 |
|
|
Centre to launch health insurance for slum dwellers
BMW to launch ‘Mini’ brand soon
Pharma sector welcomes excise cut
CPI-IW stationary |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Investor Guidance Reverse mortgage not taxable by A.N. Shanbhag Q. What are the changes in Budget 2008 with respect to reverse mortgage? — Tejash Desai
|
|
Centre to launch health insurance for slum dwellers
Chennai, March 1 Talking to reporters after a review meeting of the NRHM, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said the programme would be launched in the next three to four months and the Ministry has a fund allocation of Rs 8,000 crore from the Centre for the first five years of the programme. He said 429 towns and cities in the country, having a population of more than one lakh, would be covered under the scheme. There were 22 crore people in these 429 towns and cities of which 5.5 crore were living in slums and they would be given special attention under the programme. “All these 5.5 crore people will be brought under an insurance cover up to Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 and the government will give an insurance card with which they could get cash less treatment at private and public hospitals,” he said and added that it would be launched jointly by the Central and the State governments. “In the initial years, the premium of Rs 600 per person will be paid by the Centre. We will pay 100 per cent premium in the initial years,” he added. Under the programme, like ASHA in NURM, Urban Social Health Activist (USHA) would be appointed per 2000 slum population and Mahila Arokya Samithi per 100 households would be formed with an initial seed money of Rs 5,000 on the lines of women SHGs. Dr Anbumani said an Urban Health Centre, with a doctor, two nurses and five AVMs, would be set up to provide quality treatment to the slum populace. — UNI
|
|
BMW to launch ‘Mini’ brand soon
Chandigarh, March 1 The manufacturer of the premium luxury cars has three models of the Mini brand. “ We have sent the feedback from the market survey to our headquarters in Germany. It is yet to be decided which model would be sold in India. But the final position would be known in the next two months,” said Peter Kronschnabl, president of the BMW India. Pricing of the car would be around Rs 20 lakh and would priced less than the BMW-3 series and 5 series sedans at present being assembled at the Chennai plant. On a visit to the Punjab and Chandigarh dealers of BMW India, Peter said the Mini brand would be imported and the automaker had no future plans to assemble the proposed brand at the Chennai plant. The automaker has plans to produce 2000 units this year. The number of dealers was also being increased from 10 to 12. Peter said the company was giving direct and indirect employment to 600 persons. The automaker was sourcing 10 per cent of the components from within the country. He categorically denied that company had future plans to make the country as a base for exporting its premium luxury cars.
|
|
Pharma sector welcomes excise cut
Chandigarh, March 1 With Punjab and Haryana being surrounded by the tax-exempt states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, the pharma sector had seen a lot of migration to these states. The pharma sector investment in these states is expected to be over Rs 2,000 crore in next few years. Though the pharma majors, who had enhanced their capacity by setting shop in these taxes exempt states, now feel cheated. Talking to The Tribune here yesterday, Pranav Gupta, MD, Parabolic Drugs, says though the decision to reduce the excise duty was good, it would not augur well for the country. “No new industry had come up and set base in the tax exempt states; pharma companies from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana had just increased their capacities by setting Greenfield projects here. With the reduction in excise duty, they would have no special incentive to remain in these states and may move back to their original states. This massive capacity enhancement will go waste,” he says. However, Jagdeep Singh, president, Punjab Drug Manufacturers Association, says the move would definitely remove the competitive advantage enjoyed by the industry in the tax-holiday states. “However, there are certain glitches like the rate of abatement has been decreased from 42.5 per cent to 35 per cent on all items under MRP-based tax regime. This will dilute the effect of the reduction in excise duty ,” he says. N.R. Munjal, MD, Ind Swift Laboratories, says the exemption from excise duty on menthol would lead the pharma industry in Jammu to shift back to Punjab and Haryana. “Earlier there was no duty on input and output and a 16 per cent excise duty was refunded. Many people were getting the output to Punjab and Chandigarh and seeking refunds to the tune of crores of rupees,” he added. Rajansh Thukral, president, Surya Pharmaceuticals, hailed the proposal to reduce the custom duty on lifesaving drugs as the prices would go down.
