Replying to comments teaches me many things, so I want to share one useful learning today. One of the NRI reader called Rahul was facing a strange problem, He had taken a home loan from ICICI bank few year back and now he wanted to pre-pay his home loan. However the problem was that he was outside India and bank wanted him to visit in person to pre-pay the home loan. The other way was to go through a Power of Attorney route which is extremely lengthy process. So Rahul was really stuck, however Manu appeared and shared that he has been pre-paying his home loan by adding his LOAN account as third-party account and then doing a normal NEFT transfer.
One big reason why you should connect your loan account for prepaying your home loan or other kind of loans is because at times we get some spare cash in our life through bonus or some other reason but because prepayment needs some effort and physically going to bank takes away our excitement and all that money finds its way to some other expenses which could have been avoided. I was aware of this trick earlier but really wanted some more confirmations from other readers before writing it and now I have got 3 confirmations from different readers that a LOAN account can be added as third-party account in your online banking account and you can do a NEFT transfer to your loan account. This is a simple and powerful way of pre-paying your home loan or any other kind of loan because it’s at your finger tips and you don’t have to delay the decision of prepaying your loan just because of inconvenience caused by visiting the bank.
Let me share with you some instances where readers have confirmed about this trick –
Proof by Manu on Home Loan Prepayment through NEFT
I have done the similar way for SBI. In the last few months I have paid off a substantial chunk online without visiting the bank – in fact they themselves suggested this option. What Manish said should be possible with ICICI bank. It’s like setting up an account to which you transfer funds – lets say you send some money to your parents every month. You would have added their account in third-party transfer section. Same applies to loan account. Hope this helps.
I have a Home loan from state bank of travancore. I have online access to the loan account and part-paying is simply initiating a neft transfer from any of my saving accounts to this loan account. It has been very convenient so far.. Since its online, i can see the outstanding principal amount i have on any given day.
Apart from PPF and other instruments, you can make part payment of your home loan or loan EMIs through NEFT also. Well I am doing NEFT transfer to my OBC Home loan a/c every month. Initailly it was paid through post-dated cheque.
Steps of adding your Loan Account to your online Banking account
1. Make sure you have internet banking enabled and the branch where you hold the loan account also accepts the online payments (mostly this is always true)
2. Just like you add a third-party account , in the same manner add your loan account as third-party account so that you can make the NEFT payment later. Once the account gets added , you should be able to see it as one of the added accounts
3. Once the account gets added, you can then make the payments to your loan account , it would be considered as your pre-payment .
Note that this home loan prepayment online through NEFT should be possible for all kind of loans, not just home loan.
Why only pre-payment, you can also pay your regular EMI’s using online options instead of post dated cheques. So ask your bank to allow/enable this option.
It might happen that this does not work in some banks. But we have seen 3 confirmations from different readers for 3 different banks , so mostly this should work on all the banks.
If you have bank account and loan account in same bank , it should be more easy process of just linking the accounts, ask your bank on this to guide you.
So If you have a home loan, you should definately explore the idea of connecting your loan account with your bank account so that whenever you have some spare amount , you can quickly do home loan prepayment the loan by a click of the button , otherwise that “extra” cash can evaporate very soon. Are you going to do this ? Try it out and let us know in comments section if home loan prepayment worked for you through NEFT
Do you know how to find your income tax refund status online? Yes, there is a simple way of finding out the status of your income tax return online. A lot of people are clueless about the refund status!
Now, one can just enter their PAN number and the Assessment year for which the refund status is to be known and get the status update on a click of a button.
How to check Income tax refund Status Online
All you need to do is go to this website and enter your PAN number and choose the Assessment year and click on submit. This will give you the current status of your income tax refund. You can also track the status of the income tax refund by contacting the help desk of SBI’s at toll free number: 18004259760 or email them at [email protected]or refunds@incometaxindia.gov.in
Note that the income tax refund is valid only if you file your income tax return on time. If you delay the income tax return filing, in that case you will lose the interest on your refund money. I hope you know that filing your tax return online helps one to get tax refund faster than offline return filing.
What can be different types of Income tax refund Status?
1. Change in address
A lot of income tax refunds get dispatched at right time, but they go back because of the change in address. A lot of people keep moving from one place to another and because of this the income tax refund status shows “Refund Cheque returned because of change in address” reason in the status.
Look that the snapshot below
2. Cheque Encashed Status
In case one has already en-cashed the cheque which has come for income tax refund, and then he will see the following message in the status box. If you see this and haven’t already got the cheque – you are in problem!
There can be other status also depending on the situation. The above two status’s were just for demo purpose.
Some Important Points about Income Tax Refund
The State Bank of India (SBI) is the refund banker to the Income Tax Department (ITD). So State bank of India sends the income tax refunds
Refunds are generated in two modes i.e., ECS and paper. If the taxpayer has selected mode of refund as ECS (direct credit in the bank account of the taxpayer) at the time of submission of income return the taxpayer’s bank A/c (at least 10 digits ) and MICR code of bank branch and communication address are mandatory. For taxpayers who have not opted for ECS refund will be disbursed by cheque or demand draft. For generation of refund through paper cheque bank account no, correct address is mandatory.
The status of the refund would be available for tax payers, only 10 days after the refund has been sent by the Assessing Officer to the refund banker.
Refund status can be viewed only if you have received an acknowledgement from the IT department of having received the ITR form.
Did you check your Income tax refund status? If No, then check it soon and let us know what is the status?
