31 March Last Day For Depositing Old Notes In RBI: Here's A Checklist

With the March 31 deadline looming for depositing demonetised currency, the Reserve Bank offices continued to witness long queues. There is confusion among people standing in the queues as ineligible ones are making it longer. "Several people who are ineligible queueing up at RBI counters making the queue longer," Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said in the Rajya Sabha. As tempers ran high outside the central bank branches, he added that "each application has to be checked at the counters for his/her absence from the country from passport stamp marks, it is taking considerable time for the counter staff."

Here's a checklist before the opportunity ends on March 31:

* Possession of more than 10 notes in junked currency after March 31 is illegal for Indian residents. Violation of this is punishable with a fine which may extend to Rs. 10,000 or five times the amount of the face value of the notes, whichever is higher. 

* The central bank allowed Indian residents who were abroad during November-December 2016 to exchange the scrapped notes up to March 31 but for non-resident Indians (NRIs) the deadline is June 30.

* NRIs coming to India are required to come through 'Red Channel' disclosing to the Customs authorities at the airport the amount of the defunct notes and secure a certificate to be tendered at RBI at the time of exchange. A one-page form has been worked out for the purpose.

* There is no monetary limit for exchange for the eligible resident Indians, but the limit for NRIs will be as per the relevant FEMA Regulations (Rs. 25,000 per person).

* Indian citizens resident in Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Bangladesh cannot avail this facility.

* The facility to exchange old notes is available at RBI offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Nagpur.

* On fulfillment of the terms and conditions and the genuineness of the notes tendered, the amount will be credited to the person's Know Your Customer (KYC) compliant bank account.

* In case of refusal by the central bank, a person may appeal to the Central Board of the Reserve Bank within 14 days of the communication of such refusal to him. Such representations may be addressed to the Central Board, Reserve Bank of India, Secretary's Department.

Income Tax Forms Further Simplified; E-Filing To Start From April

A crisp income tax form for salaried individuals will be introduced from April 1, doing away with some columns to simplify the filing of returns.

Individuals with salary and interest income will have to fill fewer columns as some of these for claiming income deductions have been clubbed in ITR1 form called 'Sahaj'. 

In the form for Assessment Year 2017-18, deductions claimed under different sections of Chapter VIA have been removed and only mostly used ones have been included. 

"Columns that will remain include those for claiming deductions under Section 80C, mediclaim (80D). Those individuals who want to show deductions under other heads can do so by selecting an option," an official told PTI.

Currently, the ITR 1/Sahaj has 18 different columns for claiming deductions under Section 80 of the Income Tax Act. Under section 80C, a deduction of Rs. 1.5 lakh can be claimed from total income for investments in LIC, PPF and repayment of housing loan.

Section 80D provides for tax deduction from the total taxable income for the payment of medical insurance premium. This deduction is over and above the deduction under Section 80C.

"The forms would be notified by this month end as we want assessees to start filing returns from April onwards," the official added. The move is aimed at encouraging more number of people to file returns.

Currently, only 6 crore out of 29 crore persons holding permanent account number (PAN) file income returns. The current 3-page form is simplified version of an income tax return form after removing mandated disclosure of foreign trips and dormant bank accounts introduced two years back.

People with an income of more than Rs. 50 lakh per annum and who own luxury items like yacht, aircraft or valuable jewellery will continue to disclose these expensive assets with the I-T department in the ITRs.

The e-filing facility for ITR-1 is likely to be enabled from April 1 and ITRs can be filed till the stipulated deadline of July 31.  At the time of filing the form, the taxpayer has to fill in his PAN, Aadhaar number, personal information and information on taxes paid, and TDS will be auto-filled in the form.

Post July 1, as per amendments to the Finance Bill 2017 as passed by the Lok Sabha, it would become mandatory for an assessee to provide the Aadhaar number or the number showing that he has applied for Aadhaar in the ITR.

Also the efiling website would have an online tax calculator to help assessees determine their tax liability. ITR 1-SAHAJ, 2 and 2A can be used by individual or Hindu Undivided Families whose income does not include income from business.

ITR 4S - SUGAM can be used by an individual or HUF whose income includes business income assessable on presumptive basis.

Consolidation of India's public-sector banks is seen as a final step in rebuilding a financial system chairman BBB

India plans to adopt a regional-based model for consolidating its bloated public-sector banks, the chairman of its Banks Board Bureau said on Tuesday. 

"We have to plan a model for consolidation which will be region-based so that we have a few strong banks in the west, north, south and east," Vinod Rai said. "That will also avoid branch-based redundancies." 

Rai was speaking at the annual Credit Suisse Asian investment conference in Hong Kong. 

India's lenders had stressed loans of 9.64 trillion rupees ($147.33 billion) as of end-December, Santosh Gangwar, minister of state for finance, told Indian lawmakers this month, with nearly 90 percent of the pile with government-run institutions. 

