Desserts (कुछ मीठा हो जाए)

CIAZ- The so-called competitive model that can be fatal for its customers!!

“All that glitters isn’t gold!!  has been truly proved by this deceptive model under discussion.

Coming to my tragic story of possessing one:

We had been an ardent fan of the brand Maruti, and we can say that owing to our possession of 3 back to back cars of the same brand ( viz. Omni, Swift & Ciaz). We never ceased to praise our newly bought car, which is just 4 months old now, after having done a tremendous level of research and consulting people. Every time we gazed at our car, it made our eyes glitter with pride and we couldn’t stop staring at it. Also, used to recommend people through a positive word of mouth about the same. However, our misconception bubble bursted when we very recently encountered an accident on the highway. Little that we knew our praise wasn’t worth it, as the heart (so-called high-end and robust parts/accessories) of the car were ugly and awful!! 

The bike rider came out of the blue from the main road on a no two-wheeler road zone. That too when we had maintained a speed of 60-70 km/hr (which is quite less for a highway)!! The bike had hit our front left hand side of the car and didn’t stop for few meters, while the bike got dragged on the road much before the car’s breakdown halt. To our utter shock by god’s grace the bike rider and pillion were absolutely safe (expect a small bruise on the driver’s hand) and were sound along with the unaffected bike, who rode back to their destination after few moments of the accident. Whereas, we were jeopardized in an absolutely new city sigh along with our family. Experiencing this kind of nerve wracking incident we had a slight idea that external parts would have been damaged, but on the contrary, when somehow managed to source the contact number of the Maruti service station, it was observed that there were major losses in our precious possession. The fender, the drive shaft and the shock absorber got disfigured, the arms lost their shape and got teared, the bumper got disfigured, ORVM cover broke, left fog light & the headlight got broken from inside and what not. We jumped off our skin when the estimated amount of damages was over INR 50,000.

Like really??? Is that price tag with high-end features incorporated in the range with such faulty, fragile yet expensive parts was worth a buy! I don’t think so, on the deceptive alluring and head-turning appearance lies a highly incapable and undependable vehicle for a family. What if something would have happened to the third party or our family for that matter?? Who would have been answerable for the indispensable loss!

It takes years to build trust, but one blow of air can sweep away everything. The same has happened with us, we won’t ever suggest anyone buying a Maruti product/this specific model after such a traumatic suffering.

It’s not a loss of merely our original parts/embellishments of the car, but also on the brand that had deep rooted bond with its customers. We feel that with the passage of time, the company has turned blind-folded in the competition to create a copied version of competitive brands but with the lack of quality. We wonder if there had been any Car Crash Tests done for this highly marketed and celebrity endorsed model! It boils our blood that we did a blunder mistake to spend years of our hard earned money (bank loan) for the beauty without the content car. The tall claims stood all in the dark when the reality took the stage.

Author: Priyanka Agarwal (Former Content Writer at CarDekho.com)

Image Courtesy: Maruti Suzuki & www.ecardlr.com

Essential Income Tax Provisions for Medical Doctors

Medical Doctors' Profession is among the noblest and busy professions. Having said that does not mean that they are spared from filing income tax returns (ITRs).

Here is the summary of the legal and documentation requirements for the medical doctors in India as per the Income Tax Act, 1961 and amendments thereof, implementation of which may help in avoiding payment of unnecessary taxes, interests and penalties.

Books of Account: Section 44AA read with Rule 6F, mandates the maintenance of books of account for the medical doctors for the Income Tax purpose, where the Gross Receipts / Collections exceed INR 1,50,000 per annum. Books includes the following:

1. Cash Book (For Cash System): A book in which receipts and payments of money are recorded OR Journal (For Mercantile System): A record of the financial transactions in order by date.  
2. Ledger: An accounting book that facilitates the transfer of all journal entries in a chronological sequence to the individual accounts. 
3. Issued Bills: Carbon copies of all the issued bills exceeding INR 25 needs to be maintained (whether machine numbered or otherwise serially numbered).
4. Original Bills: Wherever issued to the person and receipts in respect of expenditure incurred by the person or, where such bills and receipts are not issued and the expenditure incurred does not exceed INR 50, payment vouchers prepared and signed by the person. All the expenditure bills (with some exceptions) claimed while computing the income, are to be mandatory paid by account payee cheque / draft or electronically, if the payment exceeds INR 20,000 as per section 40A(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
5. Form No. 3C: Maintain this form as a daily case register.
6. Inventory Record: An inventory as on the first and the last day of the previous year, of the stock of drugs, medicines and other consumable accessories used for the purpose of his/her profession.

