pan card status

PAN Card Status

by CA Topics

PAN Card Status

Here are the steps to check PAN Card status on NSDL using acknowledgment:

  1. First, open the Track PAN Status page on the NSDL website by clicking https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pantan/StatusTrack.html
  2. Fill application type, acknowledgment number then captcha.
  3. Then click on proceed then the user can know the status of PAN.

Without Acknowledgement:

TIN-NSDL has made ample provisions for applicants to check PAN card online. The portal allows users to check PAN card application status without acknowledgment number as well. One can check the PAN card by name and date of birth by following the steps mentioned below:

  1. Visit https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pantan/StatusTrack.html_bkp24052013
  2. Select “PAN – New/Change Request” in the Application Type section
  3. Select the Name section to check PAN status without acknowledgment number
  4. Enter your Last Name, First Name, Middle Name and Date of Birth
  5. Now click on the “Submit” button to get the status.

When an applicant successfully submits his PAN card application, a unique 15-digit code is generated and allotted to the applicant. This number is known as the PAN card acknowledgment number. It can be used to track the status of the PAN card generation/update. The acknowledgment number can also be used to download the ePAN card within one month of issuance of the new/updated PAN card from NSDL.

lic premium payment online

LIC Premium payment online

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LIC Premium payment online

Through LIC’s website

To pay premiums through the insurer’s website, visit www.licindia.in and click on ‘Pay Premium Online’ from the ‘Online Services portal’. Here you will get two options: a) Pay Direct (Without login) and b) Through customer portal.

Pay Direct (Without login)

This is an option for those who do not want to register with the portal. Through this LIC Premium payment online option, you can make three types of payments – a) Premium payment/revival, b) Loan repayment and c) Loan interest repayment.

  1. Select the ‘Premium Payment’ option for making payment
  2. A pop-up will appear on your computer screen illustrating the premium payment process, click on ‘proceed’.
  3. You will be required to enter details such as policy number, installment premium (excluding taxes) and so on. While entering the details, ensure that you have mentioned it correctly and timely or else the session will expire and you will have to start the process all over again.
  4. Enter the captcha code, and select ‘I Agree’, and click on submit.
  5. Validate the details mentioned by you in the above step and click on ‘Submit’. If you have more than one LIC policy for which you want to make payments, then you can enter the policy number and premium amount (excluding taxes) to the list by scrolling down. Click on proceed once done.
  6. The next step will show you the number of policies for which premium is being paid and the total premium amount to be paid. Click on ‘Check & Pay’ to make the payments.
  7. You will have three options to make payment: a) via Internet banking, e-wallets, credit cards, debit cards, American Express Cards, b) Standard Chartered Bank UPI, and c) Axis Pay UPI.
  8. Choose the option with which you wish to make the payment.

Through Customer Portal:

If you have already registered yourself with the portal, then you can log in to your account to make the payment or else you need to register yourself first.

To register yourself, click on ‘Sign up’. You will be required to enter mandatory details such as policy number, premium amount (excluding taxes), date of birth, mobile number and your email address.

Once you have registered yourself on the LIC website, log-in to your account to make the payment.

  1. Log-in to your account by entering your details.
  2. Once logged in, click on ‘Online Payments’. It will take you to the premium payment portal.
  3. Select the policies for which you wish to make payments and click on ‘Check & Pay’
  4. The portal will ask you to confirm the details such as mobile number, email id and premium amount once again. Click on ‘Check & Pay’ after confirming the details.
  5. Choose the payment gateway to complete your transactions.

 

export credit guarantee corporation

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation

by CA Topics

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation

ECGC Ltd. (Formerly known as Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd.) wholly owned by the Government of India, was set up in 1957 with the objective of promoting exports from the country by providing credit risk insurance and related services for exports. Over the years it has designed different export credit risk insurance products to suit the requirements of Indian exporters. ECGC is essentially an export promotion organization, seeking to improve the competitiveness of the Indian exports by providing them with credit insurance covers.

