Income Tax Deptt. again issued letters to Non-Filers Tax Payers

As part of its ongoing initiative, the Income Tax Department has, on 22nd July, 2013 sent letters to another batch of 35,000 non filers. These persons were part of the around 12 lakh non-filers identified as a result of data matching exercise. With this latest batch, the Department has now issued letters in 2,10,000 high priority cases.

The response to this initiative has been very encouraging and a large number of tax payers have paid taxes and filed Income Tax Returns. A compliance management cell has been set up to monitor return filing and tax payment of the target segment. This information is now being made available to the jurisdictional assessing authorities through the online monitoring system for verification and issue of notices in relevant cases.

Government would once again urge all tax payers to disclose their true income and pay appropriate taxes.

 

Source : PIB

DPC for the promotion to the cadre of PS Gr. B for the year 2013-14....an update

Today, it is confirmed that since last three days nobody from following cirlces turned to Directorate to hand over the CRs/APARs and requisite information for convening DPC for the promotion to PS Gr. B. The work is badly heldup at Directorate.

1. Bihar 2. Haryana 3. Jammu & Kashmir 4. Jharkhand 5. Kerala 6. Madhya Pradesh 7. Maharashtra 8. North East 9. Uttar Pradesh 10. West Bengal   11. APS

To convene the DPC for promotion to PS Gr. B at scheudled month as agreed by Directorate, all Circle Secretaries and Office Bearers are once again directed to meet with the concerned officer/s who is dealing the work at circle office and reequest them to submit the requisite documents at the earliest to Directorate. 

 

DPC for promotion to JTS Gr. A cadre for the year 2012-13 and 2013-14.......an update

It is learnt from Directorate that, some time is required to convene the DPC for JTS Gr. A cadre.

 

RBI directs banks to collect EMIs through electronic transfers

MUMBAI: Auto and home loan borrowers need not pay post dated cheques towards EMIs as RBI has directed banks to collect monthly instalments through electronic mode wherever the facility for such fund transfer is available.

Banks are advised that no fresh or additional post dated cheques (PDC) or Equated Monthly Instalment (EMI) cheques shall be accepted at locations where Electronic Clearance Service (ECS) is available, RBI said in a notification.

"The existing cheques in such locations may be converted into ECS by obtaining fresh ECS (Debit) mandates," it said.

The move is aimed at cutting usage of cheques and promoting electronic transfer. It will also save borrowers the efforts of going to branch for collection of cheque books.

The notification also said that ECS also accords the same rights and remedies to the payee against dishonour of electronic funds transfer instructions under insufficiency of funds as are available under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

"Considering the protection available, there is no need for banks to take additional cheques, if any, from customers in addition to ECS (Debit) mandates," it said.

Cheques complying with CTS-2010 standard formats shall alone be obtained in locations, where the facility of ECS is not available, it added.

Indian Postal dept makes room for IT letterboxes

INDIA: The letter that travels to our door may have new technology stamped all over. As the backbone of India's communication for over 150 years, the DoP plays a crucial role in the socioeconomic development of the nation. Urbanization, increased demand for financial services and increased funding by the government for the weaker sections and the rural sector have opened up new opportunities for the DoP and necessitated the development of new processes as well as supporting technology.

 

SAP AG announced that the Department of Posts (DoP), the government-operated postal system of India, has chosen SAP solutions to strengthen responsiveness and reliability across more than 155,000 post offices.

With this implementation, the DoP aims to deliver faster and more efficient services to the citizens and government and private organizations of India. The DoP is now one of more than 30 postal customers globally that have chosen SAP solutions to make mission-critical and customer-facing processes more effective, as shared in the announcement.

 

"SAP postal services customers are leveraging the latest technology to transform their business, from improving efficiency in back-office and core processes to creating new lines of operations within their existing infrastructure," said Hans G. Landgraf, head of Business Segment Postal, SAP AG. "With our experience, SAP is eager to help India's Department of Posts improve its business and increase transparency across its organization in order to meet the changing demands of its customers."

 

Armed with a transformation charter that includes a complete overhaul of operations under an IT modernization project, the DoP will leverage SAP applications that include SAP ERP, SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) and SAP Supply Chain Management (SAP SCM) to help increase process efficiencies and meet its business, social and financial inclusion goals. As the DoP generates revenue of more than EUR1.1 billion while employing nearly 474,000 employees, it will also implement SAP solutions for streamlining internal processes in the areas of human resources, payroll processing and finance and accounts.