Did you come across many errors in cibil report of your ? Was there any kind of mistake in cibil report ? Are you wondering how to clear yourself out of CIBIL defaulter list? Is your name in cibil defaulters ? In this article you will see what can be done to Correct the errors in CIBIL Report and remove your name from cibil ? Firstly let’s understand the type of errors that can be on your CIBIL report. Before that, the first thing you need to do , apply for your CIBIL Credit Report Online
1. Errors in CIBIL Report
Banks keep on updating CIBIL about your credit behaviour on monthly basis. So, at the time of entering some data, it might happen that some human error happens. Even though these are human mistakes, still they are responsible and correctly blamed for a lot of complaints. Let me give you an example – Suppose your outstanding credit was Rs 2,000, but accidentally it was entered as Rs 20,000. Similarly, there can be various things which can get wrong:-
Account/ Loan Type
Account Status
Ownership Type
Date of Last Payment
Date Opened
Date Closed
Sanctioned Amount/ High Credit
Current Balance
Amount Overdue
DPD/ Asset Classification
Remember that each of these little things are very important and different banks can have different criteria and weightage on a particular thing. So getting each thing right is very important for your future loans. Make sure you have them corrected.
2. Mistakes in your Basic details like Name , Address , Date of Birth
There can be at times mistakes in basic details like Name, address, Date of Birth etc… For Example, in my CIBIL report, my name “Manish Chauhan”, can be misspelt as “Manish Chavan” (like all the people in Pune do when they write my name). So if name is misspelt as “Manish Chavan” and tomorrow some real “Manish Chavan” runs away after taking Rs 50, 00,000 home loans, with help of human error, there are chances that this impacts me. Don’t take it lightly incase your name or any other detail is incorrect. The full list of details is as follows
Name
Date of Birth
Gender
Income Tax ID
Passport Number
Voter’s ID
Telephone Numbers
Address
State
PIN
3. Something Does not Belong to you or Has Duplicate Entry
At times you will see things which do not belong to you, it comes into the category of “human error” or actually it might be on your name, just that you are not aware of it, this might happen if your documents are misused by some other person. This happens and has happened with lot of people. So take this seriously. Note that you might not see a recent update in your CIBIL report if you have applied for a CIBIL report within 45 days of a transaction. It takes time to update it in CIBIL report.
How to Correct your CIBIL report
Cibil has an online redressal mechanism for handling the mistakes in CIBIL Credit Report or to correct errors in cibil report, which is called “Dispute Resolution” .
Step 1 : Fill up a Dispute Resolution form
The first step is to fill up this CIBIL Online Dispute Resolution Form. Make sure you put all the information correctly. There is something called as CONTROL NUMBER which you will find in your CIR report, you have put fill this control number in this dispute form along with other details. You will also have to give them the exact mistake and the correct information. The Control Number is a unique 9-digit number found on the top right hand side of your CIBIL Credit Information Report and is generated every time a credit report is generated. Once you submit the form, you will be given a Dispute ID which you can use for future references. This Dispute id will also be emailed to you. The dispute resolution form looks like this
Step 2 : CIBIL communicated to Loan Provider to confirm Detail
Once you raise a Dispute request, CIBIL first tries to see if it can verify and rectify the details on its own but incase its unable to do so (which will be the case most of the times) it will then forward your dispute request to the loan provider (the bank which issued you credit card, home loan, car loan etc). Once the loan provider confirms that there is an error it will provide CIBIL with corrected data. CIBIL then updates the data and informs you as appropriate. Always remember, it is the duty of CIBIL to help you resolve your request.
Please remember that CIBIL does not make changes to any information on its own. It is only a custodian of information received from credit institutions. CIBIL is permitted to make changes to your credit information only when it is confirmed by the relevant loan provider(s).You will receive an email notification informing of the results for the dispute requested. It takes approximately 30 days to resolve a dispute request. Once the dispute is resolved, you can see the status of your CIBIL report by applying to it all over again. A lot of people wish if they could have a CIBIL Login and Password where they can view their report whenever they want. But that won’t happen soon
I hope you have got a clear idea on what to do when there are mistakes in your CIBIL report and you want to correct them. Just follow the steps suggested and you should be able to correct the errors in cibil report of yours and get out of CIBIL defaulter list !
Do you want to invest in your Public Provident Fund (PPF) account online without going to the bank physically? If YES, then there is a good news for you. You can transfer money to your Public Provident Fund Online netbanking. Whatever we are going to talk in this article is applicable to Public Provident fund in State bank of India. If you have a PPF account in post office of other banks , then first you will have to transfer your PPF account to SBI and then you can add your PPF account to your bank account as beneficiary and then transfer the money to PPF account anytime with a click ! .
Please note that this online transfer is possible only if the PPF account is at SBI , if it is opened at Post Office , then it would not be possible, because only SBI is authorised to get online payments for PPF. Many people have their PPF , spouse PPF and children PPF account, they can add any number of PPF accounts for online payment.
Steps for Online Transfer in PPF account
Step 1 : Add Public Provident Fund account as Beneficiary Account
The first step is to add your PPF account to your Bank account as third-party so that you can do a money transfer to them. I am using ICICI account screenshots, but all the steps must be same for other banks also.
Step 2 : Choose the SBI branch Address
Next step is to choose the exact location of the BANK where the account was open . Note that if you opened a PPF account at a SBI branch where netbanking is not available , it will not be listed.
The best thing about have the bank account and PPF account linked is that you can also view the PPF details and balance at a single place .
Step 3 : Add your PPF account as the Payee Account number
The last step is to add your PPF account as the Payee Account number and then click on the confirmation link . In ICICI you will first get an activation code which you will have to put to activate the account for first time .
Once you have completed these 3 steps you can see your PPF account as the 3rd party account where you can transfer the money just like you send it to any account.