The Corporation has introduced various export credit insurance schemes to meet the requirements of commercial banks extending export credit. The insurance covers enable the banks to extend timely and adequate export credit facilities to the exporters. ECGC keeps its premium rates at the optimal level.

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India is fundamentally an export promotion organization, which seeks to enhance the competitiveness of Indian exports by offering them credit insurance covers. Over the years ECGC has considered various export credit risk insurance products suiting the needs of Indian exporters. This corporation was set up for ensuring the smooth functioning of Indian exporters by minimizing the risks associated with the payments emanating from other nations. This insurance cover which is provided by ECGC also assists the Indian exporters with better access to the credit facilities from banks and other financial institutions. ECGC is the 5th largest credit insurance company dealing with the exports of any country.

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India offers protection against the non-payment by an importer. Due to this insurance cover, the financial institutions are better placed for lending and providing larger credit to exporters. ECGC also offers credit ratings as well as shares the information on various countries and risks associated with doing business with/in those countries.

  1. It offers an array of credit risk insurance covers to the Indian exporters against the loss with respect to the export of their goods and services
  2. It provides Export Credit Insurance covers to the banks and other financial institutions for enabling exporters to find better services from them
  3. It offers Overseas Investment Insurance to the Indian companies investing in Joint Ventures (JVs) abroad in the form of loan or equity

ECGC provides insurance protection to Indian exporters against the payment risks. It helps the exporters in a number of ways which include:

  1. Guiding export-related activities
  2. Making information available with respect to various countries with its credit ratings
  3. Making it easy to get export finance from the banks and other financial institutions
  4. Helping Indian exporters recover bad debts
  5. Providing information on the credit-worthiness of foreign buyers

ECGC further ensures exporter’s credit risks against both political as well as commercial conditions and guarantees the payment to exporters. ECGC offers several types of insurance covers and these could be classified into the following groups:

  1. Standard policies that protect Indian exporters against overseas credit risks
  2. Construction works and services policies
  3. Financial Guarantees
  4. Special policies

ECGC offers following types of guarantees to the exporters:

  1. Export finance guarantee
  2. Packing credit guarantee

Post-shipment export credit guarantee

  1. Export production finance guarantee
  2. Transfer guarantee
  3. Export performance guarantee

Over the years the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India has proved to be useful to Indian exporters. It pays 80 to 90 percent of the loss incurred by Indian exporters. The remaining 10 to 20 percent of the loss alone has to be borne by the exporters.

However, it doesn’t cover the risks mentioned below:

  1. Exchange loss due to fluctuations in exchange rates
  2. Failure on the part of the buyer abroad to obtain the import authorization or exchange

A default of the exporter or his agent

  1. Any loss which arises due to dispute in quality
  2. Risk which is inherent in the nature of goods
leverage ratios

Leverage Ratios

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Leverage Ratios

The leverage ratios used to determine the companies’ financing methods, or the ability to meet the obligations. There are many ratios to calculate leverage but the important factors include debt, interest expenses, equity, and assets.

The most important leverage ratio is the debt to equity ratio that gives you an idea about the debt one company is in and the equity it has at its disposal. Leverage ratios also determine the company’s cost mix and its effects on the operating income. Companies with high fixed costs earn more income because after the break-even point, with the increase in output the income increases as the cost has already been incurred. On the other hand, a company with higher variable cost seems to earn little operating income because with the increase in output the variable cost increases too.

It can also be said that leverage ratios tend to find the debt a company has on its balance sheet or its financial health. For a shareholder the first claim he has is against the company’s assets, therefore a company might not be left with nothing in the phase of bankruptcy after satisfying the debt holders besides the assets. The most well-known debt to equity ratio determines the risk that a company is in if it has taken tones of death. For example, a company has a 10 Lakhs debt and its equity is 20 Lakhs, the debt to equity ratio will be 0.5. Companies with less debt-equity ratio are less risky than the companies having a high ratio. It is important for a shareholder to look at the financial ratios in order to invest in it. The formula for debt to equity ratio is:

Debt/Equity=(Short term debt + Long term debt)/Equity

Another important ratio is the interest coverage ratio that determines the interest payment ability of the company against the debt it owes. The interest payment is made from the company’s profit that it earns with the primary business it does. The formula for it is:

Interest Coverage = Operating Income / Interest Expenses

These leverage ratios are very important for the company’s internal users as well as external users. These ratios help identify the weak areas of the company internally and help the shareholders make a judgment about their investments.

