Saturday, July 14, 2012

NEFT transaction charges rationalised by RBI

With effect from 1st August 2012, NEFT transaction charge for funds transfer upto Rs. 10,000 which used to be capped at Rs 5.00 shall be capped at Rs. 2.50.  Charges beyond this limit remains the same.

Following is the list of NEFT charges for various funds transfer limits:

  • Funds transfer upto Rs. 10,000 - Maximum charge of Rs. 2.50
  • Rs. 10,001 to Rs. 1 lakh - Maximum charge of Rs. 5.00
  • Above Rs 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakh - Maximum charge of Rs. 15.00
  • Above Rs. 2 lakh - Maximum charge of Rs. 25.00

Above charges are exclusive of service tax.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Hassle-free way to invest in PPF


Banking is the sector which has benefited the most on account of advancement in information technology.  Today, though the number of transactions with bank has increased, one hardly visits the bank’s branch.  Most of the things are done at a click of the mouse or through ATM.

Technology has changed the way we make payments with electronic payment mode preferred by customers nowadays.  Electronic payment mode via National Electronic Funds Transfer or NEFT as it is popularly known can be used to make payment to Public Provident Fund (PPF).

Using NEFT to invest in PPF

We are used to investing in PPFs by going to the bank or post office, filling up the challan and depositing the cheque or cash as the case may be.  With the advent of NEFT, one can remit the money to PPF account at a click of mouse.  No more need to go to bank branch.  It is not necessary that one should have the savings / current and PPF account in the same bank.  One can transfer money even if both the accounts are in different banks.  However, this facility can only be availed by those having PPF account in bank and not in post office.
 
Personal Experience: 'SIP in PPF'

I am using this facility for my PPF account in State Bank of India and I am sure similar facility should be available for investors having PPF account in other banks.  I use the NEFT facility provided by ICICI bank, where my savings account is, to transfer money in SBI PPF account.

Last year, I invested a lump sum amount at the end of the year via NEFT.  This year to ensure that I invest regularly, I created standing instructions to transfer a fixed amount every month at a fixed date to the PPF account.  In other words, I created a SIP in PPF to ensure timely investment.  By providing standing instruction for the entire year, I have taken care of my full year’s PPF investment in just few minutes and clicks!

In PPF, interest is calculated on the lowest balance between the close of the fifth day and the end of the month.  Hence my standing instructions are for crediting the PPF account on the very first day of the month.  One can opt for any date between 1st to 4th to ensure maximum interest benefit.

This is a great way of investment in PPF and sets oneself free from the hassle of remembering the amount and date of investment in PPF account.

          Also read Are you aware about the unique features of PPF?
However, keep the following important points in mind:

1.   This facility is available only for investors having PPF account in banks and not for those having it in post office.
2.   One can make maximum 12 investments in PPF account in a financial year with an overall limit of Rs. 1,00,000.  Ensure that you do not breach this.
3.   It is advisable to check the PPF account every month for the first couple of months to ensure credit is happening properly.

How do you invest in PPF?  Have you ever invested via NEFT facility?  What are your views on ‘SIP in PPF’?

PS:  This post was inspired by Monika Halan's tweet on PPF and my response to it.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Compulsory E-filing for taxpayers with income greater than Rs. 10 lakh

The income tax department changed the rules for filing returns in late March 2012, but I was not aware of the same, hence thought of highlighting the same.

The major change in the rules was for individuals and hindu undivided families (HUFs) having total income more than Rs. 10 lakh.  Such tax payers shall be required to compulsorily file their income tax return electronically.  

They have an option to file it electronically under digital signature or alternatively they can file it electronically and thereafter submit the verification of the return in Form ITR V.

This applies to all individuals and HUFs having salary income or any other nature of income and sum total of such income exceeds Rs. 10 lakh.  This is applicable for filing returns for the financial year 2011-12.

Monday, June 18, 2012

RBI maintains status quo

As against everybodya's expectation, RBI has maintained status quo and left repo rate and CRR unchanged.  Inflation weighed on RBI's monetary policy decision and RBI's press release stated that it "had frontloaded the policy rate reduction in April with a cut of 50 basis points."