Steps for State Bank of India (SBI)
Option 1 : If your PPF account and Bank account is at same branch
Incase you have your PPF account and SBI bank at the same branch, then you can see your PPF account already linked with your Bank account and you can transfer the money. Prasoon shares his personal experience
I already had an account in SBI, New Delhi. I went to SBI, Hyderabad for opening a PPF account. They asked for existing SBI account number, which I provided. Also, I submitted PAN card and Bank statement copy as proof documents. It took some 15-20 minutes to get a PPF passbook.
Now a pleasant surprise –
When I came back home and logged with my saving account user ID, I was able to see my PPF account under account section. I was able to see transaction I have done till then.
Also, there is no need to add PPF account as Third Party in this case. As the PPF account appears as separate account, I can transfer amount using fund transfer (not third-party transfer). Good thing is that, this transaction is real-time and the PPF account gets updated at the same time. Also, I am able to download statements, just like with normal account.
If you are not able to see the PPF account as “linked account” , then call customer care and ask them to activate it, if that does not work , then try to add your PPF account as the beneficiary account like I explained above . If even that does not work then try to go to your branch and then ask them to link the account to your bank account.
Option 2 : If your PPF account and Bank account are NOT at same branch
If your SBI Bank account and PPF account are not in same branch/city , then as the first step you can try to add your PPF account to your Bank account as third-party to do a money transfer. If that does not work then you can go to your Branch and ask them to link your PPF account to your bank account . Mostly this should work.
Netbanking works with all the Banks
As of now we know that this online transfer is working with ICICI , SBI , IDBI , Bank Of Baroda , IDBI bak, Union Bank of India . So with this information we can conclude that any bank which supports NEFT transaction can be used to transfer the money to SBI PPF account, by adding it as third party beneficiary. Let us know if this works for you.
But your Public Provident Fund account is not in SBI ?
Incase your PPF account is with Post Office or a non-SBI bank ,then may be its a great time to transfer your PPF account to SBI account ,all you need to do is submit a form for transfer of your PPF account. It will be one time task , so do it .
How to claim tax benefits
If you transfer the money to your PPF account online then you can do two things . First is to get your PPF passbook updated at your branch about the money transfer , you will get the PPF passbook updated and show it as your proof for claiming tax benefits. The other thing you can do is take the print out of your bank statement which will show the credit of the money to your PPF account. I am not sure but may be this is possible with SBI bank only . You can use this statement as proof to claim tax benefit.
NRI’s should make use of this online transfer facility
I think the best use of this facility can be made by NRI’s , who are already have a Public Provident Fund account , but could not go to bank branch to invest in PPF and waiting for information like this.
Just try this option with Rs 500
If you are wondering if this whole netbanking will work or not , I can tell you that there are countless number of investors already doing this and I am sure you will hear from other fellow readers that they are already doing this. It would be a great idea to test this by adding your PPF account and then test a transfer of Rs 500 and confirm once that it really got transferred .
Where you looking for information like this ? Will you test this with your Public provident Fund account and do a test transfer ! , please update your comments about it in comments section .
Thanks to Jayaprakash for sending me these screenshots and also confirming that he was able to transfer money from his ICICI bank to his PPF account.
This article will teach you how to apply for your cibil report online . Some months back, I had written an article on CIBIL report which was well taken. A lot of readers applied for CIBIL score and were shocked to see their CIBIL report was messed up because of some past sin committed in area of credit card, home loans, personal loans. A lot of you applied for CIBIL report which took some time, energy and lot of commitment, but majority of readers didn’t take any action and just told themselves “I will apply soon” .. that “soon” never happened and seems like CIBIL heard your prayers. CIBIL scores are now available online. Fill a form and make the online payment in 10 minutes, authenticate some questions and get your CIBIL score online in your email in next 4 days ! . I applied for my personal CIBIL score and I got it in just 2 days in my email . My score was 835 ! . yippee !
Procedure to get your CIBIL report online
Note that you can only get your CIBIL TransUnion Score (Including CIR) by paying Rs 450. You cant get CIR alone .
1. Fill up the online form
The first step is to fill up a form online here . It asks Name, address, Phone details along with Identity and address proof. At the end it would ask your Loan account number (credit card number in case of credit card) . Make sure you fill up the form correctly and also double-check that you are putting correct address, identity proof related number like PAN number , Passport number etc. Once you are done with this step, you move to step two, which is payment online.
2. Make an online Payment
Once you have filled up the form, and click on “Make Payment” button, you will be redirected to the payment gateway where you can make the payment of Rs 450 by credit card, NetBanking or other ways . I would suggest making a payment using net banking , because I used credit card option myself two times and it failed , but with Net banking option, I didn’t face any issue.
Make sure you do not close the page after making the payment, it will redirect you to a CIBIL page where the 3rd step will be performed. Note that before you move to 3rd step , you will get an IDENTIFICATION ID number , please make sure you note it down properly.
Tip : The reason why we keep getting transaction failures (with payments getting deducted) is because of the way the CIBIL website handles cookies. Its always better to clear off everything in your browser before attempting to pay for your report. I found this the hard way after my payments were deducted a couple of times (1 refunded and 1 waiting for refund). Thanks to Vijay for this finding
3. Authentication
Now from security point of view, now you will have to answer 3 questions which would be related to your credit history. Once you answer these questions, your authentication will be successful and you will get your CIBIL score card in your email in next 4 days. You will get this message once authentication is successful
We will e-mail your CIBIL TransUnion Score (Including CIR) within 4 business days*. The On-Line Payment Confirmation is emailed for your record. For any queries on the status of your request, you can write to us with your Transaction Id at [email protected] after 4 business days.
You will get a receipt of payment which you can print right away and you will also get an email with PDF copy of your payment and other details.
What if authentication fails ?
Incase the authentication step fails while applying for cibil report online, don’t worry .. all you need to do is take the print out of the payment receipt (you get it in email also) , self attested photo copies of the required documents (identity and address proof) which you had put in the form in the start , and send it to CIBIL address. You should get back your CIBIL score in next 10 days.
