Posts

Showing posts from February, 2017

Fixed or Floating rate for my home loan?

Image
With interest rates falling further and holding period for capital gains reduced from 3 to 2 years in the budget, new buyers and upgraders are looking to get the best realty deals. However, not all is done upon locating the property to buy. Choosing a right home loan product is vital to ensure that your hard earned money does not pay for exorbitant interest costs. Home Loan - Product A home loan comes with a variety of options and bargains but borrowers are not usually presented with all the available choices to make an informed choice. They are usually sold a product which may not suit them best. Let us take a case of a new buyer (or) an upgrader who seeks a loan of Rs.30 Lacs. This buyer is typically coerced into a 30-year "Fixed interest rate home loan" based on the lowest EMI option of Rs.23k per month. As this amount is close to the rental outgo of the buyer, s/he readily tends to accept the product. A "Fixed" interest rate is in favor of the borrower if

Did Demonetization really go after black money?

Image
Missing Tax Payers or Tax Evaders? Per the finance ministry, about 1.09 crore bank accounts received a deposit of Rs.2-80Lacs and another 1.58 Lac accounts received a deposit of >Rs.80Lacs. The IT department has officially said that after scrutinizing these 1.09 crore bank accounts, 18 Lac accounts whose deposits do not match their tax profile(s) are now under inquiry for tax evasion. What the demonetization reveals about Tax evasion? Post-demonetization, these 1.1 crore bank accounts received a total cash deposit of Rs.10.4Tn / $157bn. This number clearly matches the 1.05 crore missing assesses based on the top 1% wealthy. Demonetization has cleverly brought this huge chunk of people into the tax net. In the 1st category, only deposits over Rs.5Lacs are being inquired, while all accounts under the next category are under inquiry - here a high average of Rs.3.31 crores in cash is a clear indication of tax evasion . The tax on the Rs.10.4Tn deposits @35.535

Behind Tax numbers..

Highlights of 2017 budget on Personal Taxation Reduce the tax rate of the lowest income slab (Rs.2.5-5Lac) from 10% to 5% IT rebate reduced from Rs.5k to Rs.2.5k & applies only for Income upto Rs.3.5Lacs Levy a 10% surcharge on those earning Rs.50L - 1Crore income Reduce the holding period from 3 to 2 years for real estate assets to qualify as long term Revealed the amount gathered under the demonetization scheme (Rs.10.4Tn) Direct Tax collection Based on the latest data published by the Income Tax (IT) department for AY2014-15, 3.91 crore returns were filed and a total of Rs.4.46Lac Cr (Rs.4.46Tn) in direct taxes collected. Key stats: Total returns filed: 3.91 crores Returns from Individuals: 3.65 crores (93%) Total tax paid by Individuals: Rs.1.91 Lac crore / Rs.1.91Trillion / $29bn 26 Lac returns filed by companies & firms Total tax paid by Companies: Rs.2.55 Lac crore / Rs.2.55Trillion / $39 bn The top 1.5% Tax payers The stats revealed that 47.5% (