Education Services under Negative List – Service Tax

The inclusion in / exclusion from negative list [section 66D(l) of Finance Act, 1994 ] for different types of education related services can be illustrated as follows :

Nature of Service	Taxability
School education upto 12th   standard	Covered under negative list – Not taxable.
School examinations fee, etc.	It is part of education and hence covered under the negative list – Not taxable
Conveyance facilities to students	If part of education and cannot be separately covered under negative list – Not taxable
Approved vocational educational course	Covered under negative list – Not taxable
Boarding school (package offered inclusive of   food, rent, etc.)	Covered under negative list – Not taxable; Essential character being education, non-taxable as per rule of bundled services
College education (affiliated to an Indian university)	Recognized by law, covered in negative list – Not taxable
Test for admission in a college / institution	If recognized by law, covered in negative list – Not taxable
Campus recruitment fee	Taxable
Courses recognized by foreign law	Not covered under negative list – Taxable
Coaching centre’s services	Taxable
Placement services	Taxable
Grants-in-aid	As per Rule 6(2)(vii) of the Service Tax (Determination of Value) Rules, 2006, subsidies and grant disbursed by the Government, not directly affecting the value of service, will be excluded from the value of service – Not taxable

5 Reasons to file income tax return

1 creating financial history
When you file your return every year with the income tax department, it is kept as a record with them. This shows that you have a source of income and you are financially stable. Mind you it’s not just a record. You can also take it as a supporting document when you wish to avail a loan.

Now you’ll have doubt how will it be of any use to avail a loan?

Let us take an example:

I file my return each year since I was 18, declaring my income from my internship while you have not filed any.

So when today at the age of 22 while I have just started working I want a loan for any reason. How do I prove that I have source of income?

It’s very simple. I’ll take my past income tax return filed any attach it with my current income proof. It will show bankers that I already have created a financial pool to support me. It will be an advantage for me compared to those non-filers of return.

2 claiming refund

Now it is not necessary that we all have taxable income after availing of all the benefits like insurance deduction, loan deduction etc. but my employer/banker had deducted tax (TDS) on my salary/interest income. How do I get back tax deducted by them even though I was not liable to pay any tax?

Answer to it is, file your return. Declare all your income and TDS details. If tax deducted is more than the tax you are liable to pay, you will get refund from the department.

3 Avoiding Penalty
Now let us talk how income tax department will deal if you don’t file your return.

Any person who does not file his return of income within the assessment year is liable to pay penalty of INR 5000. The amount may seem small but you know this record will always be maintained with the department. So it is not just for one year but even for the coming years you will be put in the bad books (defaulters list) of the department. Also there is interest payable.

4 Notice from department for non – filing

Now, you must be having doubt about how will the department come to know that I have not filed my return or levy penalty for non-filing?

Well the simple answer is PAN card. When your employer deducts your TDS they have to deduct, deposit and file the details of TDS with the department along with the PAN Number of person of whom TDS is being deducted. So even if you don’t file the return but your employer is giving details of your taxable income.

You declare it or not but the department already has your details.

5: Notice from department for Concealment of Income
We all have seen Hindi movies where there is income tax notice which is not delivered in time and the exaggerated consequences. Why does that happen?

They have not filed their return or filed but not paid the tax thereon. Income tax department can serve a notice if there is reason to believe that the assesse has concealed income or he was to file return but not filed. This is initiated by the department by serving a notice.

CBDT has issued revised draft on Income Computation and Disclosure Standards.

 The same can be viewed through the link below:
http://www.finmin.nic.in/t…/dept_revenue/ICDS_draft_CBDT.pdf

Salaried Employee -- Asstt. Year 2015-16

SIMPLE METHOD TO TAX CALCULATION FROM SALARY:

HRA exemption = Least of (40% (50% for metros) of Basic+DA or HRA or rent paid - 10% of Basic+DA)

Transport allowance is exempt up to Rs.800/- per month during the month. (Expenditure incurred for covering journey between office and residence.)  For people having permanent physical disability, the exemption is 1,600/- per month.

Reimbursement of Medical bills are exempt for self and dependent family, up to Rs.15,000/- per annum u/s(5) LTA is exempt to the tune of economy class Train/ Air /Recognised public Transport fare for the family to any destination in India, by the shortest route.

LTA can be claimed twice in a block of 4 calendar years. The current block is from 01.01.2010 to 31.12.2013. For claim, it is must to provide originals tickets etc.