List of common leverage ratios:

There are several different leverage ratios that may be considered by market analysts, investors, or lenders. Some accounts that are considered to have significant comparability to debt are total assets, total equity, operating expenses, and incomes.

Below are 5 of the most commonly used leverage ratios:

Debt-to-Assets Ratio = Total Debt / Total Assets

Debt-to-Equity Ratio = Total Debt / Total Equity

Debt-to-Capital Ratio = Today Debt / (Total Debt + Total Equity)

Debt-to-EBITDA Ratio = Total Debt / Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation & Amortization (EBITDA)

Asset-to-Equity Ratio = Total Assets / Total Equity

 

traces registration

Traces Registration

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Traces Registration:

  1. Visit https://contents.tdscpc.gov.in/
  2. Click on ‘Register as New User’ tab then select ‘Deductor’ then proceed.
  3. Provide TAN of deductor, enter Captcha then again proceed.
  4. Enter the Token number of the Regular (Original) Statement only, along with CIN/BIN and PAN details pertaining to the Financial year, Quarter and Form Type and Challan details (CIN): Challan amount, Challan date, BSR code and CD record number (it is optional). Govt deductor can enter the only Date of Deposit and Transfer Voucher amount mentioned in the relevant Statement.
  5. PAN details: Maximum of 3 distinct valid PANs and corresponding amount must be entered. If there are less than 3 such combinations, you must enter all (either two or one).
  6. The authentication code is generated after KYC information details validation, which remains valid for same calendar day for same form type, financial year and quarter. You can proceed with code, TAN, and the name of the deductor are prefilled, you will have to update PAN and responsible person details and address. Once verified then user get registered successfully.
  7. In case of Individual and Proprietor, PAN of deductor and PAN of an authorized person may be same. In all other cases, both may be different. Now you can provide User ID, Password and click on “Create an Account”.
repo rate and reverse repo rate

Repo rate and Reverse Repo rate

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Repo rate and Reverse Repo rate

Repo Rate: The term ‘Repo’ stands for ‘Repurchase agreement’. Repo is a form of short-term, collateral-backed borrowing instrument and the interest rate charged for such borrowings is termed as repo rate. In India, the repo rate is the rate at which Reserve Bank of India lends money to commercial banks in India if they face a scarcity of funds. Commercial banks sell government securities and bonds to Reserve Bank of India with an agreement to repurchase the securities and bonds from Reserve Bank of India on a future date at a pre-determined price including interest charges. Current Repo Rate as of October 2019 is 5.15%.

Reverse Repo Rate: Reverse repo as the name suggests is an opposite contract to the Repo Rate. Reverse Repo rate is the rate at which the Reserve Bank of India borrows funds from the commercial banks in the country. In other words, it is the rate at which commercial banks in India park their excess money with Reserve Bank of India usually for the short-term. Current Reverse Repo Rate as of October 2019 is 4.90%.

Comparison Criteria Repo Rate Reverse Repo Rate
Lender and Borrower Lender – RBI, Borrower – Commercial Banks. Lender – Commercial Banks, Borrower – RBI.
Borrower’s Objective To manage short term deficiency of funds To reduce the overall supply of money in the economy
Rate of Interest Higher than reverse repo rate Lower than repo rate
Interest Charge Applicable to Repurchase Agreement Reverse Repurchase Agreement
Mechanism of Operation Commercial banks get funds from RBI using government bonds as collateral. Commercial banks deposit their excess funds with RBI and receive interest from the deposit.
Impact of Higher Rate The cost of funds increases for commercial banks hence loans become more expensive. The money supply in the economy decreases as commercial banks park more surplus funds with RBI.
Impact of Lower Rate The cost of funds is lower for commercial banks leading to reduced interest rates on loans. The money supply in the economy increases as banks lend more and reduce their deposits with RBI.