Consolidation of India's public-sector banks is seen as a final step in rebuilding a financial system capable of underwriting credit growth and job-creating investment in Asia's third-largest economy. 

In reply to a question on whether he had any targeted market share that private banks and public sector banks should have in India, Rai replied in the negative and added public sector banks are crucial for infrastructure and long-term project lending, sectors which most private banks usually steer clear of. 

Asked if he had market-share targets for private banks and public sector banks in India, Rai said no, adding that public sector banks are crucial for infrastructure and long-term project lending that most private banks don't provide. 

Rai also said the government does not have the financial capacity to keep raising capital to recapitalize its banks at an increasing pace. 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has earmarked 700 billion rupees ($10.5 billion) in bank capital injections from budgets covering a four-year period ending March 2019. 

Some of India's public-sector banks are listed, including Bank of BarodaBSE 1.14 %, Bank of India and Canara BankBSE 0.08 % . 

Rai said the government is thinking that more minority shareholders will invest in such institutions as "these banks are trading at less than their book value" 

A former auditor-general, Rai was appointed to run the Banks Board Bureau when it was formed last year. 

 

SBI spent Rs 775 crore in maintaining Jan Dhan accounts govt says in rajyasabha

The total cost of operation of Jan Dhan accounts by State Bank of IndiaBSE 1.00 % is Rs 774.86 crore, Parliament was informed today. 

"Bank-wise and year-wise information on the cost of operation of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan accounts is not maintained. However, the total cost of operation of Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts as reported by State Bank of India as on December 31, 2106, is Rs 774.86 crore," Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. 

To a separate query, the minister said the number of zero balance Jan Dhan accounts was 5.93 crore as on November 9, 2016, and 6.32 crore as on December 28, 2016. 

"The balance of deposit in PMJDY was Rs 45,636 crore as on November 9, 2016 and Rs 71,036 crore as on December 28, 2016." 

Replying to another query, Gangwar said public banks, regional rural banks and 13 private lenders have reported that as on March 24, 2017, 92,52,609 accounts were frozen under the PMJDY due to lack of transaction in the last one year. 

The minister further noted that as per report received from public sector banks, RRBs and 13 private banks, as on March 15, there are 28.02 crore Jan Dhan accounts and 1.8 crore operational ones have deposits of more than Rs 5,000. 
 

In all, 400 branches of SBT will be physically closed down after merger

After more than seven decades in existence and often referred to as Kerala`s own bank, the State Bank of Travancore (SBT) will on March 31 go into oblivion. From the new fiscal, the bank will be merged with the State Bank of India (SBI).

At the end of the previous fiscal the total business of SBT stood at Rs 1,68,123 crore, which comprised total deposits of Rs 1,01,119 crore and advances of Rs 67,004 crore.

As a result of the merger, more than 14,000 employees (5,000 officers and the rest comprising clerical and subordinate staff) and 1,200 SBT branches (880 in Kerala alone) will cease to exist under the brand name SBT.

In all, 400 branches of SBT will be physically closed down.

Speaking to IANS, K.S. Krishna, general secretary of SBT Employees Union, said the instruments of the SBT will be honoured till August 31, "after which our cheques and drafts will also go out of circulation".

"What we are told is that of the 880 SBT branches in Kerala, 204 branches would be closed. The exact number of State Bank of India branches that would be closed down is not yet known. A decision has been taken that in case there are two branches of these banks in the same location, then if the SBT is located in its own property, it would continue," said Krishna.

The State Bank of India (SBI) has 3,000 employees and 480 branches in Kerala.

To downsize the staff in SBT, the SBT management has offered a VRS scheme that closes on April 5.

"From April 5 to 22, there is a window given for those who have opted for VRS to reverse their decision. This is open to all categories of employees. The offer for VRS is 50 per cent salary for the remaining service with a maximum of 30 months," said Krishna.

The giant SBT headquarters in the capital city will become the State Bank of India local head office.

The top level officials of the present SBT, including its managing director, eight general managers and 36 deputy general managers, are getting ready to move to new locations.

"The top person in SBI in Kerala from April 1 will be sitting in our erstwhile headquarters and would hold the rank of Chief General Manager. Under him there would be three general managers and 12 deputy general managers," said Krishna.

On April 21 and 22, the technology integration would be complete and the entire banking data of SBT would be merged with that of SBI.

SBI currently has 79.09 per cent shareholding in SBT. The Kerala government`s stake in SBT is 0.89 per cent, while the remainder is in the hands of around 60,000 individual shareholders. The transfer of shares has already taken place, with SBT shareholders holding 10 shares given 22 shares of SBI.

HOW TO FILL UP 15G/15H FROM APRIL 2017

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1. Name of Assessee (Declarant): Write the name as mentioned on PAN card.