Thus no significant change in interest rates offered on fixed deposits by banks is expected anytime soon.  Bachhat updated its page on FD interest rates on 15th June 2012.  Next update shall be around 15th July 2012, unless RBI acts on the rates between two monetary policies.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Interest rates on fixed deposits (Updated as of 15th June 2012)

Before RBI takes any action during its monetary policy review schedule on 18th June 2012, we thought of updating interest rates on fixed deposits offered by various banks.

Looking at the slowdown in growth rates and developments in Europe,  it is widely expected that RBI shall cut either cash reserve ratio or rates.  However, after WPI inflation of 7.55% in May 2012 and upward revision of March 2012 inflation to 7.69%, analysts are not sure whether the rate cut shall be 25 basis points or 50 basis points.  100 basis points equals one percentage point.

The coming week will answer all the queries and Bachhat shall revise the interest rates details shortly thereafter if bank changes their interest rate offerings.

Click here for latest interest rates on fixed deposits

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Ultra short term debt funds - Pepping up your post tax returns

Sanjay was busy on the phone since last five minutes.  Sanjana sat across the table at a neighbourhood coffee day shop where both of them agreed to meet in the evening.  Finally, when Sanjay disconnected his phone, Sanjana asked him whom he was speaking for so long? 

Sanjay saw the curious eyes of Sanjana and offering a smile said, “My relationship manager from XYZ Bank.  She was offering me advice on managing my money.”

“Oh good.  So now you are a special customer of your bank and have a dedicated relationship manager?” quizzed Sanjana.

“Yeah.  I became their special customer since I started maintaining an average balance of Rs. 2,00,000 in my savings bank account and fixed deposits.  And I shall continue to be, till the time the average balance is maintained.” answered visibly delighted Sanjay.

“So to have a privilege of relationship manager, you maintain a balance of Rs. 2,00,000 in your bank account!! You are happy to forgo the return on your money for this privilege?” questioned Sanjana.

Sanjay was quick to reply, “No, who says I am not earning return.  My savings account gives me 4% and bulk of the money is in fixed deposits, which earns me anywhere between 7% to 10% per annum.  You see my money has been effectively employed for providing returns plus special customer benefits.”

“The returns you are mentioning are absolute returns.  Have you ever thought about post tax returns?  If I am not wrong you are in 20% tax rate bracket, right?” to which Sanjay nodded.  Sanjana continued, “Even if I consider the fixed deposit giving you 10% per annum return, 20% tax would leave you with post tax return of 8%!!”

A visibly annoyed Sanjay said, “Well that’s the best return I can get for liquidity and low risk.  You only told me other day that one needs to compromise the return if he is not willing to take risk and wants liquidity.”

“That’s true” said Sanjana pleased by the fact that Sanjay still remembers what she had told him few months back when they had discussion on the risk and return trade off. “Savings accounts / fixed deposits are the best place for high liquidity and minimal risk returns.    However, why to maintain a huge balance in your savings account when there are other low risk, high liquidity alternatives available providing better returns?”

Confused Sanjay said, “I do not understand what you are saying.  Can you please elaborate?”

“Sure” Sanjana replied, “See, I am not against maintaining adequate money in savings / fixed deposits.  This is required for any unforeseen immediate requirements.  However, one can pep up the returns by investing excess portion of the money lying in savings account in debt funds which provides liquidity along with low risk and high returns.”

Suspecting no response from Sanjay, Sanjana continued. “I am referring to ultra short term debt funds offered by mutual fund companies.  These funds provide tax-efficient returns with liquidity and low risk.  I agree that these funds are not as safe as fixed deposits, but given the low maturity profile of these funds the risk of losing money is minimal.”

“Tell me more about them and especially tax-efficient returns that you mentioned” stated Sanjay eager to learn from her friend.