Record Tenure: The books of account and other documents should be kept and maintained for a period of six years from the end of the relevant assessment year. A penalty for non-maintenance of books of account is INR 25,000 as per section 271A of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Accounts Auditing u/s 44AB: If the practicing medical doctor achieves a gross fee collection of INR 25,00,000 (Revised to INR 50,00,000 for FY 2016-17 & onwards) or more during the financial year, then books of account need to be audited by the practicing Chartered Accountant. As per section 271B of the Income Tax Act, 1961, on non-compliance, a penalty of INR 1,50,000 or 0.5% of gross receipts (whichever is lower) is applicable.

Due Dates:

• Normal ITR Filing: July 31st Every Year
• ITR Filing with Audit: September 30th Every Year

Note: 

1. For the Individual, HUF and Partnership Firms where gross receipts are below INR 50,00,000, Presumptive Tax Scheme u/s 44AD is available w.e.f. FY 2016-17 as an option to reduce the compliance burden on maintaining books of account and tax audits, by simply paying 50% of the gross receipts or total income assessed, as income tax.
2. If the anticipated annual tax liability is more than INR 10,000, then the advance tax is required to be paid. The due dates for the advance tax are 15^th September, 15^th December and 15^thMarch with payments of 30%, 30% and 40% respectively. If the advance tax is not paid fully or partially within the due dates specified, an interest @ 1% per month is payable, u/s 234C & u/s 234B of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (as applicable).

- The author is an ITD Certified ITR Filing Practitioner reachable on agarwal.tanmay@gmail.com.

Time Wasters

"Time Wastage" means time spent by someone on non-productive activities or that do not serve any useful purpose.

In day to day life generally, one may not waste his/her time knowingly on any activity(s) that do not serve any purpose. However, there could be certain factors that may crop up during useful or productive activities, which may lead to wasting of the time. These factors may be termed as "Time Wasters", which may be generically applicable everywhere, or may be specifically applicable. 

Below are some of the key time wasters that are not classified for any specific duration or for any location (like office or home):

Interruptions: It means when a person is involved in some activity and some external agency (living or non-living) attempts to get the attention of this person on an another activity that is unrelated to the original activity hampering to the progress of the original activity that was being carried out by the person, then that another activity is an interruption for the person involved in the original activity. Examples of such interruptions could be the ringing phone, barking of a dog, doorbell, loud music in the neighborhood, etc.

Unclassified Task: When a person involves him/herself randomly on a task that has not been classified for some priority criteria, which may have been judged on the basis of Urgency and Importance, such a task is a time waster unclassified task. For example, if a person has to go to the office, or has to prepare food, or has to clean the bookshelf, or checking social media messages, or has to read a book. S/he needs should prioritise these tasks on the basis of urgency and importance. However, if s/he randomly selects one of these activities, there is a likely possibility of selecting a wrong task, leading to time wastage.

Dis-organised Place: If the place of carrying out the activities is not organised in a specific manner, it may lead to extra time involvement for searching an item, which may to the spending of extra time then the regular time needed to search that item. Then such a place poses to be a time waster.

Unnecessary Breaks: If the time gaps taken during the execution of an activity are more than the required gaps in terms of count &/or durations, then such breaks pose to be time wasters. For example, checking social media messages, coffee breaks, etc.

Social Media Messaging: If a person involves him/her regularly on checking and posting the messages on the social media like Whatsapp or Facebook, etc. in an uncontrolled manner, then such messaging becomes a time waster.

Chit-Chats: If the person involves in chit-chats with some person or group, in-person or over any other medium like telephone or group discussion, which is expected to lead no constructive results, such chit-chats may be considered to be time wasters.

