'We are not incentivising the old tax scheme. These taxpayers will also shift to the new regime after comparison.'
'For me, if I want to buy a house to stay, I don't care about indexation because I don't want to sell that house.' 'The only thing that matters to me as a buyer is that the home price should be within my reach.' 'Any market, when speculators and investors go out, it will benefit the middle class.'
Ask rediffGURU and tax expert Mihir Tanna your income tax-related questions.
'Once filed, it cannot be revised or rectified.'
Ask rediffGURU and PF and MF expert Janak Patel your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
rediffGURU T S Khurana answers readers' personal income tax queries
The government on Tuesday proposed reducing the long-term capital gains tax on immovable properties to 12.5 per cent from 20 per cent, but removed the indexation benefits to adjust for inflation, a move experts termed as "negative" for sellers.
rediffGURU T S Khurana answers readers' personal income tax queries.
Maintain a proper record of documents that can act as proof of the cost of acquisition of the property, cost of improvements made to the property, expenses related to transfer of the property (like brokerage and registration charges). These will come in handy in case of a dispute with the taxman.
'2025 is the year to build a portfolio for the future. Focus this year should be on valuations and visible growth.'
'Going forward, the encouragement would be to move to the new tax regime.'
The government on Tuesday sought to address a significant concern stemming from the 2024-25 Budget announcement by introducing flexibility in the computation of long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on unlisted assets, including properties. For any assets, such as land or buildings, acquired before July 23, taxpayers can choose between the new and old regimes, opting for whichever results in a lower tax liability. Under the new LTCG regime, the tax rate is set at 12.5 per cent without the benefit of indexation.
The regulations will only apply to the share purchases that have been done after October 1, 2004
rediffGURU T S Khurana answers readers' personal income tax queries.
'The move to remove indexation benefits on LTCGs presently available for property, gold, and other unlisted assets may have a negative impact as it directly impacts real estate investors.'
Credit-focused SIFs with lower minimum investment thresholds can provide a more practical option for investors with higher risk appetite, suggests Subodh Rai.
A day after his appointment as the 26th governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), outgoing Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra on Tuesday said one must understand the economic landscape and do what was best for the economy. "Let me first go, join, understand the turf ... Here it is a different role," Malhotra said, speaking to reporters in front of North Block.
Adani Ports, NTPC, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Technologies and Sun Pharma were among the other big gainers. However, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank were amonh the major laggards.
'Investors with a long-term investment horizon and the risk appetite for fluctuations in property values may find SM Reits a viable option.'
FIIs fear short-term capital gains would give rise to tax uncertainty and make their operations difficult, reports Pavan Burugula from Mumbai.
Many are attracted by the potential for large gains, but don't necessarily seem to understand that a single trade gone wrong can wipe out their accumulated profits.
Your decision to invest in capital gains bonds or otherwise should be determined by your risk appetite and investment objective among others.
As RBI governor, Sanjay Malhotra will have to give the highest priority to the interest of the economy while deciding on the growth-inflation trade off at Mint Street.
If you already hold significant amounts of equity in your portfolio, avoid MAAFs with over 60 per cent equity. But if you lack equity exposure, an aggressive MAAF may be appropriate.
Deposit certificates will also be exempt from capital gains tax.
Section 54F permits investment of consideration in maximum two properties and not more.
Brokers believe that the higher charges may not completely deter investors from taking bets in F&O but could help cool down some activity, as the threshold to break even rises.
An argument used for removal of this exemption is that it is used to launder black money and bring it in as clean tax paid money by manipulating the price of less liquid shares in the market, says Harsh Roongta.
Maruti Suzuki India on Tuesday reported an 18 per cent year-on-year dip in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,102 crore for the second quarter ended September hit by the withdrawal of indexation benefit and change in the tax rate on long term capital gains on debt mutual funds. The country's largest carmaker had posted a net profit of Rs 3,786 crore in the July-September quarter of last fiscal.
The eighth Budget of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman continued to focus on 'GYAN' (Garib, Youth, Annadata, Nari) to maintain a consistent and coherent strategy initiated over the years in pursuing the government's vision for Viksit Bharat. The approach, characterised by incremental yet impactful steps, aims to create a compounding effect over time.
There are a number of steps taken that will leave more money in the hands of the taxpayers.
These include the reduction in tax rates under the new tax regime, increase in standard deduction, allowing tax collected at source to be adjusted against tax deducted at source from salaries, notes Harsh Roongta.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Nitin Narkhede your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Doubling standard deduction to Rs 1 lakh, increasing tax break on interest paid on housing loan and rationalisation of capital gains tax regime are some of the expectations that consultancy firm KPMG has from the Budget 2024-25 to be unveiled on July 23 in Parliament. There has been a significant rise in medical expenses, fuel costs and overall inflation.
Investors should view the increase in the LTCG tax rate in conjunction with the increase in capital gains exemption from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.25 lakh, which will provide some relief.
Inflows into gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which manage a total of Rs 37,390 crore, have surged sharply in recent months. This trend is likely to continue, especially after the reintroduction of long-term capital gains tax (LTCG), which is likely to attract smart money into mutual fund offerings amid a robust outlook for the yellow metal. Smart money, also known as opportunistic flows, refers to strategic investments that are generally of a short-term horizon.
'We have now drastically simplified it, primarily to two rates in long-term capital gains: 20% and the applicable rates. Similarly, in short-term capital gains.' 'For listed shares, there is a slight increase, but for unlisted shares, where indexation benefits are removed, there is a reduction in rates, benefiting unlisted companies, venture capital firms, etc.' 'Similarly, in real estate, wherever returns are higher, the new structure is beneficial. In very few cases, returns are lower, and those are more of an exception.'
The Rs 84,000 crore domestic fund of funds (FoFs) space, which was in the doldrums over the past 18 months, has now caught the attention of investors due to a change in the tax structure in Budget 2024. The broader category, which includes offerings across equity, debt and commodities, has seen a spike in the inflows over the past two months. FoFs typically deploy the pooled capital in one or multiple MF schemes rather than investing directly into equities, debt or commodities.
rediffGURU Samkit Maniar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
DAP does not consider past I-T returns to match a taxpayer's resources with their expenditures or investments, points out Harsh Roongta.
rediffGURU Anil Rego answers readers' personal income tax queries.