 

The components of a repo transaction between the RBI and the bank are as follows:

  1. Banks provide eligible securities (RBI-recognised securities that are above the Statutory Liquidity Ratio limit).
  2. RBI gives one day or overnight loan to the bank.
  3. RBI charges an interest (repo rate) from the bank.
  4. Banks repay the loan after one day and repurchase the security they gave as collateral.

RBI keeps changing according to changing macroeconomic factors. Whenever RBI modifies the rates, it impacts all sectors of the economy; albeit in different ways. Some segments gain as a result of the rate hike while others may suffer losses. RBI recently cut down the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.75% from 6%. In the same line, the reverse repo rate was also reduced by 25 basis points to 5.5% from 5.75%.

 

nro and nre

NRO and NRE

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NRO v/s NRE

A Non-Resident Indian is often faced with the situation of maintaining a Rupee account in India. Primarily there are two reasons for opening such an account: NRI wants to repatriate overseas earned money back to India and/or NRI wants to keep India based earnings in India.  NRI has the option of opening a Non-Resident Rupee (NRE) account and/or a Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee (NRO) account. An NRO account can also be opened by a Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI).

Non-Resident External (NRE) Account:

Non-Resident External Rupee Account (NRE), an Indian rupee-denominated account in India. This account is available in savings, fixed and recurring deposits. The NRE account gives account holders high liquidity and the advantage of benefitting from investments in India. As both the principal amount and the interest earned on NRE accounts are exempt from tax in India, this account also proves to be a great way to invest earnings in instruments such as fixed deposits and stocks, and earn returns.

Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) Account:

Like NRE accounts, Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee Accounts (NRO) are also rupee-denominated accounts. It is an account of an NRI to manage the income earned in India. Unlike NRE accounts, interest earned on this account is taxed at the rate of 30% (plus surcharge) and other applicable taxes in India according to the provisions of Income Tax Act.

In order to take the benefit of lower rates of tax as per double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) entered in by India, NRIs need to submit the Tax Residency Certificate issued by Tax Authorities of the country of his residence. Apart from different tax treatment, the amount of money that can be repatriated also varies. In case of NRO account, remittance outside India of current income such as rent, dividend, pension, interest, etc. and remittance up to USD one million, per financial year (April- March), are allowed for all bonafide purposes, subject to the satisfaction of the Authorised Dealer (AD) bank. This amount can be repatriated after the applicable taxes are deducted.

Differences:

  1. Repatriation
  2. Taxability
  3. Deposits
  4. Holding

Repatriation:- It refers to the conversion of any foreign currency into local currency. The whole amount which includes interest and principal in the NRE account can be repatriated but incase of NRO account interest amount is repatriated and subject to conditions principal amount can be repatriated.

Taxability: NRE account is Tax-free (no Income tax, wealth tax, and gift tax) in India. On the other hand, the interest earned in NRO account and credit balances are subject to respective income tax bracket and are also subject to applicable wealth and gift tax.

Deposits: If an NRI/PIO/OCI  is earning income originating in India (such as salary, rent, dividends, etc.) he/she is only allowed to deposit it in the NRO account. Deposit of such earnings is not permitted in NRE account.

Holding: NRE account can be jointly held with another NRI but not with resident Indian. On the other hand, NRO account can be held with NRI as well as resident Indian (close relative).

equity linked saving scheme elss

Equity Linked Saving Scheme (ELSS)

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Equity Linked Saving Scheme (ELSS)

An Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS) is a diversified equity mutual fund that gives you a dual benefit of tax saving with the growth potential of equities. However, unlike other tax-saving investments, ELSS has a lock-in period of just 3 years. Which also means each installment will have a different maturity date. Investing through an SIP also gives you the benefit of rupee-cost averaging and compounding, that helps you ride over market volatility over the long term.

Benefits of ELSS:

  1. Lock-in period is very low when compared to others
  2. Interest rates are high.
  3. One can opt to invest on a monthly basis.
  4. Higher returns when compared to other investment options.

Taxability:

  1. Earlier there was no tax on capital gains made from ELSS investments at the time of redemption however from Assessment Year 2019-20 Long Term Capital Gain from ELSS is taxable at a flat rate of 10%(If total Long Term capital Gain from sale/redemption of shares/ mutual funds exceeds Rs. 1.00 lac).
  2. ELSS qualifies for tax exemption of up to Rs. 1.5 lakh under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. However when compared to other tax saving options like Mutual Funds, NPS, PF, Term Insurance, etc. these tax savings mutual funds have the shortest lock-in period of 3 years.
  3. Securities Transaction Tax(STT) @ .001% on the total redemption value is deducted by the fund house.
  4. Dividend from ELSS is tax-free.
  5. No TDS is applicable on Dividend received or amount paid at the time of redemption.

Options of ELSS:

  1. Growth option
  2. Dividend option
  3. Dividend Reinvestment option.

Many fund houses give you an option to switch to another option. The option of switching from dividend reinvestment to dividend payout is provided by many fund houses. In case of switching to growth option, fund houses may calculate the lock-in period from the date of change. Switching from one option to another will require some paperwork to be done as per the requirements of the fund houses.

Open-End ELSS:

Under this scheme, the investors can invest at any given time as per their preference. The 3 year lock-in period is however applicable, but once the lock-in period ends, redemptions can be made at any time of the investor’s choice.

 

Closed-End ELSS:

Close-ended ELSS only takes investment during the NFO (New Funds Offer) period and after that, they are closed for investments. Additionally, the investors can liquidate their investment in the closed-end fund after completion of the 3-year lock-in at only specific periods of time as declared by the fund from time to time.

Form 15G 15H 1

Form 15G and Form 15H

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Form 15G and Form 15H

Form 15G and 15H

Form 15G or 15H has to be submitted by fixed deposit holders at the start of a financial year to the relevant financial entity like a bank. This is done to avoid TDS (tax deducted at source) on the interest income earned.

Conditions you must fulfill to submit Form 15G:

  1. You are an individual or HUF or trust or any other assessee but not a company or a firm.
  2. Only Resident Indians can apply.
  3. Such person should be less than 60 years old
  4. Tax calculated on your Total Income is estimated to be Nil
  5. The total interest income for the year is less than the basic exemption limit of that year, which is Rs.2.5 lakh for financial year 2019-20 (AY 2020-21).

Conditions you must fulfill to submit Form 15H:

  1. You are an individual and resident Indian
  2. You’re a senior citizen or will be 60 during the year for which you are submitting the form
  3. Tax calculated on your Total Income is estimated to be

A lot of taxpayers forget to submit Form 15G and Form 15H on time. In such a situation, the bank might have already deducted the TDS. Based on your situation, you can do any of the following.

  1. File your income tax return to claim refund of TDS

The only way to seek a refund of excess TDS deducted is by filing your income tax return. Banks or other deductors cannot refund TDS to you since they have already deposited it to the income tax department. Income tax department will refund excess TDS after you file an income tax return

  1. Submit Form 15G and Form 15H immediately

Most banks deduct TDS every quarter. If you forgot to submit Form 15G or Form 15H, don’t worry. Submit it at the earliest so that no TDS is deducted for the remaining financial year.

Purposes for which Form 15G or Form 15H can be submitted:

While these forms can be submitted to banks to make sure TDS is not deducted on interest, there are a few other places too where you can submit them.

TDS on EPF withdrawal –TDS is deducted on EPF balance if withdrawn before 5 years of continuous service. If you have had less than 5 years of service and plan to withdraw your EPF balance of more than Rs.50,000 (Rs 50,000 effective 1 June 2016, Rs.30,000 prior to that), you can submit Form 15G or Form15H. However, you must fulfill conditions (listed above) to apply for these forms. It means the tax on your total income including EPF balance withdrawn should be nil.

TDS on income from corporate bonds –If you hold corporate bonds, TDS is deducted on them if your income from them exceeds Rs 5,000. You can submit Form 15G or Form 15H to the issuer requesting non-deduction of TDS.