Miscellaneous: There could be other time wasters that may or may not be appreciably considered as time wasters. Such as ineffective multitasking of the activities, unnecessary travelling, extensive socialisation, unwanted/unnecessarily putting own views in some other person's matters, etc.

- The author is a management professional reachable on agarwal.tanmay@gmail.com.

Importance of ITR Filing After 31st May Every Year

Though, Indian Income Tax Department (ITD) may introduce the Income Tax Return (ITR) forms for the previous year in the month of April itself. The usual last date of filing ITR is generally 31st July for the individuals (not auditable u/s 44AB). 

People may start filing ITRs from the month of April. However, there are certain benefits of filing ITRs after 31st May, especially for the salaried people, where employer issues Form-16 (Form-16A for professionals / others) and TRACES generated Form-26AS forms the basis for filing the ITRs.

Form-26AS is a statement of TDS deducted by the employer(s) or financial institution(s) or any deductor(s) who had paid some taxable amount to a person / entity for his / her / their services / products and had deposited in the ITD as per the prevailing IT laws. The credit of TDS in Form-26AS is reflected only after the filing of TDS returns by the employers / institutions / deductors.

These days Form-16 & Form-16A are directly generated from ITD TDS website known as "TRACES" after the filing of TDS returns by the employers / deductors. The due date of filing TDS returns for the January to March quarter is 31st of May. Therefore, one may not get his / her Form-16/16A from the employer before 31st May. So, it also means that one may not get the updated TDS entries in his / her Form-26AS before 31st May.

If one files his / her ITR before 31st May, it might be a possibility that there could be some differences in the TDS reflected on Form-26AS with the TDS depicted in the salary / payment slips. This could lead to the issue of notices u/s 143(1) issued by ITD stating the mismatch of TDS claimed in the ITR and TDS entries available in Form-26AS. This could further result in demand of tax and interest by ITD from the taxpayers. 

So, the ideal duration to early file the ITRs without last minute rush is to file between 01st June to 15th July every year.

File your ITR well in time and relax!

- The author is an ITD Certified ITR Filing Practitioner reachable on agarwal.tanmay@gmail.com.

Tax Free Gifting!

Giving gifts to near and dear ones is very much prevalent in our Indian culture. Generally, gifts are given to express love and affection. Sometimes, we may also help the needy one by providing some monetary help. However, Gifts can also be good tax planning tools.

As per Income Tax Provisions the following income shall be chargeable to Income Tax under the head ‘Income from other sources', Where an individual or a Hindu undivided family receives, in any previous year, from any person or persons:

a) Any sum of money, without consideration, the aggregate value of which exceeds Rs.50,000/-, the whole of  the aggregate value of such sum;

b) Any immovable property:
i) without consideration, the stamp duty value of which exceeds Rs.50,000/-, the stamp duty value of such property;
ii) for a consideration, which is less than the stamp duty value of the property by an amount exceeding Rs.50,000/-, the difference between the stamp duty value of such property and the consideration received.

c) any property, other than immovable property,:
i) without consideration, the stamp duty value of which exceeds Rs.50,000/-, the stamp duty value of such property;
ii) for a consideration, which is less than the stamp duty value of the property by an amount exceeding Rs.50,000/-, the difference between the stamp duty value of such property and the consideration received.

Provided further that this clause shall not apply to any sum of money or any property received:
(a) from any relative; or
(b) on the occasion of the marriage of the individual; or
(c) under a will or by way of inheritance; or
(d) in contemplation of death of the payer or donor, as the case may be;

Please, note that gifts received from following relatives (donors) are tax free for Donor as well as Donee.