U/s 24 There is an Exemption for interest on housing loan. (for Self occupied Residence). If the loan was taken before Apr 1, 1999 exemption is limited to Rs. 30,000/- per year. If the loan was taken after Apr 1, 1999 exemption is limited to Rs. 2,00,000/- per year if the house is self-occupied; There is no limit if the house is rented out.

This exemption is available on accrual basis, which means if interest has accrued, you can claim exemption, irrespective of whether you've paid it or not..

If you have rented out your house, enter the total income / loss from the house (after deductingproperty tax and standard maintenance expenses).

U/s 80CCE- Maximum Exemption up to  Rs. 150000/-  Investments up to Rs. 1.5 lac in PF, VPF, PPF, Employee contribution in NPS,Insurance Premium, Housing loan principal repayment, NSC, ELSS, long term bank Fixed Deposit, Post Office Term Deposit, etc. are deductible from the taxable income. There is no limit on individual items, (for example) all 1 lac can be invested in NSC or PPF etc.

U/s 80CCD -The Finance Act, 2011 provides that contribution made by the Central Government or any other employer to NPS (up to 10 per cent of the salary of the employee in the previous year)shall be excluded while computing the limit of Rs. 1,50,000.The contribution by the employee to the NPS will be subject to the limit of Rs. 1,00,000.

U/s 80CCG - Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme is a new exemption available for investment in stock markets (direct equity). Avaialble only for those with gross income less than 12 lacs and only for first time investors in stock market. Exemption available at 50% of investment subject to maximum of Rs.50,000/- invested. Investments are locked-in for three years

U/s 80D Medical Insurance Premium (such as Mediclaim & Critical illness Cover)& Health Check up Upto Rs. 5000, premium is exempt up to Rs. 30,000/ per year (Rs.15,000/- for self,spouse and children ) (Rs. 15000/- for Parents. If the premium includes for a dependent who is (Senior Citizen) above 60 years of age, an extra Rs. 5,000//- can be claimed.

U/s 80DD Deduction in respect of medical treatment of handicapped dependents is limited to Rs. 50,000/- per year if the disability is less than 80% and Rs. 1,00,000/- per year if the disability is more than 80%

U/s 80DDB Deduction in respect of medical treatment for specified ailments or diseases for the assesse or dependent can be claimed up to Rs. 40,000/- per year. If the person being treated is a senior citizen, the exemption can go up to Rs. 60,000/-. but any amount received under Medical Insurance Policy will be reduced from the amount of deduction allowed. The Diseases and ailments specified under rule 11DD are.

• neurological diseases being demetia, dystonia musculorum deformans, motor neuron disease, ataxia, chorea, hemiballismus, aphasia and parkisons disease,

1. cancer,
2. AIDS,
3. Chronic renal failure,
4. hemophilia, and
5. thalassaemia.

U/s 80E Interest repayment on education loan (taken for higher education from a university of self & dependents) is completely tax exempt

U/s 80G Donations given for certain charities are tax exempt. Some(NGO,Trust etc.) are exempt to the tune of 50%, whereas Govt funds are 100%.

U/s 80GG If you are not getting  HRA, but living in rented house, an exemption is available. This will be calculated as minimum of (25% of total income or rent paid - 10% of total income or Rs. 24,000/- per year)

U/s 80U who suffers from not less than 40 per cent of any disability is eligible for deduction to the extent of Rs. 50,000/- and in case of severe disability to the extent of Rs. 100,000/-

U/s 80TTA introduced through Finance Act, 2012. Section 80TTA provides a deduction of up to Rs. 10,000 on your income from interest on saving bank accounts.

DEDUCTION u/s. 80C and chapter VIA :

U/s. 80C of the Income Tax Act allows certain investments and expenditure to be deduct from total income. One must plan investments well and spread it out across the various instruments specified under this section to avail maximum tax benefit. There are no sub-limits and is irrespective of how much you earn and under which tax bracket you fall. Most of the Income Tax payee try to save tax by saving under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act.  However, it is important to know the Section in total. so that one can make best use of the options available for deduction under income tax Act. One important point to note that one can not only save tax by undertaking the specified investments, but some expenditure which you normally incur can also give you the tax exemptions.

