Analysis of various Tax Saving Investments

The financial year is coming to an end and so must determine where to invest so as to get optimum return and tax benefits. Even though the primary objective is to save taxes you also want that your investments earn good returns. This article is an attempt to analyze the various tax saving investments available and the annual returns that it earns.

Is it feasible to do away with income tax?

Future of Vehicular fuel

German auto giants Volkswagen AG, BMW and Daimler see China's future as being electric - encouraged by generous government subsidies - but that bet puts them at odds with some of their Asian rivals.

While the Europeans were heralding the all-electric vehicle at the Guangzhou auto show this week, Toyota Motor and Honda Motor were unveiling hydrogen fuel cell cars at shows in Tokyo and Los Angeles.

The two Japanese heavyweights plan to start selling their hydrogen vehicles in 2015, brushing off electric technology as being good enough only to power tiny city cars.

Is my Real Estate Investment liable to Service Tax?

Service Tax is an Indirect Tax applicable on all services except those covered in negative list. So it is also applicable on construction service. When the Service Tax on under construction property was first levied, many Real Estate Developers and Builders had appealed to the Courts against the applicability of Service Tax on Under Construction Property and the Court had also issued a Stay Order for the same. But, the Courts eventually decided in the favour of the Govt. and hence Service Tax on under Construction Property is now liable to be paid.

Evolution of Bookkeeping

• Ø  What is Bookkeeping?

Bookkeeping is “the practice or profession of a person recording and defining accounts and transactions of a business.”

Tax Saving Fixed Deposit vs. PPF Account

Tax Saving Fixed Deposit vs. PPF Account

Tax Saving Fixed Deposit is one of the recent additions to the category of Fixed Interest earning Investment and is allowed to be claimed as deduction under Section 80C. The Interest Rate to be paid on these Tax Saving Fixed Deposit is decided by the Bank with whom the Investment has been made and most banks are paying Interest in the range of 8.5%-9%, whereas the PPF Interest Rates are benchmarked against the 10-year Government Bond Yield and is 0.25% higher than the average Govt. Bond Yield. PPF Interest Rates are announced every year by the RBI in the month of March for the upcoming Financial Year. The PPF Interest Rate as announced by RBI for the year 2013-14 is 8.7%. Both Public Provident Fund and Tax Saving Fixed Deposits are allowed as deduction under Section 80C up to a maximum limit of Rs. 1,00,000 p.a.

The maturity of Tax Saving FD is 5 years as compared to maturity of Public Provident Fund which is 15 years. But the interest earned on Tax Saving Fixed Deposit is taxable as compared to interest earned on PPF Account which is tax free.

Why Investing in PPF makes sense.

PPF Account is widely known in India and a lot of people investment in PPF. But what is PPF and what are the benefits of investing in this form of Instrument? This article is an attempt to answer the questions which often usually crop up in our minds when thinking about PPF.

What is PPF?