“These funds, earlier known as liquid plus funds, invest in short term debt papers which have maturity of more than 90 days but less than 1 year.  Barring few, they do not have any entry or exit loads and one can redeem it any time with proceeds credited to bank account by next day or at the max, day after depending on the timing of your redemption.”

“Since these funds invest in debt instruments and commercial papers of corporates, their returns are attractive even after deducting fund management expenses.  In last 12 months, good ultra short term funds managed to provide returns anywhere in excess of 10% to 9%.  However, the most important factor which tilts the pendulum in their favour is their tax treatment.

“Though any gains arising out of such investments are treated as capital gains and taxed at applicable short term or long term capital gains rate, many of these funds provides dividend option and facility to reinvest dividends.  The interesting thing is dividends are taxed at lower rates and thus it boosts post tax returns.

“Let me give you an example.  If you invest in such funds with daily dividend reinvestment option, any increase in NAV during the day is declared as dividend by the fund and gets reinvested after paying dividend distribution tax at 12.5% plus surcharge and education cess.  Since dividend is tax free, it is not taxed in the hands of investor.  Since all the gain is declared as dividend, NAV of the funds remains unchanged and there are no / insignificant capital gains tax at the time of redemption of units.” 
  

Trying to put things together, Sanjay said, “So you mean to say there is only dividend income on which fund pays the tax @ 12.5% and dividend is tax free for me.  Since this tax rate is less than the tax @ 20% which I pay on interest income from fixed deposits, even if the fund earns 10%, my post tax returns are better than post tax returns on fixed deposits.  And if one falls in highest tax slab of 30%, it is more beneficial, right?”


“Absolutely,” said a happy Sanjana realizing how easy it is to explain to Sanjay, "Tax benefit varies according to one's tax slab.  For persons paying 30% tax, the benefit is the highest."
“But if they are tax efficient, why just ultra short term debt funds which invests in debt papers with maturity of more than 90 days.  I can also invest in funds which invest in debt papers with maturity of less than 90 days.  I am sure there must be such funds in the market.” It was now Sanjay’s turn to question Sanjana.

“Correct.  There are funds which invest in debt papers with maturity of less than 90 days – those are call liquid funds.  However, they are not tax efficient, since dividend distribution tax on dividend distributed is 25% plus surcharge and education cess.  Thus on post tax return basis, they are at disadvantage as against ultra short term debt funds.”, Sanjana clarified.

“Okay.  I understood.  Ultra short term debt funds provide high post tax returns if one opts for dividend reinvestment option and they are liquid investments, but slightly riskier than bank fixed deposits.  However one can pep up their returns by investing surplus funds in them.”

“Bingo.”  Sanjana nodded, as Sanjay’s mobile rang again. 

Disconnecting the call,  Sanjay smiled and said, ‘Who now needs a relationship manager if one has such a good friend providing free financial advice!!’ sipping his cappuccino crowned with choclate sauce.

Have you ever invested in Ultra Short Term Debt funds?  Share your views on them with us.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

India - the country with least financially literate people??

Visa carried out an interesting survey early 2012 in 28 countries to guage the strength and weaknesses of financial education worldwide.  Five simple questions were asked like 
  • Do you have and follow a household budget?, 
  • How many months worth of savings do you have set aside for an emergency?, 
  • How often do you talk to your children ages 5 - 17 about money management issues?, 
  • To what extent would you say that teenagers and young adults in your country understand money management basics and are adequately prepared to manage their own money? and
  • At what age do you think Govt. should require schools to teach financial literacy to children, so that they can better understand money management issues?
It was surprising to see that out of 28 countries surveyed, India stood 23rd, country with one of the least financially literate people.  Per the findings of the survey, only 35% of its population was termed financial literate.

Average savings set aside by Indians for an emergency is approx 1.9 months.  In addition, 41% of the younger respondents aged 18-24 were more likely to have no emergency savings at all compared to older respondents.

Families generally do not talk to their children about money and finance.  Indian families spends only 10 days a year as compared to global average of 19 days / year with their children discussing money issues.

43% of women said they do not understand personal money management issues.

This may sound surprising to many of us, but be practical and ask the above questions to yourself.  

When was the last time you made your household budget and followed it?  Do you even have emergency fund?  Do you know who much amount is available in emergency fund or ideally required?

One may argue that even though I do not do / know the above, I spend my finances rationally and am overall informed about by financial condition.  It is true that above questions alone can not determine whether you are financial literate or not, however it is also true that having a budget and keeping track of it, etc are the preliminary steps one needs to carry out in financial planning.

Are you amongst the one who does not keep track of your finances or do not know about emergency funds?

Source: 
2. First post's news article

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Mutual Fund Tax Reckoner

Subsequent to yesterday's blog post on tax impact of mutual fund investments in the hands of individuals, Bachhat has created a separate page on its website to provide complete overview of tax implications on mutual fund investments for all categories of investors.  The page provides tax implications for financial year 2012-13 and shall be updated each year.

The reckoner is shared below for reference.

Mutual Fund Tax Reckoner FY 2012-13



For full screen view of above tax reckoner, click here.


Do let us know your views and suggestions on the above reckoner.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Mutual Fund Investors: Know taxes impacting your returns


Mutual fund investors need to take in to account plethora of tax rates to understand the post tax returns.  In addition to separate rates for short term and long term capital gains, the rates varies amongst equity, debt and liquid funds.  Then one needs to take in to account dividend distribution tax (DDT) on dividends received.  Again it varies based on whether dividend is from equity fund or debt fund or liquid fund.  Further one also needs to factor in securities transaction tax (STT) to calculate correct post tax returns.  For liquid and debt funds, the effective tax rate can have a significant bearing on the overall returns on the investment.    

To help you to guide through this maze of tax rates, Bachhat has tried to list down the applicable rates for resident individual investors, HUFs as well as non-resident individual investors for the financial year 2012-13.

Capital Gains Tax 

Capital gains tax arises when one redeems the mutual fund.  If mutual fund units are sold within one year from the date of its purchase, the gain is treated as short term in nature.  Otherwise it is considered as long term in nature.  

The tax rates on sale of mutual fund investments for resident individuals, HUFs and non-resident individuals are as under:

Nature of Capital Gains
Equity Funds*
Other Funds
Short Term
15.45%
(15% + 3% education cess)
I.T. rate applicable for slab + 3% education cess
Long Term
no tax
20% with indexation (10% without indexation) + 3% education cess)
Securities Transaction Tax
0.25% of sale value
not applicable
*Equity funds are the funds where more than 65% of the scheme AUM is invested in equity securities of domestic companies.

Gains for non-resident individuals are subject to tax deduction at source (TDS) as follows:

Type of funds
TDS Rate
Equity Funds
15.45% for short term cap gains, NIL for long term cap gains
Other Funds
30.90% for short term cap gains and 20.6% for long term cap gains after providing for indexation benefit

Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT)
This is the tax paid by the mutual fund companies at the time of payment of dividend to investors.  Since the amount is paid from the corpus of the fund, it leads to reduction in net asset value of the fund.  The DDT rate for resident individuals ,  HUFs and non-resident individuals is the same.

Type of Mutual Funds
DDT Rate
Equity Funds
no tax
Liquid Funds / Money Market Mutual Funds
25% + 5% surcharge + 3% education cess (effective tax rate of 27.0375%)
Any other mutual funds
12.5% + 5% surcharge + 3% education cess (effective tax rate of 13.51875%)

One need to take in to account the above tax impact while deciding on mutual fund investments and comparing it with other investment alternatives.

Bachhat has tried to cover all applicable tax implications for retail investors in mutual funds.  In case anything is missed out, do let me know via comments section so that the same can be incorporated.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Budget Rollbacks – respite for property buyers and jewellery merchants


Yesterday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced few rollbacks from the budget proposals in his opening speech to discuss the Finance Bill 2012 in Lok Sabha. 
The rollbacks affecting individuals and investments are given below.  To help understand the rollback better, initial budget proposal is listed first, followed by the rollback proposed yesterday.
Budget Proposal: W.e.f October 2012, sale of residential property for transaction value more than Rs. 50 lakhs in specified urban agglomeration or Rs. 20 lakhs in any other area shall attract tax deduction at source of 1% of the transaction value irrespectively whether the transfer is profitable or not.
Revised Proposal: The above proposal has been withdrawn and there shall not be tax deduction at source on sale of residential property.