2. PAN of the Assessee: Write your PAN number

3. Status: Individual / Hindu Undivided Family (HUF): As applicable in your case.

4. The previous year (P.Y.) (for which declaration is being made): It is one of the important columns where people generally confused.Let understand the basic:

The calendar Year: Starts from 1st January & Ends on 31st December - e.g. 01-01-2016 to 31-12-2016

Financial Year (FY): Starts from 1st April & Ends on 31st March e.g 01-04-2016 to 01-03-2017

Assessment year (AY): For FY 2016-17, AY year will be 2017-18

In terms of Income Tax Guideline, Income earned in particular year (e.g in 1-4-2016 to 31-03-2017) will be taxed in next financial year. So, the Financial Year to which income belong is termed as Previous Year i.e The financial year to which the income pertains.

In above mentioned 15G form, Previous Year mentioned as 2017-18 because income will be earned in this FY (2017-18)for which Mr.Anand Kumar has submitted the 15G form to bank on 02-04-2017.
 

5. Residential Status, 6. Flat/Door/Block No.,7. Name of Premises, 8. Road/Street/Lane, 9. Area/Locality,10. Town/City/District,11. State,12. PIN: These columns are self-explanatory, you need to fill up your address details

13. Email: fill up your e.mail id

14. Telephone No. (with STD Code) and Mobile No.: If, you don't have land line then just fill up the mobile number

15 (a) Whether assessed to tax under the Income-tax Act, 1961: Tick on Yes if assessed to tax under the provisions of Income-tax Act, 1961 for any of the assessment year out of six assessment years preceding the year in which the declaration is filed. or fill up no if not assessed under  the provisions of Income-tax Act, 1961 

(b) If yes, latest assessment year for which assessed: Mention your latest assessment year in which you have filed income tax return.

16. Estimated income for which this declaration is made: Fill up the estimated income. e.g  in sample form Mr. Anand Kumar has fixed deposit in a bank and will get interest of Rs 15,000/- Approx.

17. Estimated total income of the P.Y. in which income mentioned in column 16 to be included: In sample case, Mr. Anand Kumar estimated Total income from business Rs.1,00,000/- and Rs. 15,000/- from Interest on FD. So, his Estimated total income became 1,15,000/- (Rs. 1,00,000/- Plus Rs. 15,000/-)

18. Details of Form No. 15G other than this form filed during the previous year, if any:

     Total No. of Form No. 15G filed: Fill zero if first time submitting in FY 2017-18

     Aggregate amount of income for which Form No.15G filed

19. Details of income for which the declaration is filed: 

SL.No. ,Identification number of relevant investment/account,etc.Nature of income ,Section under which tax is deductible,amount of income: Fill up serially all the investment, e.g FD,MIS etc with their respective numbers,amount.

The section under which tax is deductible:

• 192A-Premature withdrawal from EPF ( w.e.f 01.06.2015)
• 193 – Interest on securities
• 194 – Dividends
• 194A – Interest other than interest on securities – Others
• 194A – Banks (Recurring deposit).

Top executive says around 10% staff reduction in two years may be a possibility

State Bank of India's total workforce will see a reduction over the next two years, after the merger with six entities, owing to attrition, reduced hiring and digitisation, a top official said.

"Manpower will go down with the period of time. Around 10 per cent reduction in two years may be a possibility," SBI managing director Rajnish Kumar told news agency Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) in an interview.

Currently, the country's largest bank has around 207,000 workforce and the merger of six entities - SBBJ (State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur), SBM (State Bank of Mysore), SBT (State Bank of Travancore), SBP (State Bank of Patiala), SBH (State Bank of Hyderabad) and Bharatiya Mahila Bank - from April 1 will add approximately 70,000 employees. 

"Post-merger we will be at 2,77,000 people in SBI. This may come down to 2,60,000 by March 2019. So it may be less than 10 per cent. Let us first merge and see the impact of the key process changes," Mr Kumar said.

He said there would be some actual reduction in headcount along with re-assignment of the roles, but lay-offs are not an option.

"We have offered voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), there would be natural attritions and every year we may not replace head by head (replacement recruitment). Manpower will also reduce as a result of digital initiatives. There will be a combined effect," he added.

Ruling out layoffs, he said the question does not arise.

"Two years down the line, these efficiencies will start showing. Reduction in manpower will depend on efficiency of the merger and branch networks. Lot of duplication happening will be removed and we will have more feet on the street (customer outreach programmes)," Mr Kumar told IANS.

Hiring in SBI may not be halted, but will reduce by 50 per cent in a year, he said. In 2016-17, the public sector bank hired 19,000 people.

"It will come down from the previous average of hiring. It could be reduced by 50 per cent. We will return to usual 5,000-6,000 recruitment every year," he said.