Documents Required & CIBIL address
1. Online Payment Confirmation
2. Identity Proof – PAN / Passport / Voter’s id (Identity proof should be valid and not expired)
3. Address Proof – Bank Statement / Electricity Bill / Telephone Bill / Passport / Credit Card Statement (Address proof should be not more than 3 months from the date of application and should be in your name)
Address
Consumer Relations – Disclosure Request,
Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited, Hoechst House, 6th Floor, 193,
Backbay Reclamation, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021.
Data Security ?
While CIBIL says that the whole process to apply for cibil report online is secure and there has been rigorous testing, I personally realised that it’s not 100% secure. First the email id where you want to order the CIBIL score can be any email id , all i need to know is your important documents numbers and your credit history and some numbers , which I feel a lot of people share with their close friends and relatives sometimes . So the real security would happen when you do not disclose your credit related data to anyone .
In last few months we have seen that there have been many complaints from hundreds of people on how they could not get a loan because of their low CIBIL score or some bad past record . Banks are seriously looking at these scores now and make sure you at least have a look at your CIBIL score once . So if you have any credit card or loan , you should apply for CIBIL score and have a look at it.
Try out ordering your CIBIL report online and let me know if you were successful or not . Also share your experience with CIBIL in comments section.
Have you been mis-sold any financial product? If yes, then you must be confused about how to approach the consumer forum and talk to the company’s customer care to get justice. While there is no guarantee, neither there is any magical formula on getting justice. There are a few rules and some tips which you can keep in mind while trying to resolve consumer complaints and approaching consumer forums in India. So I asked Ankur Singla of Akosha.com, to share some tips and tricks which you can use. Akosha.com works in the area of resolving consumer complaints in India against large brands. So here is what they have to share –
Customer Care escalation
If a bank or insurance company (or any other company for that matter) mis-sell a product or provides a deficient service, you are entitled to get relief from the consumer forum. Before you decide to file a complaint, make sure you have done the following –
Spoken to the company‘s customer care,
Escalated the call (simply ask the junior customer care representative that you would like to speak with his senior) and tried reasoning with them
Approached the industry ombudsman – our experience with banking and insurance ombudsman is mixed. Sometimes you don’t hear from them for months, sometimes they are prompt and the bank or the insurance company back down simply upon the matter being sent to them.
If none of these have worked for you, and you are still unhappy, you can consider approaching a consumer forum. Here is how:
Approaching Consumer Court Forum in India
Step 1
Send the company a notice. A notice is a letter, hand-written or printed on plain paper which explains what exactly happened, what you are unhappy about, what you would like the company to do and what you would do in case the company does not resolve the issue. Here are some tips on writing this letter:
1. Do not misstate facts. If there has been some lapse from your side, please expressly state it.
2. Specify all the details which would enable the company to resolve your complaint faster (who you spoke to, invoice number, request number, product id, date of purchase etc.).
3. Do not use foul language or threaten. However, be firm.
4. Provide a 15 day period for them to resolve your complaint.
5. Make sure that you mention a line to the effect that if the company fails to resolve the issue, you would be forced to file a consumer complaint and take other action as well.
6. Send this letter by registered post acknowledgment due or by courier. Make sure you tell the courier company that you would be requiring the proof of delivery (POD) from them. It usually comes to you in 15-20 days of sending the letter.
Step 2
At this stage, usually, the company will call you back or email you and start taking your complaint seriously. If they offer you relief or some kind of incentives, coupons, free products or services, do consider their offer seriously. Don’t try to over-optimize (we have had a lot of customers who ask for ridiculous amounts of compensation – which would not even be given by the consumer court forums. Therefore, the company decides to wait and let the consumer approach the forum).
There is also the possibility that the company will not reply to your notice or reply to say that they would not be able to solve your complaint. In such a case, you are left with no option but to go to the appropriate consumer forum.
Step 3
Consumer Forums are divided into 3 levels – District Level, State Level, and the National.
If the total amount involved in your complaint (worth of the goods or services and the compensation you ask for) is below Rs.20 lakhs, then you will have to approach a District Forum. Typically, you have to file your complaint at the District Forum under whose jurisdiction the company or its dealer or its authorized agent carries on business. To understand which forum you can file your complaint in; please see this article – Understanding Jurisdiction of Consumer Forums.
Typically it will take about 6-18 months to resolve a complaint through the District Forum. If the stakes involved are high, either side may appeal to the State Forum and the matter may take longer. You have the option to appear before the District Forum yourself or through a lawyer. Usually, people do not have the time to appear themselves, so they hire a lawyer. A lawyer can charge anywhere between Rs.2000 to Rs.20000 for a consumer complaint depending upon the complexity of the case, his/her experience, and your willingness to pay.
During the course of the case, you might have to appear 2-4 times in the District Forum. Don’t be intimidated by this – the judges are generally customer friendly and you are only required to state the facts.
Tips on writing the complaint
Here is a link to the format in which the complaint has to be written. It is pretty simple and you can do it yourself.
Make sure all the paragraphs are numbered and you state all the relevant facts properly.
Make sure you have supporting documents to prove your case.
Please add a simple clause saying that the consumer forum you are approaching is the correct one and has jurisdiction over the matter.
You can also go directly to the nearest consumer forum and ask at the helpdesk to help you with your complaint.
Once the consumer complaint is filed, the consumer forum sends a notice to the company asking them to respond to your complaint. A lot of times the company will realize that you are serious and probably, to avoid spending 10-15k on their own lawyer, simply resolve the complaint. However, in banking, insurance and financial sector, most of the large players prefer to take the customers through court and often keep appealing against successive defeats in front of consumer forums.