|
|
Investor Guidance
Q. What are the changes in Budget 2008 with respect to reverse mortgage? A. There is no change, per se, in regard to reverse mortgage. Instead, the tax treatment has been clarified. As a background, tax treatment of a reverse mortgage transaction had been hanging fire for quite some time now. In a reverse mortgage, the mortgager mortgages his house and takes a loan against it. This loan could either be a lump sum or it could be in the form of installments. The issue has finally been settled. It has been clarified that any payments received in respect of reverse mortgage of house property whether in installments or as a lump sum will not be taxable. Capital gains will be payable by the owner only if and when the property is eventually sold by the mortgagee to recover the loan. Tax Benefits
Q. Budget 2008 has lowered tax rates and increased slabs. The minimum benefit as per the FM would be Rs 4,000 for every tax payer. What is the maximum benefit that a tax payer can receive on account of this amendment? A. The maximum benefit can be stated with respect to two categories of tax payers — those who earn more than Rs 5 lakh as income but less than Rs 10 lakh and those who earn more than Rs 10 lakh. The differentiation needs to be done on account of the 10 per cent surcharge payable by persons earning more than Rs. 10 lakh. The following table states the maximum benefit for both categories of tax payers. Note that this maximum benefit includes women and senior citizens too. Short-term Gains
Q. The Budget has increased the short-term capital gains (STCG) tax to 15 per cent. At the same time, tax slabs have been changed with income between Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs 3 lakh being taxed at 10 per cent. Now suppose I have only STCG income of Rs. 2 lakh, will I have to pay tax at 10 per cent or 15 per cent? A. If your only income is STCG of Rs 2 lakh then it will be exempted up to Rs 1.50 lakh which is the basic exemption limit. The balance Rs. 50,000 will be taxable at 15 per cent and not 10 per cent. Health Insurance
Q. The Budget 2008 has made some changes in respect of premium paid for medical insurance. Can you elaborate on the exact nature of the changes? A. The current Sec. 80D deduction in respect of medical insurance premium is Rs 15,000 for an individual and Rs 20,000 for a senior citizen. Now, if someone were to buy medical insurance for his parent/s, additional deduction of Rs 15,000 (over and above the current Rs 15,000) will be available. If such parent/s were senior citizen, the additional deduction would be Rs. 20,000. So a person insuring himself, his spouse, children and parents could potentially get a deduction of Rs. 35,000. STT Modification
Q: Securities Transaction Tax (STT) in respect of derivative transactions has been modified? What is the exact nature of the modification? A: Earlier, STT was payable in respect of a derivative transactions @0.017% by the seller on the entire value of the deal. The purchaser had no STT liability. Now, if the option is exercised the purchaser has to be pay 0.125% on the settlement price of the option.
The following table specifies the details. IT Return Date
Q. There have been modifications in respect of the last date for filing of tax return? Is it applicable for an individual? A. There has been no change in the due date for filing tax returns for individual tax payers. It is only in respect of the a company or any other person whose accounts needed to be audited or for a working partner in a partnership firm whose accounts need to be audited that the tax return filing date has been advanced by one month from 31st of October to 30th of September. Similar advancement is proposed in the case of return of fringe benefits. DDT Amendment
Q. It was reported that there is a credit mechanism worked out with respect to Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT). How will it affect the individual investor? A. The amendment in respect of DDT will not directly affect the individual investor. By means of a background, DDT was being doubly charged in holding company -subsidiary company structure. Dividends paid by the subsidiary company to the holding company were liable to DDT. Also, dividends paid by the holding company in turn (part of which come from the dividends received from the subsidiary) were again charged DDT. Now it has been clarified that Dividends paid by a domestic holding company (not being a subsidiary of any other company) would not be subject to dividend distribution tax up to the extent of dividends received from its subsidiary company. STT Tax Treatment
Q. There is some change with respect to the tax treatment of STT? What is the exact nature of this change and how will affect the tax payer? A. Earlier, for a trader in securities, STT paid was allowed as a credit against the tax payable on income from securities transactions. Thus STT worked like TDS or advance tax paid. Now, this set off will not be allowed but instead STT can be claimed as a deduction against income. Therefore, from a 100% deduction available earlier, now the deduction will be up to 30%. However, note that this isn't applicable to an investor who classifies his or her income from securities transactions as short-term or long-term capital gains as the case may be. For such investors, STT was anyway not a deductible item. This change will only be applicable to those who treat their securities transactions income as business income. The author may be contacted at
wonderlandconsultants@yahoo.com |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Chennai, March 1