"We cannot stop new hiring because it creates a lot of gap in the middle management down the line. But full replacement may not be required. If 13,000 people retire in a year, we may recruit 7,000-8,000 in a year," he added.

Mr Kumar said the bank will continue with its policy of branch expansion, and the associate bank branches will be merged.

"There is a policy of branch expansion, we are governed by that. We keep on opening new branches depending on the business potential, that will not stop. We are working on the plan as to how many branches we will open in next two years," he said.

The SBI official said there would be ample benefits from the merger in terms of cost-efficiency and rationalisation.

"Treasury integration, risk management optimisation will happen. It will result in efficiency gains for the bank. Continuously supporting them with capital will not be required. Initially, the costs may go up, but in the next two years... the rationalisation efficiencies will surface," he said.

10 Income Tax Rules That Will Change From April. See Details Here

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Finance Bill, completing the budgetary exercise for 2017-18. Since the Finance Bill is a Money Bill, it needs only to be cleared by the Lok Sabha. Starting from April 1, 2017, some income tax laws will change. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced a number of income tax changes in Budget 2017. In addition, some amendments were also introduced in the Finance Bill that was passed by the Lok Sabha. Here are some of the changes that income tax payers should note:

1) The tax rate on income between Rs. 2.5 lakh and Rs. 5 lakh will get halved to 5 per cent from 10 per cent. However, rebate under Section 87A gets reduced from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 2,500. And no rebate will be applicable for taxpayers having income above Rs. 3.5 lakh. This means tax savings of up to Rs. 7,700 for those with a taxable income between Rs. 3 lakh and Rs. 5 lakh. And for persons with taxable income between Rs. 5 lakh and Rs. 50 lakh, tax savings of Rs. 12,900.

(Read | New Income Tax Rates And Deductions Applicable From April 1, 2017)

2) A 10 per cent surcharge will be applicable for individuals having income ranging from Rs. 50 lakh to Rs. 1 crore (existing surcharge of 15 per cent will remain the same for individuals having income above Rs. 1 crore.)

(Also Read: These 10 Transactions Will Get Reported To Income Tax Department)

3) A simple one-page form will be introduced for filing tax return for individuals having a taxable income up to Rs. 5 lakh other than business income.

4) No deduction will be allowed for investment in Rajiv Gandhi Equity Saving Scheme from Assessment Year 2018-19. This tax-saving scheme, announced in the Union Budget for financial year 2012-13, was designed exclusively for the first-time individual investors in the securities market with gross total income below a certain limit.

5) Income tax officials can reopen tax cases for up to 10 years if search operations reveal undisclosed income and assets of over Rs. 50 lakh. Currently, tax officers can go back up to six years to scrutinise the books of accounts of assessees. Taxpayers who do not file their returns on time will have to shell out a penalty of up to Rs. 10,000 from Assessment Year 2018-19. However, if the total income of the person does not exceed Rs. 5 lakh, the fee payable under this section shall not exceed Rs. 1,000.

6) The holding period of a property for qualifying as long-term gains will be reduced to two years, from three years. This will help save tax if a property is sold within two years of buying. The profit from the transaction will be treated as short-term capital gains and will be taxed according to the slab rate applicable to him/her.

7) The government has cut down tax benefits borrowers enjoyed on properties let out on rent. As per current tax laws, for properties rented out, a borrower could deduct the entire interest paid on home loan after adjusting for the rental income. On the other hand, borrowers of self-occupied properties get a deduction of Rs. 2 lakh on interest repayment on home loan. But on rented properties, the borrower can only claim a deduction of up to Rs. 2 lakh per year after adjusting for the rental income. And the amount above Rs. 2 lakh can be carried forward for eight assessment years. Since the interest component of home loan repaid in initial years is higher, experts say that the borrower may not be able to fully adjust the interest paid as deduction even in subsequent years.

8) Individuals will be required to deduct a 5 per cent TDS (tax deducted at source) for rental payments above Rs. 50,000 per month. Tax experts say that the move will ensure that persons who get a large rental income come into the tax net. It will be effective from June 1, 2017.

9) Partial withdrawals from National Pension System (NPS) will not attract tax. According to the proposed changes, NPS subscribers can withdraw 25 per cent of their contribution to the corpus for emergencies before retirement. Remember that withdrawal of 40 per cent of the corpus is tax-free on retirement.

(Read: NPS Withdrawal, Contribution: Income Tax Changes That Will Impact You)

10) Aadhaar number will be a must while applying for PAN as well as filing of income tax returns from July 1. To curb black money, the limit on cash transactions has been set at Rs. 2 lakh. The Finance Bill had originally proposed the cap at Rs. 3 lakh. If a person receives any sum in contravention of the tax law, he/she will be liable to pay, by way of penalty, a sum equal to the amount.