So, why don’t people file consumer complaints?
Despite the ease of using consumer forums, a lot of customers don’t end up filing a consumer complaint. It’s a quick cost-benefit analysis – it sounds like too much time, money and effort to pursue it. Sometimes the stakes involved are not that great; also Indian customers have a Chalta Hai Attitude. Once their issue is resolved, they move on with their lives. However, if you are really frustrated with something, it is important to know how to file a consumer complaint.
Just like the RTI, filing a consumer complaint is a powerful tool for consumers. If you are unhappy with a product or service, just follow this process and you should come out happy on the other side.
5 important lessons from solving consumer complaints
1. As a customer you can be wrong as well. So make sure you understand the terms and conditions when you buy financial products and services. A simple Google search like “5 things to know about mediclaim insurance” could lead you to some useful articles.
2. There is no such thing as a free lunch. If something is too good to be true or sounds like a great deal, simply avoid it. It’s most likely something that will end up scamming you.
3. Escalation of your complaint to higher authorities of the company is an art. Don’t write angry emails. Don’t do a version of the Delhi-style “Jaanta Hai Mera Baap Kaun Hai”. Remember there are human beings on the other end. Write politely, reasonably and not very long emails/letters (unlike this article).
4. Some banks/insurance companies’ CEO has an escalation department of their own. So if you can find their email id or guess their email id, just copy them in. Their secretary will check it and probably your complaint will be heard quickly.
5. Prevention is the only cure. Life’s too short to waste time talking to customer care. Avoid such situations.
You can reach Ankur at Ankur @ akosha.com. Ankur is a graduate of the National Law School of India, Bangalore and worked at a corporate law firm before starting Akosha. I am sure your Consumer Complaints will be solved
Do you want to generate regular income for yourself by investing a lump sum amount in some financial product ? It can be because of any reason like retirement , unstable income from job/business or just wanting to have your own income flow. In this article we will see 10 different ways of creating regular income in India our of which 5 will be safe methods and 5 would be risky (hence chance of high income) .
5 Safe Ways
Below are 5 safe way of generating income , in which the principal and the return are almost assured . It’s suggested for those investors who can not take any risk in their financial life .
1. Post office Monthly Income Scheme
One can invest a lump sum amount in POMIS and get monthly income for next 6 yrs. The return one can get is around 8% and the income can be given in form of monthly interest for next 6 yrs. One will get back his principal amount along with a 5% bonus at the end. One can invest only upto 4.5 lacs for an individual account and 9 lacs in a joint account.
2. Monthly interest from Fixed deposits
The most famous option is to open a fixed deposit with monthly interest payment. This is simple and one of the safest option one can take . the interest rate will depend on the tenure for which you open the Fixed deposit. One can expect a interest of around 7-8% . The interest income is taxable.
3. Annuity from Insurance companies
One can also buy annuity plans from LIC or pvt insurance companies. The returns on these plans will depend on the pension tenure and which option you have taken while buying the product (return of principal amount or not). The return of these plans are very low and sometimes not even known in advance like in case of NPS . One should get into this only if you are not capable of doing anything else with your money
4. Govt long-term bonds
One can buy long-term govt bonds with maturity of around 25-30 yrs and paying a half-yearly interest at around 8% (this varies from time to time). These are real long-term bonds and at the end of the tenure you get back your principal amount . These bonds are govt way of raising money for public and you can consider these bonds as one of the safest instruments. These bonds are also tradable in secondary market, so you can also sell them if you want to get rid of them.
5. Senior citizen Saving Scheme
One of the best option for senior citizens above 60 yrs of age is to put their money in senior citizens saving scheme and get interest of 9% per year which is payable quarterly. SCSS is only for 5 yrs after which they mature, they are extendable by 3 more year after that. Note that even investors in age group of 55-60 can invest in SCSS, provided they have opted for VRS (voluntary retirement scheme) and the funds are coming from their retirement benefit.
5 Risky Ways
Now we will discuss 5 risky ways of generating income, these options have some risks like fluctuations in your assets pricing and volatility in the income , but for this reason one might end up with much superior returns and high income compared to safe options . It’s suggested for those investors who are more pro investors and are ready to take high risk.
6. SWP from Mutual funds
One can invest in Equity mutual funds or debt mutual funds and opt for a SWP (systematic withdrawal plan) which will liquidate a fixed number of units or portion out of mutual funds and credit it to your bank account. This is reverse of SIP and can be one of the ways of generating an income. Note that SWP might attract exit load if started immediately , so its better to start a SWP after a year or two. Note that the investments in mutual funds might be volatile if it’s a equity mutual funds. If one does not want too much of volatility , better invest in debt funds.
7. Monthly Income plans of Mutual funds
There are mutual funds which are of category Monthly income plans (MIP). These mutual funds have inbuilt structure of providing regular income (not always montly, purely depends on dividend declaration) . These MIP’s can be little volatile as they have a little part in equity also. The dividends are tax-free in hands of investors.
8. Dividends from Equity shares
If you are a stock lover, you can invest in long-term stocks which have good enough dividend paying history. Note that in this way the income is not always guaranteed through dividends, but if you diversify your investments across 10-12 stocks , then you can be assured that there will be regular flow of dividends from some of the other stocks. Also the actual value of your investments can fluctuate as it’s a risky investments . But for people who understand stock markets and are patient with their investments , it can be a good option.
9. Dividend from mutual funds
For those who cannot invest in equity directly ,they can opt for long-term mutual funds with dividend payout option , this will make sure they get a dividend income from mutual funds , but that will happen only once a year . It wont be a monthly payout . One should diversify across 3-4 funds to make sure the dividends are coming from different funds.
10. Rent from Real estate
One can also invest in real estate and generate an income through the rental income. While the value of property will appreciate , one will also get a regular income, but understand that this is high maintenance option and you will have to keep on monitoring your asset. There are risks like not getting good tenants and not getting right tenants for months . It’s best to take a property in the middle of city which would be in demand rather than outskirts .
Which of these options was yours favorite ? Can you suggest more ways of creating regular/irregular income in India
Do you know how you can use Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) to reduce your overall tax liability? In this article I will give you tips and real life examples on how you can use HUF to save taxes legally.
Before that let’s understand what HUF is.
The concept of HUF says that apart from individuals there is another separate entity called “Family” which can also have its own assets and liabilities and even regular source of income, which should be taxed separately.
For example :
If an ancestral residential property is rented out, then the rent arising would be considered as Family’s income and not as income of individual. In real life this rent is shown as income of one individual and he pays the tax on it, however a HUF can be formed and the rent can be shown as the whole family income (HUF) and it can be taxed separately.
Until a few years, many Indians used to keep multiple PAN cards and used to show Income under different PAN cards and used these tricks to avail the benefit of slab rates by showing themselves as different persons. This however is illegal by law and is a punishable offence as one person cannot have more than 1 PAN Card.
But, one legal way of obtaining an extra PAN Card is to form an HUF. As the Income of an HUF is taxable in the hands of HUF and not in the hands of any Individuals, a separate PAN Card is issued for an HUF and the benefit of income tax slab rates can be availed on this PAN Card.
Formation of HUF
A false impression amongst people is that HUF needs to be created whereas the truth is that an HUF comes automatically into existence at the time of marriage of an Individual and no formal action needs to be taken for the same.
However, in case a person who wants to specifically register for creating an HUF, he can furnish a creation deed on a stamp paper (The Format of Creation Deed can be downloaded from here).
As HUF is governed by the Hindu Law and not by the Income Tax Act, individuals belonging to other religions are not allowed to form HUF except Jain’s and Sikhs who can create HUF even though they are not governed by the Hindu Law. Two entities are extremely important for you to know in HUF are the coparceners and members.
Coparcener is someone who has the right to demand the share of the property of family; coparceners are generally the Karta (Main decision maker of family, usually the Father, but Manmohan Singh had 5 years ago brought an amendment which stated that Females can become Karta & there can be an all female HUF as well), then sons & daughters, grandsons and great grandsons in order of their first right.
Wife of the Karta is not a coparcener or even spouse are not coparceners and hence can’t demand/ ask for any share in HUF, they are just merely members of HUF.
Example of Tax Saving by forming an HUF
As discussed above, the main advantage of an HUF derives from the fact that an extra PAN Card is issued for the HUF. We’ll explain this tax saving benefit with the help of following example.
Lets say there are 4 members in a family
Husband – Salary 9 lacs
Wife – Salary 7 Lacs
2 Children without Salary
Additionally, one ancestral property which fetches them an annual rent of 6 Lacs p.a
Now the Question is – In whose hands should this Rental Income of Rs. 6 Lakhs p.a. be taxed? In real life, the most sought after solution is to show the rent as income of wife or anyone who has no income or less income so that the tax liability is least. But is it the best solution?
Let’s see 3 different cases here in which this additional rental income can be shown and how tax can be saved!
Option 1 – If this Rental Income is shown in the hands of the Husband.
Option 2 – If this Rental Income is shown in the hands of the Wife
As this Income is arising to the family as a whole, the Govt has also extended this option of taxing this Income in the hands of the whole Family. Although very few people in India know this fact family income can also be taxed in the hands of the whole family by forming an HUF.
Option 3 – If this Rental Income is shown in the hands of the HUF
The above 3 options clearly indicate that Option 3 is the best option as the least tax would be payable by the family if the Rental Income is taxed in the hands of the HUF.
The tax saved by showing this income in the hands of the HUF is Rs.1,18,000 (i.e. difference between “tax paid if rental income is taxed in the hands of HUF” and the “tax paid if shown in the hands of the wife which is the 2nd best alternative”)
Please Note: For the sake of simplicity, Taxes have been computed without taking into account the “Deductions available under Section 80C“ and “Education Cess applicable on the Tax Payable”
Procedure to create HUF
These are the steps to create capital of a HUF.
First one should open a bank account with the name of Hindu undivided family like “AJAY HUF” with a stamp, ID Proof and the proof of the members of the family of HUF.
Important :- While opening a Bank Account in the name of HUF – Banks always ask for a rectangular stamp which states the name of the HUF and also the Karta who is signing it. A round stamp is not accepted as per RBI Circular. The same applies at the time of opening of bank account of Sole Proprietor as well.
Next is to apply for PAN (Permanent Account Number) of the income tax.
Now transfer money by gifts etc to HUF capital keeping in view the clubbing provisions and tax on gifts under Income tax act, Remember there is no Tax on gifts in kind though they may attract clubbing provisions in some cases.
3 real life tricks of saving taxes through HUF
1. Saving tax by getting gifts
One way of saving tax is by transferring the money received from strangers or family are taken as gifts in name of HUF. So if Ajay starts his HUF called “Ajay HUF” and he is getting some gifts from his father, friends or anyone else, he can ask them to give it to “Ajay HUF” and not Ajay itself.
That way the gift will be treated as income/asset of HUF and taxed separately.
One important point here, if some stranger is giving gift to HUF, there is a limit of Rs.50,000 on which no tax has to be paid, but actually it can go up to Rs 1.8 lacs as the taxable limit is that much, and if one also has to do investments of 1.2 lacs (total 80c limit), then one can afford to receive up to Rs.3 lacs of gifts in a financial year and there will be no tax liability at all.
2. Assign ancestral properties and wealth to HUF and invest it
If family is going to receive an ancestral property or any wealth, then it’s better to transfer it on HUF name so that whatever earnings happen in future in form of rental income or capital appreciation of assets becomes income of HUF itself and taxed in its own hands.
That way the total tax liability of family can be minimized.
3. Use HUF income for expenses and Insurance for Family
As HUF enjoys separate tax benefit under sec 80C, one can use the income of HUF for buying Life & health insurance for family and the permissible deductions can be availed for tax purpose in hands of HUF, so if the total premiums for insurance requirement of family is Rs.50,000 per year, then It can go from HUF income and also the individual can exhaust his 1 lac limit separately via PPF, ELSS and other tax instruments.
Also family day to day expenses can be used from HUF income and hence it will leave other members with more disposable income which one can use to service higher EMI’s if required.
Watch this video to learn more about HUF and Tax saving:
Some important Points you should know about HUF
For creating the HUF one need to get married, there is no need to have child or children for creating the HUF.
An HUF can recieve any amount in gift from bigger HUF’s (HUF of Father, HUF of Grandfather) or any gifts received by the members of HUF (birthday, marriage, etc.) can be treated as assets of HUF , but stranger can gift HUF, not more than 50000 rupees.
Daughter also continues to be a Coparcener after her marriage of that family whether she also will be a member of HUF of her husband. So that way daughters can be co-parancers in two HUF’s 🙂
HUF can pay remuneration to the KARTA of family for the interest and expenditure to run the family business.
Be cautious with HUF creation
While all the above points excites people on opening a HUF account immediately and start taking tax benefit, there are some caveats and one has to be little careful. Remember that HUF is a separate entity and represents the whole Family. So once some assets is assigned to HUF, then it becomes part of HUF only and one can be suddenly take money from HUF for personal purpose .
If other co-parceners of HUF demand the partition of HUF only then one can get his/her share of the HUF. Otherwise it will not break. Also for taxation point, a lot of people mislead the tax department buy using fake HUF transactions and therefore, HUF is looked with high degree of scepticism.
If the HUF is not formed properly and if the assets are income are fudged for evading tax, it can get you in trouble, therefore it’s highly advisable to hire a good CA and create your HUF in the best possible manner with right advice. There is no harm in paying 10,000-12,000 to a CA if HUF can give you 5-10 times tax savings.
It would be a great investment, not an expense!
HUF property cant be mentioned in the WILL
Though HUF is very useful tool but one has to use it very judiciously and thoughtfully. Don’t look for tax benefits only , but practical problems also. Be aware that you cannot make a will out of HUF property. Once transferred to HUF, the assets /property becomes of HUF and you no longer have any individual right on it.
To explain with example –
“A”, who has 2 daughters and a son.He long back ago purchased a house in the name of HUF and put that house on rent, so that the Rental income comes to HUF and will not be be added in his or his spouses’s income .
But now , he ‘s retired and wants that this property should be transferred to his son after his demise. But this is not possible as that property belongs to HUF. He can’t even write a WILL for HUF property and with the huge rise in Real estate prices, none of daughter is ready to leave her share in it.
HUF will be extremely efficient for those people who have a higher income and high saving rate and some form of ancestral assets which can be marked as “Family Assets”.
Evaluate if HUF can really give you that kind of tax advantage or not for people who do not have high salary or who do not have a big enough family. So make sure you can get the maximum out of the HUF and understand the limitations of opening HUF before you go for it.
This article has been authored by CA Karan Batra who blogs on charteredclub.com (Content added by Jagoinvestor with inputs from Karan)
Can you share how was the article and did it help you in understanding Hindu undivided Family? Are you going to open a HUF account?
Most of the people investing in mutual funds through agent offline have this question – “How to redeem mutual funds ?”. mutual funds investors often do not know what the procedure to redeem these mutual funds. I redeemed some of my ELSS mutual funds (HDFC tax saver , Sundaram Taxsaver, HDFC long term advantage Fund and SBI magnum taxgain fund) which I had bought some years back from an agent, so I thought why not let everyone know what is the simple procedure for redeeming the mutual funds.
Process to redeem Mutual Funds
if you have bought the mutual funds from an agent or from the AMC directly, then you will have to fill up the mutual fund redemption form. This form is available from the mutual funds AMC office (you can get its office address from internet). You will have to go to their office in person. You can also go to the nearest CAMS office and fill up the mutual fund redemption form directly from there. It’s much convenient to visit CAMS office and directly redeem more than one mutual funds in one go (this is what I did in my case).
The redemption form is very easy to fill and all you need to put is your name, folio number (make sure you put correct folio number, else it will create issue later) and the number of units (exact number or ALL) you want to redeem. Just give this form to the CAMS processing assistant and they will put up your request.
Important Points
1. NAV Applicable: If you give your redemption request before 3:00 pm, the same day closing NAV will be applicable, else you will get next day NAV. So make sure you do the redemption well before 3:00 pm if you want same day NAV.
2. Bank accounts: Where will you get the money when you redeem the mutual funds? You will get the proceeds in your same account which is registered with your AMC (which you used to pay at the time of buying). If that account is not active, then there are few run around like you will have to attach the cancelled cheque of your new bank account or copy of pass-book etc and if you don’t have that, then a declaration from the bank and sign of some bank manager etc. So this can be a little frustrating if you are in urgent need of money. In my case my old account was active so it was pretty easy for me.
3. CAMS do not handle all the AMC’s redemption: CAMS do not handle each and every Mutual funds transaction. It can happen that you will have to go to the AMC office itself for redemption. Like in my case I had to go to Sundaram AMC office to redeem my Sundaram Tax Saver proceeds. So check with CAMS which all mutual funds they handle, you can shoot an email to your city CAMS (their emails and addresses are there on CAMS website
4. How much time it takes to get money? : It generally takes 3-4 working days to get the money credited in your account. But in my case I got it in next 2 days itself. So if you redeem the funds on Monday or Tuesday, you can safely assume that you will get the money by the weekend. But if you have weekend falling in between, then it can take some time.
Process of redemption if have bought Mutual funds online
If you bought your mutual funds from your demat account or some online brokers or if you activated your online account after buying from agent, then you can redeem your mutual funds online itself just by following the procedure mentioned by your online account. Most of the people who buy tax saving mutual funds (ELSS funds) online can also redeem tax saver mutual funds online only.
Did you activate your online account with the AMC ?
If not, I would suggest you to do it, so that you can take the redemption action as and when required. What was your redemption of mutual funds experience? What point’s people should keep in mind while redeeming? I hope you are now clear on how to redeem mutual funds ?
Do you want to increase the SIP amount for your mutual funds ? Or you want to keep it constant always ? A lot of people start with a SIP amount at first and then look forward to increase SIP amount later. This is a very common of every investor and its “how to increase sip amount”
Increase SIP amount
When we say “SIP”, it generally means constant SIP, which does not increase every year. When we calculate SIP amount using any SIP Calculator – the SIP value is generally very high and does not look realistic and at times and such high investment can trigger affordability issue. However there is a clear solution for this, which is used by financial planners and that’s called “Increasing SIP”, where one starts the SIP with a lower amount and then gradually increases them year on year. This looks more realistic as one’s income also increase overtime and ability to invest increases. We see this situation a lot while working with our clients under financial coaching program.
Let me show you the example : Ajay wanted to accumulate 5,00,00,000 (5 crores) for his retirement which is 25 yrs away. When he calculates the SIP amount, it’s coming around Rs 31,000 (assuming 12% returns from equity). Now it’s not possible for Ajay to invest Rs 31,000 every month, as it’s a very high amount. Rather he is fine if he can start with a small amount today and then increase it every year as his income would also increase with time. This is called as Increasing SIP model. If Ajay is ready to increase his SIPs by 10% every year, then he has to start with just Rs. 13,500. This amount is much more convenient for Ajay to arrange, rather than Rs 31,000 per month.
Should you increase SIP amount or not ?
At the first look, a general conclusion which comes into mind is that Increasing SIP is better than Constant SIP because it is much convenient and looks logical that investment should rise as the income increases. But there are different angles through which both the options can be looked at. Let’s look at two important points one by one.
1. Investment required in case of Increasing and Constant SIP
One of the most important factor one can judge both the situation is the amount of investment needed. If we take the above example we just discussed, one would need to start SIP of 31,000 per month to accumulate 5,00,00,000 in 25 yrs assuming 12% return. Now this amount will be constant throughout the all 25 yrs. Where as one can choose to start his SIP with Rs 13,500 and then increase it by 8% per year, but in this increasing SIP model, his SIP amount would reach 50,000 in 18th year and 85,000 in 25th year, which might look very big in numbers, but years from now, it would be worth a small amount considering the purchasing power of money and the annual income one earns. So don’t get surprised by numbers.
One should opt for increasing SIP, when his situation really does not allow him to invest a big amount and he is very sure that he would be able to increase his investments in tune with his salary increase. Truly speaking I am in favour of Constant SIP if one’s situation permits because that way you are investing more in the start of your life and that would help you keep your SIP in check later on in life. Imagine after many years in life, you have to just invest the same amount where as your Income has risen 3X. Isn’t it a big relief and freedom to do whatever you want from your money at that time. Imagine your salary is Rs 50,000 per month and you do SIP of 10,000 and even after 10 yrs, when your salary has risen to say 1.5 lacs per month and you are still doing SIP of Rs 10,000 only. I would choose to pay a little more today and then get into that kind of situation.
Most of the people who are not able to go for constant SIP, because of high SIP amount is because they are very late in investments and now their goals are near and they have less time for compounding. These people have high expenses already in life. Had they started long back when they started earning they could be in a better situation now. Below is the table which shows the Increasing and Constant SIP amounts required for the example discussed above and shows you the ratio of increasing and constant sip. You can see how it started with 44%, but rose to 203% later after 25 yrs.
Conclusion
One should start his SIP’s early so that he can keep his SIP’s constant through-out the tenure. If you are late, then your SIP amount will be very high and will look unrealistic and then you will have to increase your Systematic Investment plan (SIP) amount in future if you want to reach the goals.
2. How the corpus will grow in case of Increasing and Constant SIP
The other major thing to look is how your over all corpus would grow in both the cases. Note that in constant SIP and increasing SIP, the final corpus is getting accumulated and they reach the same point at end, but in case of Constant SIP, the overall Corpus is always higher than the increasing SIP and it’s because you are investing higher amount in the start and that way the compounding factor is in your favour. See the chart below which shows, how the gap between the two narrows down at the end of the tenure and both the cases lead to same corpus.
If you look at the table below, you will see that the maximum difference between the two is 36,00,000 in 17-18th year and after that the difference starts coming down (not so clear in table , you need to calculate it) . As you are starting with lower amounts in increasing SIP, the overall corpus is obviously going to be less, but it’s very much above 50% all the time, so if you are saving for long-term, you should be interested in the final corpus.
Note that the example and charts above are assuming a 25 yr old tenure and equity returns of 12%. The numbers would change depending on tenure and the equity return, but the overall conclusions discussed above remains same. For a shorter tenure like 4-5 yrs, the constant SIP and increasing SIP won’t differ a lot; it would be a small number.
So the conclusion is that one should keep on increasing their mutual funds SIP amount as and when they can , preferably every year. So are you ready to increase sip amount ?
