Perks to Burn Bigger Hole In Employee Pockets

10th Jan 2010
The Government has introduced new rules of taxation, which in a way replaces the provisions of the already abolished Fringe Benefit Tax. According to the new rules notified by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, The Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) which was being paid by employers for giving non-cash benefits to employees will be replaced with a regime that will tax the perquisites in the hands of the employees.

Service Tax in India

3rd Jan 2010
Service Tax is a tax levied on service providers in India. All service providers who provide services notified by the Central Board of Excise & Customs ( CBEC) from time to time are required to pay a certain percentage of their receipts as service tax to the authorities. There are currently over 100 services that have been notified on which Service Tax is applicable.

Good Financial Management for SMEs

Year 2009
There is a saying that Money makes the World go around. This is also very true in the case of every Business. Good Money or Financial Management is the key factor, which determines whether a business will be successful over the long term.
I have found that many persons, who start & run a business, do not involve or want to involve themselves in the financial management of the organisation. This may be because:

TDS on Interest, Commission & Brokerage

Year 2009
In this paper, we will discuss the Tax deduction provisions on interest payments as well payments which are in the nature of commission or brokerage.
First let us look at interest payments. When you deposit money with a bank, then the bank pays you interest. This interest could be paid out monthly, quarterly, half–yearly or annually. In the case of cumulative deposits, the interest as you know, will be paid on the date of maturity of the deposit, along with the money that you had deposited.

Tax Deduction at Source – Salient Areas

Year 2009
Ram Mohan is not happy. From his monthly salary, a good amount is deducted towards tax and what he finally gets in hand seems inadequate for him & his family’s needs.
Malathi Nair’s sole source of income is a monthly rent of Rs. 15000 she gets from a flat that she has rented to a company. Inspite of her repeated requests, the company deducts nearly Rs 2300 each month from the rent it pays to Malathi. She is wondering how she can convince the company not to deduct tax at source.

TDS from Contract Payments

Year 2009
Ramesh Menon is a worried man. His partnership firm, M/s Menon Traders has received a notice from the Income Tax Department, enquiring whether the firm has deducted tax at source from contract payments & whether these taxes have been remitted on time.
Ramesh has a discussion with his Accountant, who tells him very casually, “ Sir, no problem, we have not made any payments to contractors”. However Ramesh is not convinced .He starts scrutinizing the payments made by the Firm over the last 12 months and finds the following payments: