Aadhaar card not mandatory for NRIs

Q. I am an NRI having residential HUF property at Chandigarh which I am planning to sell.

1. Can I give a letter of authority to my father to sell the property?

2. What would be the tax implications?

3. Can I get an Aadhaar card?

— Dr Gurman Gill

A. (a) It would be advisable to execute a General Power of Attorney in favour of your father for the sale of property instead of a simple authority letter.  

(b) The amount of capital gain arising on the sale of property shall be chargeable to tax @20% plus education cess of 4% thereon provided the property has been held for over two years. In case the property has been held for less than two years, the amount of such gain would be included in the total income of an assessee and would be taxable at the normal slab rates.

(c) An NRI is not required to get an Aadhaar card.

Q. A senior citizen is entitled to claim rebate up to Rs 30,000 under Section 80D of the Act for expenses incurred during the year on self/dependant’s medical treatment. Please clarify whether the copy of payment made is to be attached with ITR submitted online? If so, how is it attached?

— Sham Lal Mittal 

A. No attachment can be made to an income-tax return as the same is required to be filed online. The claim for deduction of medical expenses would be accepted while processing the return. However, in case of scrutiny of assessment, the supportive documents for payment of medical expenses can always be sought.

Q. Please clarify what is the threshold limit up to which there is no tax for senior citizens — Rs 2.5 lakh or Rs 3 lakh?

b) Whether the income tax relief of Rs 2,500 for senior citizens in the financial year 2017-18 is only for those whose taxable income is less than Rs 3 lakh or Rs 3.5 lakh. Please list permissible limit for the financial year 2018-19 as well.  

c) Is the rebate of interest of Rs 50,000 applicable for all types of  interests, including simple interest, FDs, MIS & NSCs etc., or is it simply for simple interest in PO and banks for the financial year 2018-19? Will it be covered under Section 80TTA?

d) I understand that certain amount of simple interest from the PO is not to be included in the gross income of an income tax assessee.  Please clarify. Is there any other rebate admissible for medical expenses incurred by an assessee?

— Baldev Raj

A. The answers to your queries are as under:

(a) The maximum amount up to which tax is not payable by a senior citizen is Rs 3 lakh and the same is applicable for financial year 2017-18 as well as 2018-19.

(b) Rebate of Rs 2,500 is applicable to an individual assessee resident in India whose total income does not exceed Rs 3.5 lakh.  The rebate of Rs 2,500 is currently applicable for the financial year 2018-19 as the Finance Act, 2018 has not brought any change in Section 87A of the Income-tax Act 1961 (The Act).

(c) Deduction under Section 80TTB of the Act to the extent of Rs 50,000 would cover interest of all types and would be applicable to interest income from deposits held by senior citizens.

(d) There is no truth in the news that interest earned in Post Office Savings Bank account is not includible in the amount of Rs 50,000.  Deduction under Section 80 TTA of the Act would not be admissible now. The deduction under Section 80D of the Act is admissible to a senior citizen up to Rs 50,000 instead of Rs 30,000 w.e.f. assessment year 2019-20 i.e. financial year ending March 31, 2019.

(Readers can send their queries at [email protected])