 

In addition to running core and back-office operations, SAP Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise, SAP Sybase IQ software, SAP BusinessObjects^TM solutions and SAP Data Services software will offer the DoP the data warehousing and business intelligence (BI) needed for its entire operations system.

The Government of India also intends to utilize the DoP's vast network for its direct cash transfer function, which aims to reduce leakages, cut down corruption, eliminate middlemen, target beneficiaries better and speed up transfer of benefits to eligible individuals. Workers across India, especially those in rural areas, will be able to reap the gains from the direct benefits transfer (DBT) leveraging their existing savings accounts in post offices.

Today, the DoP delivers more than six billion articles every year through its elaborate network of offices. The reengineering of business process using SAP solutions will enable the DoP to increase its engagement with the Indian population through more customer interaction channels. SAP software purportedly will help the organization improve automation of core processes including postal counter automation, track and trace, logistics post, e-commerce and customer interaction channel.

 

http://www.ciol.com

STANDING COMMITTEE OF VOLUNTARY AGENCIES (SCOVA) RECONSTITUTED

To view Directorate memo, please CLICK HERE.

 

RECONSTITUTION OF POSTAL SERVICES STAFF WELFARE BOARD FOR THE PERIOD FROM 01.04.2013 TO 31.03.2015

To view Directorate memo, please CLICK HERE.
 

India Post celebrates the Bangalore city’s history

India Post employee H.S. Rajeshwari celebrated the introduction of the permanent pictorial cancellation and release of the special cover on the Kempe Gowda Tower at Lalbagh with a resplendent rangoli. Also seen are Hilda Abraham, Chief Postmaster General, Karnataka Postal Circle; Veena Srinivas, Postmaster General (BD & Marketing); and Arundathy Ghosh, Postmaster General Karnataka. Photo: K Gopinathan

 Philatelists snap up the series that represents the iconic Kempe Gowda Tower

Maybe you’re an inveterate communicator in cyberspace. But here’s the chance to really impress people by sending them a bit of the city’s history. For, India Post has introduced the latest pictorial cancellation (the seal on postcards/stamps) in its series: the Kempe Gowda tower in Lalbagh.

This is the 32 permanent pictorial cancellation and one of the few depicting Bangalore — the other notable one being the Vidhana Soudha. The other form of pictorial cancellation is the special one on specific occasions.

Hilda Abraham, Chief Postmaster-General, Karnataka Postal Circle, who unveiled the latest pictorial cancellation at the General Post Office (GPO) here on Tuesday, said the main aim of the cancellations was to make children aware of places of historical importance in the State. “It was decided after much deliberation, including discussions with philatelists, that the newest permanent pictorial cancellation will be the Kempe Gowda tower, as it represents an important part of history of the city,” she said.

Though the newest pictorial cancellation was brought out after over two years, Ms. Abraham said India Post was eager to bring out more.

The pictorial cancellation with the Kempe Gowda tower on Lalbagh rock also has geological significance, apart the historical importance attached to it as it was established by the founding father of the city to mark the boundaries of Bangalore, said Jagannath Mani, member of the Karnataka Philately Society. “The Lalbagh rock is called the pillow or bubble rock which was formed nearly 3,000 million years ago when a single bubble of lava settled there,” he explained.

Packing a punch

Simultaneously, a pictorial cancellation pack was also introduced with a collection of all 32 cancellations introduced so far, including the ones depicting Bandipur National Park, Nagarahole, Badami and Aihole. Thematic packs featuring bilateral issues, great personalities, and flora and fauna were also made available. In fact, no less than a 100 such packs were snapped up in an hour.

Philatelists and those who knew about the collection made a beeline. Prem Kumar, a retired engineer, was seen buying three different thematic packs for his doctor-son who is an ardent philatelist.

http://www.thehindu.com

Simplifying procedure for filing income-tax returns

The deadline for filing income tax returns, July 31, is just week away. Needless to say, many individuals dread the date with I-T department, as they find the entire process very confusing. However, according to experts, if an individual is clear about the basics, the entire procedure can be completed in an hour's time. "Tax payers earning over Rs5 lakh are now required to file their tax return electronically. This will reduce paperwork to a great extent," says Vineet Agarwal, director at KPMG.

