In This Issue Financial Year 2011-12 Do these things and save Taxes Taxes on Leave encashment/Leave Salary Investment Review-Reliance Gold Saving Fund Received a tax refund mail-It a SCAM!!! Be Careful!! April 2011 Design, Developed & Published by Team Taxation C-160, Okhla Phase-I, New Delhi-110020 # 011-40578000 Extn: 5166 [email protected]TAX ADVISOR
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Financial year 2011-12 beckons as the last year for the Income Tax Act, 1961 as the Direct Tax
Code (DTC) would come into effect from the next year (April 1, 2012). As the New financial
year starts, the taxpayers should keep in mind following things, this will help them to plan
their tax investment as to maximize their returns and minimize taxes
Tax Slab for the Financial Year 2011-12
For the Financial Year 2011-12, male assesses will get additional basic exemption limit of Rs.
20,000 i.e. the limit extends from Rs. 160,000 to Rs. 180,000. Limit for Female assesses remains
same as in the last year i.e. Rs. 190,000. Limit for senior citizen has been raised from Rs. 240,000
to Rs. 250,000. Moreover, the age limit for senior citizen is reduced to 60years. Further, there will be a new category of tax payers from the Financial Year 2011-12; ‘very senior citizen’ having age
of 80 years or more will enjoy tax exemption upto Rs. 500,000.
Open a Public Provident Fund (PPF) Account:
PPF is one of the most popular investments in the country, due to security of the fund and an 8
per cent compounded annual return. Further, investment in the PPF has tax benefits under Section
80C, which effectively makes the return higher than 8 per cent. The investment can be made upto
a maximum of Rs 70,000 per annum in the PPF, minimum of Rs 500, in instalments or in one go,
Post office scheme over the period of time have become the popular tax saving plan and invest-
ment plan for retired individuals for their post retirement life. Investment avenues under the post
office schemes include National Savings Certificate (NSC), Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS)
and the Post Office five-year time deposits. The best part about these schemes is that they have
uniform presence and their interest rates do not vary frequently in comparison with banks/other
deposits schemes.
These were few of tax saving tools, one can opt for to save taxes and secure future.
File your Return of Income/ Tax return at the Earliest
We hope that you would have filed your return of income/ Online return filing/ tax returns for
Financial Year 2009-10, in case you missed to file the same, you can still file the same. The last
date for the return filing for 2009-10 is 31st March 2012, however the assessing officer can levy
penalty for late filing of the same.
Further, even though the last date for the filing of return of income/ tax return for the Financial
Year 2010-11 is 31st July 2011, still we recommend that you should file the return of income at the earliest to avoid the last minute rush. Further, you should arrange all the documents, like
Form 16 from your employers, TDS certificates from the Banks and other investment proofs.
Normally every employee is entitled to certain number of leaves per month/annum. If this
leave is not availed then unutilized leave either get lapsed or get carry forward and at the
time of retirement/otherwise or on leaving the employer, pay equivalent to leave remaining unutilized in the employee account will be paid to employee.
Now, the question arise that “Leave Salary is Taxable or not”? For this you should know the in-
come tax treatment of Leave Salary as per Income Tax Act, 1961. The income tax treatment de-
pends on two things:
• Status of Employee – Government employee or Non government employee.
• Nature of Leave Encashment – Leave are encashed mainly on two occasions: Leave encash-ment during Continuity of employment or Leave encashment at the time of retirement / leaving
job.
You get some amount in return whatever the reason for encashing the leaves and consequently,
there are income tax implications for this amount. Thus, Taxability of Leave Salary for following
type of employee is given below:
Government Employee – Government employee means an employee of the central or state
government. It does not include employees of local authorities or bodies like municipal corpora-
tions or panchayats.
1. Leave Encashed during the continuation of service – Amount received from Leave encash-
ment during the continuation of service is added to your income, and is fully taxable.
2. Leave encashed at the time of retirement or superannuation (leaving the job) – Amount re-
ceived from Leave encashment at the time of retirement or superannuation (leaving the job) is
fully exempt from tax under Section 10(10AA)(i) of the Income Tax Act,1961.
Non – Government Employee – Non – Government Employee means employee other then Gov-
ernment employee.
Leave Encashed during the continuation of service – Amount received from Leave encashmentduring the continuation of service is added to your income, and is fully taxable.
2. Leave encashed at the time of retirement or superannuation (leaving the job) – Exemption of
amount received from Leave encashment at the time of retirement or superannuation (leaving
the job) is limited to the least of the following:
a) The amount actually received from leave encashment
b) The cash equivalent of leaves available in your account (leave balance) (not exceeding 30 days
per year of actual service)
c) Last 10 months’ average salary
d) Amount specified by the Government i.e., Rs. 3 Lakhs
Other points to be kept in mind
• The limit on exemption is applied on the total payment received towards leave encashment
from two or more employers, in the same year or in different years.
• Salary means last drawn salary and includes basic salary + Dearness Allowance (if terms of
employment so provide) + Commission based on a fixed % of turnover.
• Cash equivalent of leaves can be calculated on maximum allowable leave per year which is 30
days i.e., even if your company allows, say, 50 days of encashable leaves every year, you need to
count only 30 days per year.
• Average Salary is calculated on the basis of average salary for the 10 months immediately pre-
What are the benefits of investing in Reliance Gold Savings Fund?
Reliance Gold Savings Fund opens a new avenue for investing in gold. This fund enables
to reap returns closely to returns provided by Reliance Gold ETF.
“Open door for non – demat a/c holders: Investors can invest in this fund through the physical mode across the country thereby making it easily available and convenient for
non demat a/c holders”
Systematic Investment Plan (SIP): a long term disciplined investment technique under
which you invest a fixed sum of money on a monthly or quarterly basis in a scheme at the
prevailing NAV. This allows you to save and invest regularly while you are earning.
This investment technique enables you the following benefits: Small, regular invest-
ments: A simple way to enter the market by investing small amounts. Small but regular
investments go a long way in creating wealth over time
Rupee cost averaging: Fewer units during rising markets and more units during falling
markets, thereby reduces the average cost per unit
No need for ‘timing the markets’: No need to select the right time and quantity to buy and
sell as timing the market is time consuming and risky. It eliminates the need to actively
Reliance Gold Savings Fund provides an easy and a convenient way for Portfolio Diver-
sification
It endeavors to inculcate a regular savings habit to accumulate gold in small amountsthrough MICRO Systematic Investment Plan and Systematic Investment Plan
Opens doors for non –demat account holders as it provides the facility to invest through
the online medium and through physical application mode
It enables you to avail long term taxation benefits from 1 year unlike physical gold
wherein long term taxation can be availed after 3 years
The fund invests in Reliance Gold ETF which in turn invests in physical gold of purity of
99.5 % or higher, thereby relieves you of any impurity concerns.
The gold invested in Reliance Gold ETF is stored with the custodian; hence you need not
worry about the storage cost.
Review:- One can buy with a view of long term investment. This is only fund in gold
ETF which gives you flexibility to buy in systematic investment Plan (SIP). Individuals
who do not have DEMAT A/C can also participate. A good option for a small investor.