Budget Proposal: Cash purchase of bullion and jewellery for amount more than Rs. 2 lakhs shall lead to tax collection of 1% of the value by the seller.
Revised Proposal: The threshold limit of Rs. 2 lakhs has been increased to Rs. 5 lakhs in case of cash purchase of jewellery. The threshold limit for cash purchase of bullion has been retained at Rs. 2 lakhs.  However, it is clarified that bullion will not include any coin or other article weighing 10 gms or less.

Budget Proposal:  Imposition of central excise duty on unbranded precious metal jewellery at the rate of 1%.
Revised Proposal: The levy of central excise duty on all precious metal jewellery, branded and unbranded, has been withdrawn.


Additional Proposal:  Sale of unlisted securities in an initial public offer, which were hitherto charged to capital gain tax, shall be exempted from long term capital gains tax.  Instead of long term capital gains tax, securities transaction tax @ 0.2% shall be levied on such sales.  However, short term capital gains tax on such sale is still applicable at marginal tax rate.

Thus it can be seen that the long nation-wide strike by jewellery merchants has been effective and they got the rollback sought for.  However, Finance Minister failed to provide clarity on the Rajiv Gandhi Equity Scheme, which proposed to give 50% deduction of investment made in equities by individuals earning less than Rs. 10 lakhs.  The nature of such scheme and its benefit to investors at large remains unclear.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Are fixed deposits’ interest rates headed down?


RBI reduced the repo rates by as much as 50 basis points to 8.0% on 17th April 2012, more than 25 basis points anticipated by the market participants and analysts.  100 basis points equals to 1 percentage point.  This cut is after 13 consecutive increases in rates since March 2010.  Due to the uncertainty over the global economy and continuing elevated inflation in domestic economy, it is not certain whether RBI will further cut rates during the year, but there shall not be any immediate increase in rates for the time being.
Effect of RBI’s rate cut on fixed deposits’ interest rates
There has been immediate effect of the RBI’s rate cut on fixed deposits’ rates and several banks have reduced interest rates on fixed deposit for all tenures.  Based on Bachhat’s tracking of fixed deposit rates, out of 30 banks which have revised interest rates on fixed deposits since 20th March 2012 (the latest day on which FD rates were tracked by Bachhat), 22 banks have reduced the interest rates on fixed deposits and most of the reduction in interest rates happened after RBI’s rate cut on 17th April 2012.  Only 8 banks have increased rates on fixed deposits during this period.  There are 22 banks which have not modified their fixed deposit rates during this period.
For example, Bank of Baroda has revised its interest rates downwards by 50 basis points for all tenures offered.  Similarly IDBI has reduced interest rates by 25 basis points for most of the tenures offered.  Following banks have reduced interest rates on fixed deposits since March 20th, 2012:

Bank of Baroda
Barclays Bank
Canara Bank
Catholic Syrian Bank
Central Bank of India
Corporation Bank
Federal Bank
ICICI Bank
IDBI Bank
ING Vyasa Bank
Kotak Mahindra Bank
Lakshmi Vilas Bank
Oriental Bank of Commerce
Punjab & Sind Bank
Punjab National Bank
State Bank of India
State Bank of Patiala
State Bank of Travancore
Syndicate Bank
Tamilnad Mercantile Bank
UCO Bank
United Bank of India


Though the interest rates on fixed deposits have reduced since RBI’s rate cut, when compare to increase in fixed deposit rates during last 2 years, the rates are still attractive and for those who have missed the opportunity to lock high interest rates can still take benefit of it.  As regards future rate scenario, it all depends on how RBI reacts which in turn depends on host of events such as inflation, growth, Government’s policy measures and global economy.
To view interest rates on fixed deposits offered by all banks, click here.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Tracking your mutual fund investments















Source: kenteegardin, Flickr

I get many requests from friends and colleagues about how to track mutual fund investments carried out in the past and lost track of since then.  In some cases, they do not even know which mutual fund scheme they have invested in.

