on jobs and incomes of people. This blog traverses its impact on the macro economic aspects of Indian economy and trade as a whole.  Sectors with lifeline(s) cut-off With several countries announcing lockdown, air travel was the first sector to get impacted by covid-19. Airlines, tourism and hospitality industry took the deepest cut, with some of them facing a threat of bankruptcy in these tragic times. The next wave of sectors that are directly hit by the lockdown are in the manufacturing cluster - capital goods, cement, food products, metals, plastics, rubber & electronics. Not to mention the automobile and auto ancillary sectors which were already reeling under severe stress due to a multi-year downturn in the auto industry. Services sector comprising banking, transport, logistics, retail, real estate, education, entertainment and sports is under lockdown. For the first time in the nation'

It is one week since India proclaimed a lockdown on 24th March 2020. Tens of thousands of people started moving back to their hometowns. Those fortunate ones that could afford to work from home (wfh) settled back in their homes, while those that could not wfh stare at loss of income(s). Worse off are crores of low-income migrant workers across the nation, with a gloom future due to loss of job, income & livelihood - they are still walking 100s of kilometers back to their homes, also facing a lethal threat of contracting the viral infection. This blog aggregates data from several news sources to present a snapshot of where the nation is heading in terms of jobs & income! India's Workforce - The big picture With a population of 137 crores, India's workforce stands close to 50 crores. Of this, 20 crore people work in farms/agri related primary sector and 26 crore people work in non-farm sector. And at any point in time, about 3-4 crore people are unemployed as they

The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus (aka Covid-19) across 104 countries in the world has caused panic and fear in the lives of people like never before. Stock markets across the world have fallen by 30% within a very short span of 3 weeks. Combined with the fight for market share of oil, launched by Saudi against OPEC+, it is not too clear how much more the markets will fall from this point onwards. On the one hand, while people are deeply distressed about the health & safety of their families, they are equally concerned about their job, investments and what the future beholds for them. Several questions arise in the minds of people - although we cannot address the health aspects, we shall try to address some of the key financial health issues here. Questions from an investor - What should I do? Qn1: Should I sell my stocks? Markets have fallen by 30-35% already, primarily due to the exit of large institutional investors. If your invest

A lot of changes have been proposed to personal income taxes in the recent budget. This blog aims to capture most tax changes impacting the common man.. Changes to Personal Income Tax Assessees can now opt for a new simplified tax regime if they forego all current exemptions (mainly salaried class) such as LTA, HRA & 80C deductions. It also includes foregoing set-off of losses from house property against salary income. 1. 5% tax for income between Rs 2.5 and Rs 5 lakh 2. 10% tax for income between Rs 5 and Rs 7.5 lakh 3. 15% tax for income between 7.5 lakh and 10 lakh 4. 20% tax for income between 10 lakh and 12.5 lakh 5. 25% tax for income between 12.5 lakh and 15 lakh 6. 30% tax for income above 15 lakh Criteria for Non-Resident Indian (NRI) status A person who stays more than 240 days abroad is considered a NRI and can enjoy the respective tax reliefs available. Anyone staying less than 240 days abroad in a financial year is considered as a TAX RESIDENT of India and would be

Interim budget 2019 was presented in Feb'19 and final budget post election was presented on 5 July 2019 by India's first woman Finance Minister and Tamil nadu's very own Smt.Nirmala Sitharaman. This blog attempts to capture the budget updates relevant to personal taxation. Key Highlights from both budgets Some of the key highlights on personal taxation for FY2019-20/AY2020-21 include: PAN & Aadhar are now interchangeable, allowing one to use Aadhar to file her/his income tax returns. Cash withdrawal in excess of Rs.1 crore will attract TDS of 2% (Tax Deduction at Source) ONE NATION ONE CARD - based on RuPAY to be introduced / used across bus travel, tolls, parking & retail across the country. Tax on Total Income For assessees with income in the range of Rs.2.5L to Rs.5L p.a, complete tax rebate is offered u/s 87A. This means zero tax for income upto Rs.5L. However, assessee must file Income Tax returns if income exceeds Rs.2.5L to claim this rebate. Not