Indian Income Tax Calculator for the FY2009-10

Click here or on the image above to download the Indian income-tax calculator for the financial year 2009-10. This now takes into account the proposals tabed by FM, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee on 06-July-2009.

Please bookmark this site or the target URL to use the latest version.

The default parameters are set for a male, salaried employee working in Bangalore. In case you find any discrepancies and/or if you have any suggestions, please leave a coment on this blog.

Loan Calculator cum Planner

Click here or on the image above to download the Loan Calculator Cum Planner for the Indian market.

Please bookmark the target page for the latest version of the Calculator as and when it is ready.

This is ideal for Home Loan calculations.

This calculator is meant for monthly rests, taking care of fixed as well as floating interest rates, in addition to changes in rate of interest and even part-payment of Principal.

e-filing... was this useful???

I started thinking of this only on July 31 when one of my friends was prepared to pay the interest for overshooting the July 31, 2008 timeline of filing the returns. He was relaxed until then and only on July 31 (at about 8 PM) did he realize that he should have filed it by today... His major problem was that he even had to pay Self Assessment Tax.

I could see the beauty of e-filing only now. It took all about 30 minutes to complete the returns through the Skorydov website. Of course NSDL also provides the option to submit Self Assessment Tax online and these together ensured that my friend could complete his returns online by July 31, 2008 although office hours were long completed.

In retrospect, I also filed through the same site and I also finished the same in about 15 minutes flat, which is great considering that I took about 2 hours to fill the returns form two years ago in addition to which I had to endure wrong calculations and finally had to submit a revised form "after" the due date at that time. The Skorydov site greatly helps in this area since it does ask the individual to search as to which ITR he/she needs to fill. It has a set of questions based on which the software gives you easy to fill fields which can be directly extracted from Form-16 etc. In all, I must say that the Skorydov software is excellent and easy to use.

Being a IT professional, e-filing this year has helped me save a lot of time in terms of both having to sit with a CA and file the returns as well as to run behind them to ensure that the returns are filed and done correctly... since at the end of the day, the IT Department does not crucify the CA but me if the returns were not calculated correctly.

All about applying for and tracking PAN

Application:
Read the instructions at https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pan/form49A.html. At the bottom of the page, select the proper category and click Select.

AO Code:
You need to mention AO code on your PAN application. For information on AO code, http://tin.nsdl.com/aocode.asp.

Track your PAN/TAN Application and e-Return Registration Status:
You can track the status of your application for new PAN / reprint of PAN card / Changes or Correction in PAN details using the 15 digit unique Acknowledgment Number after three days of application using this facility athttps://tin.tin.nsdl.com/tan/StatusTrack.html.

Know your PAN number:
http://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/knowpan/knowpan.jsp.

Online Application for Request for New PAN Card Or/ And Changes Or Correction in PAN Data (PAN Change Request Form):
Read the instructions at https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pan/correction.html. Then go to the bottom of the page, and in the "Apply for New PAN Card Or / And Changes Or Correction in PAN Data" select "Individual" (or your required choice if not individual) and click "Select". This will open the relevant Form.

Govt extends tax concessions on STPI by a year

Picked from The Economic Times.

In a much-awaited relief for the IT industry, software companies can now enjoy benefits of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme for another year. The government has extended the tax concessions under Section 10A of the Income Tax Act to March 2010. The scheme was to expire in March 2009 under the sunset clause provided in the scheme. On an average, IT companies would get a revenue benefit of at least 5-7% — on the effective tax rate — because of this extension. Normally, companies have about 50% business located in technology parks, export revenue from which is fully tax-exempt. In a letter to the prime minister, Union IT & communications minister A Raja said: “I thank you on behalf of my ministry and the entire IT industry for your far-sighted decision to extend the STPI scheme. This will certainly help the IT industry, especially the small and medium enterprises which have been under tremendous pressure due to the rupee appreciation, wage inflation and several other factors. This would give us the encouragement to build up the momentum to meet our commitment of achieving IT exports of over $60 billion by 2010.” The relief has come after intense lobbying from the communications ministry and the industry. Finance minister P Chidambaram made the announcement in Parliament on Tuesday.
The move will benefit smaller companies more because SEZs have remained off-limits for them. “This is a good move and benefits small- and medium-sized companies who were finding it difficult to move into SEZs due to space crunch and high rentals. Most of the larger companies are already pursuing their SEZ plans aggressively. This move will enable them to enjoy the tax benefits further,” said Infosys Technologies CFO V Balakrishnan However, the biggest of all bonanzas lies in the fact that the small firms will get about two years to chalk out their future. For instance, those like KTwo Technology, an IT services start-up with revenue of $1.58 million in the first year of its operation, stands to benefit immensely. As its CEO Ananth Koppar put it: “At least, the small companies will get a breather for one more year.”

Small IT companies may get tax holiday beyond 2009

Picked from The Economic Times.

Government may extend income tax holidays to small and marginal IT companies beyond 2009, IT and Communications Minister A Raja said on Thursday.
Exemption from paying income tax for IT companies is to end in 2009.
"I have met Prime Minister (on the issue). PM is inclined to give some relief.... We are of the view that small and marginal enterprises should not suffer. The matter is under consideration," he told the Rajya Sabha during the Question Hour.
Raja said he had also met Finance Minister P Chidambaram on extending tax break for another 10 years but the "Finance Minister had some reservations."
The extended tax breaks should not go to big and flourishing companies who have already utilised the previous tax breaks, he said, but did not specify when a decision would be taken.
The Minister said the slowdown in the US economy has so far not had any overall significant direct impact on the growth of the Indian IT-BPO sector. However, the share depreciation of the US dollar over the past year has added significant margin pressure on the IT industry.
Raja said industry body NASSCOM does not have any information on reduction in salaries in IT industry but there had been indications that the annual increments to employees may be slightly lower.
The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has indicated that the data on salary cuts if any would be available only after the analysis of the annual results to be announced by the companies.

Employers must quote PAN in TDS returns

Picked from The Econonic Times.

Employers will have to quote the Permanent Account Number of their employees while submitting TDS (tax deducted at source) returns to the government as tax refund has become difficult without PAN after annexure-less forms were introduced. Income Tax department would not accept these returns if employers fail to quote PAN in at least 95 per cent cases of salaried employees and 85 per cent cases of non-salaried staff. Employers who do not comply with the rules would be treated as non-filers and could face penal consequences, an official release said on Tuesday. Quoting PAN is important because the IT department has prescribed new return forms without attachments from assessment year 2007-08. Tax refunds can only be given to the employees on the basis of information made available by employers through TDS returns, the statement said.