Choose the right form

Tax consultants are divided over the applicability of forms ITR-1 (Sahaj) and ITR-2 for salaried individuals, drawing income from salary and interest. Going strictly by the new I-T rules, an individual cannot file returns using the simpler form ITR-1 (Sahaj) if the person has any taxexempt income above Rs5,000. Since the I-T department has not issued any clarification so far, there are numerous interpretations on the matter.

"Due to the change in rules, most salaried individuals will now have to use ITR-2. After all, typically, their remuneration includes tax-exempt components like house rent allowance (HRA), transport /conveyance allowance and leave travel allowance (LTA), which can easily exceedRs5,000 in a year," explains Vaibhav Sankla, director with tax consultancy firm H&R Block. However, many experts argue that ITR-1 (Sahaj) is the relevant form for this year. "Our view is that if the exempt income has been accounted for in Form 16, salaried individuals can continue to use ITR-1 (Sahaj). However, if they have earned an income of over Rs5,000 from, say, dividends, they will have to use ITR-2. Similarly, resident Indians, who may have been deputed abroad by their employers and are claiming a double tax avoidance treaty benefit, will have to use ITR-2," says Sonu Iyer, partner and national leader — human capital services, EY (formerly E&Y).Until last year, such additional, explicit disclosures were not sought by the I-T department.

Check your tax credit

Take a look at Form 26AS, which shows the amount of tax deducted from your salary that your employer has actually deposited with the I-T department, on the e-filing portal. "It is critical to ascertain whether the tax deducted from your income (as per your Form 16) matches the figures in Form 26AS. The two versions must tally. If you go ahead with filing the return without seeking clarity on the nature of the discrepancy, you are bound to get a notice from the I-T department later," says Iyer.

Claim80G, other deductions

You also need to figure out whether you want to claim any extra deductions you forgot to claim earlier. For example, if you have not submitted the relevant bills while making your investment declaration in January, your Form 16 might not have accounted for the deduction of up to Rs5,000 on preventive health checkups under section 80D. You have the option of claiming this deduction while filing returns. "ITR forms do not require you to enter any details of such bills. However, it is advisable to retain copies of these bills. If there is an enquiry from the tax department in future, these bills will serve as proof," says Sankla of H&R Block. Similarly, you can also claim deductions under section 80G on donations made to charitable institutions. "Typically, employers do not consider 80G deductions in Form 16. So, the individual can claim the benefit at the time of filing return. In the ITR form, you will be required to provide details like the amount donated as well as the charity's name, PAN and address," he adds.

Source:-The Economic Times

Payment of Arrears of family pension

In case of death of a pensioner, all money payable to the pensioner on account of pension are payable to the nominee of the deceased pensioner. In the absence of any valid nomination made by the pensioner, the arrears of his/her pension are paid to the legal heir. However, dependants of some pensioners expressed difficulties in obtaining the legal heir-ship certificates and represented that the necessity of production of legal heir-ship certificates may be waived where the amount of arrears payable is small.

In such cases a provision had been made in 1985 for Payment of Lifetime Arrears of Pension on the basis of any documentary proof regarding the relationship and heir-ship of the claimant if the gross amount of arrears does not exceed Rs.25,000. If the gross amount did not exceed Rs.5,000 and case represented no peculiar features, the Accounts Officer was authorised to make the payment on his own authority.

The Government has further looked into the matter and decided to increase the limits of Rs.5000 and Rs.25000 to Rs.50,000 and Rs.2,50,000 respectively.

At present in the event of death of a family pensioner, the right to receive any arrears of family pension automatically passes on to the eligible member of the family next in line. Where there is no member in the family who is eligible to receive family pension after the death of the family pensioner, the payment of arrears of family pension is made on the basis of succession certificate. Now, it has also been decided that the payment of arrears of family pension up to Rs.2,50,000 may be made where no member of family is eligible to receive family pension.

Detailed instructions are available at Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare’s website www.persmin.nic.in.

Source:-PIB

Grant of Family Pension and Gratuity to the eligible member of the family of any employee/pensioner

Family pension is payable to the family of a Government employee or pensioner after his death. Difficulties in payment arise when a Government Servant or pensioner goes missing. Clarificatory instructions have recently been issued by the Central Government for payment of benefits in such cases.