An investor can have investment in numerous mutual fund schemes of several mutual fund companies over a period of time.  Though one receives transaction statements and annual statements via email / post from such mutual fund companies regularly, these statements are fund specific.  In order to analysis all mutual fund investments, one needs to consolidate all such statements received.  Thus it becomes difficult to keep track of all the investments made with various mutual fund companies, their current status and calculate profit or loss on the same.

Mailback Services

Here the mailback services offered by CAMS and Karvy come handy.  These two transaction processing companies provides gamut of mailback services to enable investors to keep track of mutual fund investments.  The good thing about these services is it requires only an email id which is registered with mutual fund company.  By specifying the registered email id, one can obtain transaction details of all mutual fund schemes linked to the registered email id.  One can also track investment through PAN Number or Folio Numbers.

Services provided by CAMS:

1. Consolidated ActiveStatement / Account Statement:  By providing the registered email id, one receives the details of all the transactions link to that email id.  Consolidated ActiveStatement is interactive wherein one can click and view the transactions carried out and check portfolio composition.  One can also redeem, purchase or do any other transaction from the Statement itself by clicking on the link provided.  Consolidated Account Statement is PDF file which list down all the transactions carried out over the specified period.
2. Consolidated Portfolio Statement: This provides portfolio details about the mutual funds managed by CAMS.  It gives the cost, market value and return details.
3. Consolidated Realised Gains Statement: In case one has sold any mutual fund investment, this statement provides the details about the profit made on such investments and also calculate the capital gains on such investments.
4. Consolidated Transaction Details:  Similar to Consolidated Account Statement, however here the statement is provided in excel format to carry out analysis / reporting.
5. Single Folio Account Statement:  In case one has not registered any email id, one can obtain folio statement by specifying the folio number.

Karvy also provides similar mailback services for mutual fund managed by them.

Click here for CAMS mailback services.
Click here for Karvy mailback services.

These services are extremely useful for a mutual fund investor and one can keep track of past as well as existing mutual fund investments through these services.

Have you used any of the above mailback services till date?  Do you find these services useful?  Share your comments on these services below.

End note:  Consolidated Account Statement gives listing of all mutual fund investments irrespective of whether it is managed by CAMS or Karvy.  However, all other reports are limited to mutual fund managed by these agencies.  For eg:  CAMS site shall provide report of only those mutual funds which are managed by CAMS.  Hence one need to check which agency covers the mutual fund one has invested in and obtain the report accordingly.  The listing of mutual funds managed by CAMS and Karvy is as follows:

CAMS managed mutual funds
Karvy managed mutual funds
AIG Mutual Fund
Axis Mutual Fund
Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund
Baroda Pioneer Mutual Fund
BNP Paribas Mutual Fund
Goldman Sachs Mutual Fund
DSB Blackrock Mutual Fund
Bharti Axa Mutual Fund
Fidelity Mutual Fund
Canara Robeco Mutual Fund
HDFC Mutual Fund
Daiwa Mutual Fund
HSBC Mutual Fund
Edelweiss Mutual Fund
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund
Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund
IDBI Mutual Fund
JM Mutual Fund
IDFC Mutual Fund
LIC Nomura Mutual Fund
IIFL Mutual Fund
Mirae Assets Mutual Fund
ING Mutual Fund
Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund
JP Morgan Mutual Fund
Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund
Kotak Mutual Fund
Peerless Mutual Fund
L&T Mutual Fund
Pramerica Mutual Fund
SBI Mutual Fund
Principal Mutual Fund
Tata Mutual Fund
Quantum Mutual Fund
Union KBC Mutual Fund
Religare Mutual Fund

Reliance Mutual Fund

Sahara Mutual Fund

Tata Mutual Fund

Tarus Mutual Fund

UTI Mutual Fund