List of Male Donors: 
Father, Brother, Son, Grand Son, Husband, Sister‘s Husband (Jija), Wife’s Brother (Sala), Husband’s Brother (Dewar), Mother’s Brother (Mama), Mother’s Sister’s Husband (Mausa), Father’s Brother (Chacha/Tau), Father’s Sister’s Husband (Fufa), Grand Father (Dada,Nana), Daughter‘s Husband (Jamai), Spouse’s Father (Sasur), Spouse Grand Father (Dada Sasur)

List of Female Donors: 
Mother, Sister, Daughter, Grand Daughter (Poti) Wife, Brother’s Wife (Bhabhi), Wife’s Sister (Sali), Husband’s Sister (Nanad), Mother’s Sister (Mausi), Wife’s Brother’s wife (Sala Heli), Father’s Brother’s Wife (Chachi or Tai), Father’s Sister (Bua), Grand Mother (Dadi, Nani), Son’s Wife (Bahu or Putra Vadhu), Spouse’s Mother (Saas)

In other-words, any lineal ascendant or descendant of Individual or Spouse of Individual is a relative.

Keeping in mind the above provisions, we can plan our gifts so as to reduce final tax liability. 

Tax Planning through Gifts to Wife or Son’s Wife:
Though gift received from a Relative is Tax Free, however, Gifts given to Wife or Son’s wife attract clubbing provision. This means any income arising from investment of such gifted sums will be clubbed in the hands of Donor i.e. Husband or Father-In-Law, as the case may be. So, it is always better to invest the gifted amount in such investment options, which are tax free. E.g. the amount can be invested in Listed Company Shares, PPF, ELSS Mutual Funds etc. As Long term Capital Gains earned on selling of these investments or any income accruing on these investments (like interest on PPF account) will be tax free, so it will not increase the tax liability of Husband. And later, wife can invest the earned income anywhere she likes and income on that investment will not be clubbed in Husband’s income.

Tax Planning through Gifts to Parents or Major Children:
If your income is taxable in 30% tax slab than you can plan gifts to your Parents, who are not having taxable income or the income is taxable in lower tax brackets. E.g. if one has surplus funds of 50 lacks, s/he can gift 25 lacks to his/her parents. And suppose his/her parents invest these funds in the bank FDR then each of them may get annual income of Rs.2,25,000/- (say @9%), which will not be liable to any tax. If the same income is taxed in the individual hands, the tax liability would have been Rs.1,35,000/- (@ 30% on 4,50,000/-). In this way, one may save substantial amount of tax year after year. Similarly, if one has major Childrenm who are yet to earn any income then money can be gifted to them. So, that an additional exemption limit and benefit of lower taxation slab can be utilized.

Tax planning through Gifts on occasion of Marriage:
1) Gifts received on occasion of marriage of an Individual are tax free in the hands of Giver and receiver both,
2) Clubbing provisions are not attracted, 
So this provision can be utilized to its utmost benefit.
Gifts valuing below Rs.50,000/- (in aggregate during a year)
Gifts of aggregate value upto Rs.50,000/- can be accepted from any one without attracting any tax liability.

Gifts under a WILL:
Gifts to any person under WILL are Tax Free.

In Gist: 
Gifts can always be planned from a person in a higher tax bracket to a lower tax bracket or Nil Tax bracket. Please note that the gifts should be reasonable and justifiable. It’s always better to prepare a Gift Deed for proper recording and valid proof of transaction. Duly incorporate therein the PAN and Address of the Donor, nature of Gift, Value of Gift, Reasons for Gifting, etc. Take the benefit of same before they disappear!

Official Music Video: Anjana Main Chala

First musical love story video titled "Anjana Main Chala" produced by my sister Priyanka Agarwal under her own production house, Creative Sailor Productions.

Know Meaning of Characters in Income-Tax PAN

Most of the readers of this blog would have PAN (Permanent Account Number) issued by the Indian Income-Tax Department. However, do you know what does the characters in the PAN mean?

Below is the format of a PAN:

It is a 10 digit alpha-numeric number, where first five characters are letters, the next four numbers & the last one a letter again. These 10 characters can be divided in five parts explained below.

1. First three characters are alphabetic series running from AAA to ZZZ.

2. Fourth character of PAN represents the status of the PAN holder.

C — Company

P — Person

H — HUF(Hindu Undivided Family)

F — Firm

A — Association of Persons (AOP)

T — AOP (Trust)

B — Body of Individuals (BOI)

L — Local Authority

J — Artificial Juridical Person

G — Government

3. Fifth character represents first character of the PAN holder’s last name/surname. In case of all other assesees 5th field will be first letter of Name/First Name.

