Rules changing from January 1: Everything you need to know in detail
As some rules are changing from January 1, 2021, it is necessary to know about them in detail.
Many rules from cheque payment, LPG Cylinder prices, GST to UPI transaction payment are changing from January 1, 2021. As these rules are linked to everyone’s day to day life, therefore you need to know about these rules.
1. Cheque payments
To keep a check on banking frauds, the Reserve Bank of India decided to introduce the ”positive pay system” for cheque payments. In this system, there may be a requirement of re-confirmation of the key details for the payments above ₹ 50,000. This rule of a positive pay system will come into effect from January 1, 2021. The positive pay system facility can be availed by the account holders of their choice. Banks may think about making it necessary for cheques with amounts of ₹ 5 lakh and higher.
2. Contactless card Transactions Limit
From January 1, the RBI has said to increase the limits from ₹ 2,000 to ₹ 5,000 for contactless card transactions and e-mandates for regularly occurring transactions through cards and UPI. The move by RBI is to enhance digital payment. This will ensure a safe and secure manner, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has said that this will depend on the mandate and discretion of customers.
3. Car prices
‘Maruti Suzuki’ India and ‘Mahindra and Mahindra’ will increase vehicle prices from January 1 to cope up with the impact of increasing input costs.
4. WhatsApp to stop working on select phones
Famous messaging service WhatsApp is going to withdraw support from some platforms from January 1. WhatsApp page has mentioned the operating systems that it provides support for and recommends using these devices: Android running OS 4.0.3 and newer; iPhone running iOS 9 and newer; and select phones running KaiOS 2.5.1 newer, including JioPhone and JioPhone 2
5. Landline to Mobile Phone Calls
You will be required to prefix ‘0’ for making calls from landlines to mobile phones in the country. The telecom department has asked telcos to work on the required infrastructure by January 1 in order to implement the new system effectively. This move will create enough numbering space for telecom services.
*6. FASTag for all four-wheelers
The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has made FASTag mandatory for all four-wheel vehicles from January 1, 2021, through a notification. FASTag will be mandatory for M and N class four-wheelers sold before December 1, 2017. The Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 were also amended for the same. The notification regarding this was issued on November 6, 2020.
7. UPI Payment
From January 1, 2021, the users may need to pay additional charges while making transactions from Amazon Pay, Google Pay, and Phone Pay. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will impose an additional charge on UPI Payment Service (UPI Payment) run by a third-party app beginning from January 1. NPCI has applied a 30 percent cap on third-party apps starting the new year. Paytm will also need to pay this charge.
8. Google Pay web app
Google Pay is all set to kill the user to user payments facility on its web app and add a fee for instant money transfers in January. Till now, the customers were able to manage payments and send money over the mobile app or from pay.google.com. According to the recent notification of Google, the web app site will no longer work from January 2021.
9. LPG prices
On the first day of every month, the oil marketing companies revise the prices of LPG on the basis of crude rates in the global markets.
10. GST-registered small business
The businesses with a turnover of up to Rs 5 crores will require to file only 4 GST sales returns, or GSTR-3B, instead of 12 ( now) from January, as per PTI. This change would impact about 94 lakh taxpayers, i.e. about 92 percent of the entire GST tax base. Now, small taxpayers would be filing only eight returns (four GSTR-3B and four GSTR-1 returns) yearly.
Implication of new 26AS Form of Income Tax
Background:
On 18 July 2020, Income Tax Dept. informed that new 26AS form is implemented.
New 26AS will now include certain high value transactions explained How does it impact u is what this explains
First let’s start with basics
Q: What is Form 26AS Form?
Ans: Till now Form 26AS, was a statement that IT dept used to provide u to capture
(a) TDS deducted from u (For eg: Ur company deducting TDS on your salary)(b) TCS: Tax collected at source (house property etc.)
Now what has changed?
Now Form 26AS, will have a new section known as Section E
Section E will also capture certain high value transactions that you do in a financial year
So at a glance it will help u see you large txns in a year. And we explain below which txns
Q: Tell me which txns & what do u mean by large txns (how large?)
Ans: For eg: if u invest in a mutual fund > 10 lacs in a year. That is a large txn and it will be captured in this statement
Not a single txn, but cumulative in a year if in a single MF u invest > 10 lacs
Q: Ok I get it, tell me more which all txns will be included?
Ans: 14 types of txns are included and here is the full list:
1) Fixed Deposits together in Bank > 10 lacs in a year
2) Credit Card Bills > 10 lacs (in a year) if paid by cheque and > 1 lacs if paid by cash
3) If u buy bonds > 10 lacs in a year
4) If u buy shares > 10 lacs in a year
5) If u tender shares for buyback > 10 lacs in a year
6) If u buy Forex > 10 lacs in a year
7) If u buy MFs > 10 lacs in a year
8) Real Estate > 30 lacs
9) Purchase of Bank drafts > 10 lacs with cash
10) If u deposit cash in savings bank account > 10 lacs
11) Cash Deposits or withdrawals from current account > 10 lacs
And some other routine ones (related to demonetization)
All this will be shown in Section E in your Form 26AS of your previous years also!
Q: How does all this impact us?
Ans For honest tax payers, it is actually beneficial. Now we have a single point source of all large txns which will help us.
For those who evaded taxes – earlier also IT dept knew it – Now it is putting it in their face and telling IT knows
Q: So does it mean u should do txns < 10 lacs. For eg: Make a FD < 10 lacs or split it to keep those below 10 lakh?
Ans: First, this is not single txn value. Anyways all ur FDs (or other txns as detailed above) will be cumulatively (in a single bank) looked at,So no point trying to make smaller txns or splitting it.
Q: I am worried will IT dept. harass me now, if I spend too much on credit cards?
Ans: Again, honest tax payers need not worry.
But if someone is not paying any taxes saying negligible income but spends > 10 lacs, IT dept. will surely Q him on how he can spend so much Or for eg:, if u say you have negligible income in your tax return and make FDs in Bank of > 10 lacs or invest in MFs > 10 lacs , be ready for Q on without income, how can u save so much
In fact for last year, based on this data, people have been identified already by IT dept.
Q: Where can I check my Form 26AS?
Ans:1) Log in to your account
incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in
2) Go to My Account -> View Form 26AS
All previous years is already be updated with this. So u can look at it for the past. For 2019-20, data is yet to be updated
Hope it helps!