Thursday, January 31, 2019

OUTCOME OF BUDGET 2019 SPEECH BY FINANCE MINISTER


MAJOR OUTCOME OF BUDGET SPEECH OF OUR FINANCE MINISTER, SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL ON 1ST FEBRUARY, 2019:

1.       Farmers with less than 2 hectares of Agri Land, will be given Rs. 6,000 p.a. transferred to their bank accounts directly in 3 equal instalments.
2.       Rashtriya Kamdhenu Scheme for Cow Welfare (GoSeva).
3.       2% Disocunt on Interest for Fisheries Farmers and Animal Husbandry Farmers.
4.       Farmers repaying loans in time, will get additional Discount on Interest of 3% (over and above existing 2%).
5.       In National Pension Scheme for Government workers, government Contribution increased from 10% to 14%.
6.       Bonus to Workers drawing salary of Rs. 21,000, increased from Rs. 3,500 to Rs. 7,000 p.a.
7.       In case of accident of Government Workers, compensation increased from Rs. 2.5 lacs to Rs. 6 Lacs.
8.       New Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana, under which a contract labourer working in unorganised sector, drawing salary upto Rs. 15,000 per month, assured monthly pension scheme of Rs. 3,000 per month for a minimal contribution of Rs. 100 Per month.
9.       Board for Welfare of Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic (deprived Indians) formed to look after their welfare.
10.   2 Crore more Indian women will be provided free LPG Connection under Ujjwala Yojana.
11.   2% discount in interest on loans to MSME.
12.   The Defence budget increased to Rs. 3 Lacs Crores.
13.   Internal Solar Alliance – an inter-government co-operation platform for solar energy, Its head quarters established in India.
14.   Operational Airports increased to 100 in India and Passenger traffic doubled in Airways due to UDAAN Yojana.
15.   Moblie data consumption multiplied 50 times in last 5 years, showing the growth of Digital India.
16.   1 Lacs digital village to be developed in next 5 years.
17.   34 Crores Jan Dhan Accounts opened under Jan Dhan Yojana in Last 4 years, enabling direct benefit transfer.
18.   Single Window system for all cinema industry clearances.
19.   Income Tax Collections doubled and Tax Payers increased by 80% in last 5 years.
20.   99.54% Returns filed were accepted without any inquiry or scrutiny.
21.   In next 2 years, all Returns filed will be processed in 24 hours, as compared to existing time line of around 2-3 months and all scrutiny / inquiry will be fully digital.
22.   After Demonetisation, 1 Crore new taxpayers are added who filed their ITR for the first time.
23.   Basic Exemption Limit Increased to Rs. 5 Lacs from existing limit of Rs. 2.5 Lacs, i.e. it is doubled. Meaning no Income tax on income upto Rs. 5 Lacs.
24.   For Salaried taxpayers, standard deduction increased from Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 50,000
25.   Now, 2 house are allowed as SOP i.e. no notional rent will be taxed for 2 Self occupied houses, increased from 1 house earlier.
26.   TDS Limit on Interest from Bank increased from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 40,000.
27.   TDS limit on Rent increased from Rs. 1.8 Lacs to Rs. 2.4 Lacs
28.   Capital gain tax on sale of residential house upto Rs. 2 Crore can now be invested in 2 newly purchased / constructed residential houses as compared to 1 new house earlier.
29.   For housing project developers, the exemption for affordable housing projects registered upto 31.03.2020, as compared to earlier date of 31.03.2019, will be eligible for exemption under section 80IAB.
Disclaimer: The above is extract of speech of our Finance Minister. One is advised to take due legal consultation and opinion before acting on any of above statements.

Thanks and regards,
AGARWAL & JAIN
CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS.

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Very Good Step in GST by Government for Taxpayers:


OUTCOME OF 32ND GST COUNCIL MEETING -FM ARUN JAITLEY PRESS MEET :

1. Threshold limit increased to 40 Lakhs:
Effective April 1, the GST exemption threshold has been raised from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh. For hilly states and those in the North East, the threshold has been doubled to Rs 20 lakh.

Earlier in a press talk AP FM said increased to 50lakhs, but it is increased to 40lakhs only as said by FM

2. Power to states
Now states will be able to choose if they want to keep the GST exemption limit at Rs 20 lakh or Rs 40 lakh, Jaitley said.


3. Composition limit increased to 1.5Cr from the present 1 cr
The existing Composition Scheme turnover threshold raised to Rs 1.5 crore.
Those who use the scheme from April 1,2019

4 Quarterly payment and Annual Return
Now Composition tax payers will pay tax quarterly, but file returns annually.

5 Composition scheme for services
Those providing services or mixed supplies (goods and services) with a turnover up to Rs 50 lakhs will now be entitled to avail composition scheme.

6 Rate for services under Composition scheme @ 6%
Compounding rate for services under composition scheme is fixed at 6 percent.


7 Real Estate
A committee has been set up to consider real estate GST rates, a consensus is yet to be achieved, says FM Arun Jaitley.

8 Calamity cess by Kerela @1%
GST Council lets Kerala levy 1% cess for 2 years on intra-state sales.

Thursday, January 3, 2019

Nil Late Fees on GST Returns

Very good step has been taken by Government by waiving Late Fees on GST Returns which are required to be filed regularly like GSTR-3B, GSTR-1 and GSTR-4. This late fees waiver is given for all these three types of returns, which are required to be filed from July, 2017 to September, 2018.

Before the exemption, the late fees prescribed was Rs. 50 for each day of delay in filing these returns and Rs. 20 for each day of delay in case of NIL GSTR-3B Return. Hence, if we calculate, even a businessman whose turnover is Nil from April, 2018 and if he has not filed his Returns till 31.12.2018, his late fees amounts to Rs. 30,000 (approximately), which is now ZERO.

This decision is also implemented in GSTN Portal which do not ask for Late Fees in this case.

Hence, those who have not filed their GST Returns for any of these periods, can now file them avail the benefit of NIL Late Fees.

Thanks and regards,
AGARWAL & JAIN
Chartered Accountants

Disclaimer: This article is written is solely for the purpose of information and knowledge sharing. One is advised to take due legal advice before acting on any advice.