WEEKLY FINANCIAL SNIPPETS- 21/01/2017

1. Rs.2 LAKH INSURANCE COVER FOR 3 YEARS FORJAN-DHAN ACCOUNT HOLDERS ON CARDS:The government is considering an insurance scheme under which all PradhanMantri Jan Dhan Yojana ( PMJDY) account holders will be offered Rs.2 lakh free insurance for three years . This will be a big push by the government to create strong social security for the poor. There are around 27 crore account holders under PMJDY and if the proposed insurance scheme provides both accident and life insurance cover, the benefit could cost the government more than 9,000 crores as the government would bear the premium cost for three years.

2. GOVERNMENT MAY LOWER LIMIT FOR QUOTING PAN NUMBER FOR CASH TRANSACTIONS: In a move to further push the momentum it gained for cash-less economy after demonetization, the government may announce big disincentives in the upcoming Budget for usage of cash. One amongst them will be to reducethe threshold limit for quoting PAN card number for cash deposit. The present limit which is Rs 50000/-, may be brought down to Rs 30000/- . In addition to this the government may also announce cash-handling charges for cash payments above a certain limit.

3. REVEAL THE SOURCE OF INCOME IF YOU HAVE DEPOSITED Rs 10 LAKH OR MORE IN BANK ACCOUNT AFTER NOVEMBER 8TH: In the next fortnight, the I-T Department will ask everyone who deposited more than 10 lakh or more in their bank accounts after November8th to spell out the source of income. A new e-platform put in place by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, will be used to reach out to these account holders who will have to file their response online.

4. THIS YEAR’S BUDGET HAS LOT OF “FIRSTS” : Mr. ArunJaitley will be the first Finance Minister to have ushered in many changes in this year’s Budget. Here are some of the “FIRSTS” in this year’s Budget:A) Budgets are normally announced on the last working day of February. But this year, it

has been advanced by a month to February 1ST .B) There won’t be a separate railway Budget. Railway Budget is merged with General

Budget from this year onwards.C) Economic Survey, a snapshot of the state our country is in, will be out on the first day of

the Budget session.D) This is the first time that the finance ministry is going paperless for the Budget. There

will be no hard copies of the circulars. All the important documents will be submitted through Union Budget Information System ( UBIS).

E) There will be no plan and non-plan distinction in finance bill. And hopefully the abolition of the Planning Commission will find reflection in the general Budget.

5. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOUR PAYTM-WALLET WHEN PAYTM BECOMES PAYMENT BANK?:The Parent Company, One 97 Communications is preparing to merge Paytm wallet services with the payment bank. And if you are a Paytm wallet holder then your balance amount in Paytm will be transferred to the Paytm Payment bank Limited and this will happen automatically and you need not do anything. The app will continue to work as before and you will continue to use it as before. The company will give you an offer to open a separate account and if u choose to open a payment bank account then you will earn interest on your money in your wallet.