4. Next four characters are sequential number running from 0001 to 9999.

5. Last character in the PAN is an alphabetic check digit.

Now a days, the DOI (Date of Issue) of PAN card is mentioned at the right (vertical) hand side of the photo on the PAN card.

-Tanmay

What is Ferrite Core?

In electronics, a ferrite core is a type of magnetic core made of ferrite on which the windings of electric transformers and other wound components such as inductors are formed. It is used for its properties of high magnetic permeability coupled with low electrical conductivity (which helps prevent eddy currents). Because of their comparatively low losses at high frequencies, they are extensively used in the cores of RF transformers and inductors in applications such as switched-mode power supplies, and ferrite loop stick antennas for AM radio receivers.

Difference in ‘Contract of Employment’ & ‘Contract for Employment’?

When there is ‘Employer/Master’ & ‘Employee/Servant’ relationship:

Where employer not only directs ‘what & when a thing has to be done’ but also ‘how it has to be done’ & the employee is bound to carry out employer’s instructions, it is called ‘Contract of Employment’. E.g. an employee of ABC Limited has a ‘Contract of Employment’. Here the fee received comes under ‘Salaries’.

Where As

When the employer merely directs ‘what has to be done’ while the methodology for carrying out the job is left to the discretion of the employee, it is called ‘Contract for Employment’. This applies especially to professionals & technocrats who take up assignments. E.g. Chartered Account working for ABC Limited has a ‘Contract for Employment’. Here the fee received comes under either income from ‘Business or Profession’ or income from ‘Other Sources’.

Unethical Flinching of Customer Money by Reliance Fresh Staff

Hi All

I want to bring one fact into your notice that might look to be very small. However, when seen from the broader perspective, the figures are too big.

I have seen & several others might have also noticed that whenever a customer purchases item(s) from the Reliance Fresh store/outlet. If the total amount has some non-zero paise / fractional rupee figures between 51 & 99 (like Rs 213.67), the system rounds off to lower 50 paise (in this example Rs 213.50). That is, the customer gets the discount of 1 to 49 paise (in this case 17 paise). This is done because it is difficult/not possible to pay cash in the denominations between 51 to 99 paise. I appreciate that the company is not rounding to the upper one rupee. This case is only applicable when customer wishes to pay by cash. In case of credit/debit card, the exact amount is debited because that is possible electronically which is also correct.

However, in most of the centers like in Reliance Fresh outlet at E-18, Gautam Marg, Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur, the staff never gives back the 50 paise in spite of the fact that they have the coins in their cashbox that I personally have seen several times. Most of the people don’t care for 50 paise & the staff also remains not in a mood to pay this 50 paise. They try to keep 50 paise coins hidden in the cashbox. On asking, they reply we don’t have change. One might think that why I’m crazy in illustrating on such small amount as 50 paise. The point here is that the amount taken up by the staff is unethical that they flinch from the customer’s pocket.

Let’s check the figures:

No. of Cash Transactions
Cheating Amount
Per Instance
1
Rs. 0.50
Per Day Per Store (Typical Figure on Lower Side)
200
Rs. 100
Per Day in 453 Reliance Fresh Stores
90600
Rs. 45,300
Per Month in 453 Reliance Fresh Stores
2718000
Rs. 13,59,000
Per Year in 453 Reliance Fresh Stores
32616000
Rs. 1,63,08,000
Average Employee Per Reliance Fresh Store
6

Total Employees in 453 Reliance Fresh Stores
2718

Cheating Amount Per Reliance Fresh Store Per Month
Rs. 3,000
Cheating Amount Per Reliance Fresh Store Per Year
Rs. 36,000
Share Per Employee Per Month

Rs. 500
Share Per Employee Per Year

Rs. 6,000

This also clarifies, if the rounding to the next rupee is done by the company, then how much additional revenue it gets from the customers. Now, if you all check your last telephone bills, cell-phone bills, etc., you will realize how much revenue the companies are getting from your pocket out of this rounding off!!