Qualifying Investments u/s 80CCE

• Provident Fund (PF) & Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF) PF is automatically deducted from your salary. your contribution [12% of Basic] (i.e., employee’s contribution) is counted towards section 80C investments. You also have the option to contribute additional amounts through voluntary contributions (VPF). Current rate of interest is 8.5% per annum (p.a.) and is tax-free.
• Life Insurance Premiums: Any amount that you pay towards life insurance premium in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) or any other Insurance CO.for yourself, your spouse or your children can also be included in Section 80C deduction. If you are paying premium for more than one insurance policy, all the premiums will be included. also premium paid for ULIP will also be treated as Premium paid for Life Insurance Policies.
• Unit linked Insurance Plan : ULIP stands for Unit linked Saving Schemes. ULIPs cover Life insurance with benefits of equity investments.They have attracted the attention of investors and tax-savers not only because they help us save tax but they also perform well to give decent returns in the long-term.

IMP : Total Amount Received at Maturity, Survival Benefits, Withdrawal in Insurance Policies is Tax Free and fully exempted u/s 10(10D).

• Public Provident Fund (PPF): Among all the assured returns small saving schemes,
• Public Provident Fund (PPF) is one of the best. Current rate of interest is 8% tax-free and the normal maturity period is 15 years. Minimum amount of contribution is Rs. 500 and maximum is Rs. 1,50,000.(New Change) from Budget 2014
• National Savings Certificate (NSC): National Savings Certificate (NSC) is a 5-Yr small savings instrument eligible for section 80C tax benefit. Rate of interest is  8.58% compounded half-yearly, i.e. If you invest Rs.100, it becomes Rs.150.90 after five years. The interest accrued every year is liable to tax (i.e. to be included in your taxable income) but the interest is also deemed to be reinvested and thus eligible for section 80C deduction.
• Home Loan Principal Repayment & Stamp Duty and Registration Charges for a home Loan The Equated Monthly Installment (EMI) that you pay every month to repay your home loan consists of two components – Principal and Interest.The principal component of the EMI qualifies for deduction under Sec 80C. Even the interest component can save you significant income tax – but that would be under Section 24 of the Income Tax Act. The amount you pay as stamp duty when you buy a house, and the amount you pay for the registration of the documents of the house can be claimed as deduction under section 80C in the year of purchase of the house.
• Tuition  fees  for 2 children  Apart form the above major investments expenses for children’s education (Only Tution Fee (for which you need receipts)), can be claimed as deductions under Sec 80C.
• Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS): There are some mutual fund (MF) schemes specially created for offering you tax savings, and these are called Equity Linked Savings Scheme, or ELSS. The investments that you make in ELSS are eligible for deduction under Sec 80C.
• 5-Yr bank fixed deposits (FDs): Tax-saving fixed deposits (FDs) of scheduled banks with tenure of 5 years are also entitled for section 80C deduction.
• 5-Yr post office time deposit (POTD) scheme: POTDs are similar to bank fixed deposits. Although available for varying time duration like one year, two year, three year and five year, only 5-Yr post-office time deposit (POTD) – which currently offers 7.5 per cent rate of interest –qualifies for tax saving under section 80C. Effective rate works out to be 7.71% per annum (p.a.) as the rate of interest is compounded quarterly but paid annually. The Interest is entirely taxable.
• Pension Funds or Pension Policies – Section 80CCC: This section – Sec 80CCC – stipulates that an investment in pension funds is eligible for deduction from your income. Section 80CCC investment limit is clubbed with the limit of Section 80C – it means that the total deduction available for 80CCC and 80C is Rs 1.5 Lakh.This also means that your investment in pension funds upto Rs.1.5 Lakh can be claimed as deduction u/s 80CCC. However, as mentioned earlier, the total deduction u/s 80C and 80CCC can not exceed  Rs.1.5 Lakh.
• Infrastructure Bonds: These are also popularly called Infra Bonds. These are issued by infrastructure companies, and not the government. The amount that you invest in these bonds can also be included in Sec 80C deductions.
• NABARD rural bonds: There are two types of Bonds issued by NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development): NABARD Rural Bonds and Bhavishya Nirman Bonds (BNB). Out of these two, only NABARD Rural Bonds qualify under section 80C.
• Senior Citizen Savings Scheme 2004 (SCSS): A recent addition to section 80C list, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) is the most lucrative scheme among all the small savings schemes but is meant only for senior citizens. Current rate of interest is 9% per annum payable quarterly. Please note that the interest is payable quarterly instead of compounded quarterly. Thus, unclaimed interest on these deposits won’t earn any further interest. Interest income is chargeable to tax.
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