TDS on post office deposits –Post offices that are digitized also deduct TDS and accept Form 15G or Form 15H, if you meet the conditions applicable for submitting them.

TDS on rent – TDS is deducted on rent exceeding Rs 2.4 lakh annually. If tax on your total income is nil, you can submit Form 15G or Form 15H to request the tenant to not deduct TDS (applicable from 1 April 2019).

TDS on Insurance Commission – TDS is deducted on insurance commission if it exceeds Rs 15000 per financial year. However, insurance agents can submit Form 15G/Form 15H for no deduction of TDS if tax on their total income is nil (with effect from 1 June 2017).

bank reconciliation statement

Bank Reconciliation Statement

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Bank Reconciliation Statement

A bank reconciliation statement is a summary of banking and business activity that reconciles an entity’s bank account with its financial records. The statement outlines the deposits, withdrawals and other activity affecting a bank account for a specific period. A bank reconciliation statement is a useful financial internal control tool used to thwart fraud. A Bank reconciliation statement is a statement prepared as part of the reconciliation which sets out the entries which have caused the difference between the two balances. It‘s not compulsory to prepare a BRS and there’s no fixed date for preparing BRS. BRS is prepared on a periodical basis for checking that bank related transactions are recorded properly in cash book’s bank column and also by the bank in their books. BRS helps to detect errors in recording transactions and determining the exact bank balance as on a specified date.

Reasons for Difference:

When banks send companies a bank statement that contains the company’s beginning cash balance, transactions during the period, and ending cash balance, almost always the bank’s ending cash balance and the company’s ending cash balance are not the same. Some reasons for the difference are:

Deposits in transit: Cash and checks that have been received and recorded by the company but have not yet been recorded on the bank statement.

Outstanding checks: Checks that have been issued by the company to creditors but the payments have not yet been processed.

Bank service fees: Banks deduct charges for services they provide to customers but these amounts are usually relatively small.

Interest income: Banks pay interest on some bank accounts.

Not sufficient funds (NSF) checks: When a customer deposits a check into an account but the account of the issuer of the check has an insufficient amount to pay the check, the bank deducts from the customer’s account the check that was previously credited. The check is then returned to the depositor as an NSF check.

Nowadays, many companies use specialized accounting software in bank reconciliation to reduce the amount of work and adjustments required and to enable real-time updates.

Process of preparing BRS:

  1. The first step is to compare opening balances of both the bank column of the cash book as well as bank statement; these could be different due to un-credited or un-presented cheques from a previous period.
  2. Now, compare the credit side of the bank statement with the debit side of the bank column of the cash book and debit side of the bank statement with the credit side of the bank column of the cash book. Place a tick against all the items appearing in both the records.
  3. Analyze the entries both in the bank column of the cash book as well as passbook and look for entries which have been missed to be posted in the bank column of the cash book. Make a list of such entries and make the necessary adjustments in the cash book.
  4. Correct if any mistakes or errors appear in the cash book.
  5. Calculate the corrected and revised balance of cash book’s bank column.
  6. Now, start a bank reconciliation statement with an updated cash book balance.
  7. Add the un-presented cheques (cheques which are issued by the business firm to its creditors or suppliers but not presented for payment – Expense) and deduct un-credited cheques (Cheques paid into the bank but not yet collected – Income).
  8. Make all the necessary adjustments for the bank errors. In case the bank reconciliation statement begins with the debit balance as per the bank column of the cash book, add all the amounts erroneously credited by the bank and deduct all the amounts erroneously credited by the bank. Do vice-versa in case it start with the credit balance.
  9. The resultant figure must be equal to the balance as per the bank statement.

BRS proves to be a useful tool in fixing irrelevant faults in bank statements. Bank statements are useful in huge transactions and in making Income Tax Return (ITR) statements. We can call it a basic medium of operation in banking. If basic is not justified, unidentified problems arise with further documents.

Reconciliation makes the bank statement error-free and clears additional charges. Therefore, before closing the accounting chapter in the banking book, reconciliation checks whether the closing page hits green light i.e. ending is correct and safe.