I therefore, believe that Reliance Fresh & other similar companies should give the discount to a lower one rupee or carry forward the fractional amount to the next bill (cycle) (if possible). E.g. this can be easily done in cases like post-paid telecom bills. This will increase customer satisfaction & company can also illustrate this as an example of being an ethical company in the competitive market.

The author is a consumer protection activist who speaks both in the mutual favour of the customer as well as the company in question.

Tanmay Agarwal
(Author of this Article)
http://www.dentistswati.com/tanmay-agarwal.php / tanmay@dentistswati.com

Kotak Life Insurance: Sub-Standard Marketing Techniques

Hi All

I’m writing this blog for the public awareness & interest. I suffered from the sub-standard marketing technique(s) that were used by one of the corporate agents "Corporate Services" (IRDA-1284248 / A0005469) of Kotak Life Insurance in Jaipur.

This corporate agent makes calls on behalf of Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance. They inform that on the occasion of successful completion of three years of the company, they have selected 10 lucky BSNL numbers out of 200 numbers for a prize. So, company is awarding “Fancy Gold Set” for the promotional publicity. And for receiving the prize, one needs to reach their office by 06:45 PM. The program shall commence from 7 PM onwards for 1 hour. They emphasize multiple times to reach empty handed & also assured that they won’t be asking to take any insurance policy or any type of membership. They take assurance from the person multiple times to confirm their presence in Kotak Life Insurance office.

As the prize is quite luring & seems to be real since the call is being made from a reputed company (very wrong impression), there must be an actual celebration & the genuine gift. The person from this agency also says that there would not be any word for accepting any policy of the company.

However, when one reaches the office, in no time, one will understand that there is no celebration. It is just a shoddy marketing stunt to call the couples for presenting the life insurance plans. Himanshu, the manager there forces to take the decision there itself without giving any time to think over such an important financial investment. They insist upon signing the form & providing a cheque (without date) with identity proof documents. On the refusal, they get irritated & behave rudely while closing the discussion. They also act as if they are doing some great favour to the couple by providing an opportunity that one cannot get anywhere else. Finally, it is very disappointing & unexpected to receive a gift that is hardly worth rupees ten to fifteen (Rs.10-15) from such a reputed company (as one carries the impression).

It clearly reflects the vulnerable state of the company that is forced to use such cheap marketing tactics to lure the customers & sale its policies. The company wastes the precious & highly valuable time in the non-sense stuff that is in vain. In fact the image of the company that one might carry before going over there gets spoiled with such incident.

I wrote to Mr. Gaurang Shah (Managing Director – Kotak Life Insurance) that it was my humbly suggestion that while marketing, wrong statements should not be used by the staff to lure the prospective customer because that creates a bad image in the mind of the customer & it replicates exponentially with time through word of mouth. I believe this aspect should get percolated to the staff below, if the management also believes in the same.
So, kindly take care from this insurance company.

Reviewer: Tanmay Agarwal, Jaipur (tanmay@dentistswati.com)

Madan Aircons: Sub-Standard After Sales Service

Hi All

This is a caution notice in the public interest that this firm is running on fake commitments. I purchased a window based 1.5 ton Electrolux AC from this shop "Madan Aircons" Jayanti Market, Jaipur on 18-May-2009. Mr. Lokesh Madan informed me that there will be THREE free services whose cost is included at the time of purchase of AC & the service will be done by their firm. Since 18-Mar-2010, I was trying almost every day for getting the first free service.

However, some lady picks up on the numbers given on the bill at the Raja Park, Jaipur service centre & informs that the service person will come next day. But the fact is nobody turned up. I personally visited the shop in Jayanti market, Jaipur on 27-Mar-2010 & got the complaint noted. I also informed that all the family members are in service so send the person on Saturday/Sunday. I was assured that the service person will come by tomorrow (Sunday, March 28, 2010) positively.

However, nobody has turned up till date. This is very bad!! This was not at all expected from this firm. Mr. Lokesh Madan owner of this firm do not want any loyal customer for their shop & just want to lure the new customers by fake/false commitments.

He is not aware that the Voice of Customer may either make or break any company.

Reviewer: Tanmay Agarwal, Jaipur (tanmay@dentistswati.com)