4/4/2016

TheEconomicTimes
Title:SIXTASKSTODOINTHENEWFINANCIALYEAR
Author:
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ArticleDate:04/04/2016
ThecrazinessofMarchmaybeover,butinvestorsandtaxpayersstillhaveafewmorefinancial
taskstocomplete.
Starttaxplanningrightaway
Thismightseemalittlestrangegiventhatthetaxplanningseasonhasjustended.Butexpertssayitis
besttostarttaxplanningattheverybeginningofthefinancialyear.Taxpayersshouldplanhowthey
wanttoutilisetheSection80Cinvestmentlimit,saysMumbaibasedfinancialadviserVipin
Khandelwal.Hesaysifyouplantoinvestinequitylinkedsavingschemes(ELSS),itisbesttostartan
SIPinAprilitself.Forinstance,ifyouwanttoinvest`30,000inELSSduringtheyear,startanSIPof
`2,500inthefundyouhavechosen.OurresearchshowsthatinvestorswhotooktheSIProuteearned
morethanthosewhowaitedtillMarchtoinvestinELSSschemes.
Staggeringtheinvestmentsacross12monthsnotonlycushionsyouagainstvolatility,butalsolightenthe
burdenattheendofthefinancialyear.It'seasiertospare`2,5003,000everymonthinsteadofputting
`30,00036,000atonegoinMarch.
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Getpapersreadyfortaxfiling
Thetaxfilingdeadlineisthreemonthsaway,butitwillhelpifyoustartputtingtogethertheinformation
neededatthetimeoffilingreturns.Ifyouhaveforeignassetsorearnedforeignincomeduringtheyear,
startcollectingthedocumentsrightaway.Obtainingtaxcreditreceipts,incomecertificatesandother
documentsfromforeigncountriesshouldnotbekeptforlater.
Taxpayersoftenmissoutdeclaringtheirinterestincomeintheirreturns.Thetaxdepartmentwillbe
scrutinisingyourinterestincomeingreaterdetailthisyear.
BankscredittheinterestonthebalanceinsavingsbankaccountsinOctoberandApril.Addthetotal
interestacrossallbankaccounts.Alsoaddtheinterestyouwouldhaveearnedoninfrastructurebonds,
NSCs,fixedandrecurringdepositsandotherfixedincomesecurities.Ifyouhaveahomeloanoran
educationloanrunning,getacertificateofinterestfromyourlendertoknowhowmuchdeductionyou
canclaimunderSection24andSection80E.
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Increasequantumofinvestments
Thisistheappraisalseasonandyournextpaychequeislikelytobefatter.
Thismeansyouneedtoincreaseinvestmentsinthesameproportion.Someinvestments,likeyourcontri
butiontotheEPF,automaticallyincreasewithriseinincome.Forothers,youcaneitherincreasethe
existingSIPamountorstartfreshSIPsinotherfunds.Theideais,ifyouareearningmore,youshouldbe
savingmoretoo.
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TIMEREQUIRED23HOURS
SubmitForm15Gand15HtoavoidTDS
ThisisalsothetimetofileForm15Gor15HtoavoidTDSoninterest.Form15Gcanbefiledby
investorsbelow60whodonothaveanytaxliabilityandwhosetotalincomefrominterestisbelowthe
basicexemptionof`2.5lakh.However,ifthereissometaxliability,orifyourinterestincomeexceeds
thebasicexemption,youcannotfilethisform.Form15Hisforindividualsabove60.Itcanbefiledifthe
finaltaxontheinvestor'sestimatedtotalincomeisnil.So,ifyouareabove60,yourtaxableincomefor
thefinancialyearcanbeupto`3lakhforyoutobeeligiblefor15H.Forsuperseniorcitizensabove80
years,thislimitis`5lakh.
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GiveVPFmandatetoemployer
Thegovernmenthascutinterestrateonsmallsavingsschemesandthereareindicationsthatrateswillgo
downfurtherifthebenchmarkbondyielddeclines.However,theinterestearnedontheEmployee
ProvidentFund(EPF)maynotcomedownsomuch.So,insteadofthePPFwhichwillgive8.1%,
salariedindividualscanconsidertheVoluntaryProvidentFund(VPF).VPFcontributionsareeligiblefor
taxdeductionunderSec80Candaretaxfreeonwithdrawal.EvenifEPFbecomestaxableinlateryears,
theexistingcorpuswillnotgettaxed.SubmityourVPFmandatetotheemployerimmediately.
TIMEREQUIRED1520MINUTES
Organiseinvestmentportfolio
Prudentassetallocationiscriticalforsuccessininvesting.Butmanyinvestorsdon'tknowtheirasset
allocationbecauseallinvestmentsarenotatoneplace.Ifyouareamongthem,it'stimetostartusinga
portfoliotracker.ValueResearchhasmadeitsimplerforitsusers.Alltheyhavetodoisuploadthe
consolidatedmutualfundstatementandNPSdetailsandalltransactionsgetincorporatedintothe
portfolio.
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