According to these instructions, the family must lodge a report with the concerned police station and obtain a report from the police, that the employee or pensioner or family pensioner has not been traced despite all efforts made by them.

The report may be a First Information Report or any other report such as a Daily Diary or General Diary Entry.

The family can apply for the grant of family pension, amount of salary due, leave encashment due and the amount of GPF and gratuity (whatever has not already been received) to the Head of Office of the organisation where the employee or pensioner had last served, six months after lodging of police report.

The amount of salary due, leave encashment due and the amount of GPF will be paid to the family in the first instance as per the nominations made by the employee or pensioner on filling of a police report and submission of an indemnity bond.

Detailed instructions are available at Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare’s website www.persmin.nic.in.

Source:-PIB

Associations impact : ASP got posting in Southern Region (Tamil Nadu)

Lastly administraion has gone back foot and gave posting to P. Sundararaj, ASP Mehur Sub Division (Designate ASP, Devakottai Sub Division) as ASP (OD) Theni Division. We thanks to Madam, DG and CPMG, Tamil Nadu Circle.

Special IT Return Receipt Counters for Salaried Tax Payers With Income Upto Rs. 5 Lakh

The CBDT has, vide notification dated 1-05-2013, made E-filing of Return compulsory for Assessment Year 2013-14 for persons having total assessable income exceeding Five lakh rupees.

The CBDT vide its earlier notifications had exempted salaried employees having total income upto Rs. 5 lakhs including income from other sources upto Rs. 10,000/- from the requirement of filing return of income for assessment year 2011-12 and 2012-13 respectively. The exemption was available only for the assessment year 2011-12 and 2012-13. The exemption was giving considering ‘paper filing of returns’ and their ‘processing through manual entry’ on system.

However, this year the facility for online filing of returns has been made user-friendly with the advantage of pre-filled return forms. These E-filed forms also get electronically processed at the central processing centre in a speedy manner. Hence, the exemption provided during the last two years is not being extended for assessment year 2013-14. Taxpayers are encouraged to file their returns electronically. E-filing is an easy, fast and secure method of filing of income tax return. Moreover, Digital signature is not mandatory for these taxpayers and they can transmit the data in the return electronically by downloading ITRs, or by online filing and thereafter submit the verification of the return in From ITR-V acknowledgement after signature to Central Processing Centre. The processing for E-filed returns is faster.

From 25th July to 31st July 2013 (Except 27th and 28th July being holidays), Special Return Receipt Counters (FOR SALARIED TAX PAYERS) will operate at Pratayakshar Bhawan, Civic Centre, Minto Road, New Delhi this year. (Instead of Pragati Maidan and Mayur Bhavan as were done in the past).

The special counters have been set up jurisdiction wise as follows:

• For CIT-XIV Charge (Govt. Salary) at ‘B’ Block, Ground Floor in Civil Centre,

• For CIV-XV Charge (PSUs/Schools/Colleges/Bank Salary) at ‘C’ Block, Ground Floor in Civic Centre,

• For CIT-XVI Charge (Private Salary) at ‘C’ Block, Ground Floor in Civil Centre,

• In addition special counters separately will function at ‘B’ and ‘C’ Block in Civic Centre for Senior Citizens and Differently abled persons.

As Returns of Income above Rs. 5 lakhs have to be e-filed online mandatorily, the same will not be received at any of these special counters. Only paper return of income upto 5 lakhs can be filed at these counters. Other facilities like Helpdesk, Tax Return Preparers (TRPs), UTI/NSDL counters, Bank, tax payment facility, PAN facilitation counter etc. Will be also available at Civic Centre, New Delhi during the same period.

PIB

Holding of DPC for the promotion to the cadre of PS Gr. B for the year 2013-14....an update

It is learnt from Directorate that CRs/APARs from following circles have not been received till this date for convening DPC for the promotion to PS Gr. B.

1. Bihar 2. Haryana 3. Jammu & Kashmir  4. Jharkhand   5. Kerala   6. Madhya Pradesh  7. Maharashtra  8. North East   9. Uttar Pradesh  10. West Bengal  11. APS

All Circle Secretaries and Office Bearers are requested to ask their cirlce administration to submit the requisite documents at the earliest to Directorate and progress should be reported to General Secretary.

Uttarakhand: POs overflowing with 'generosity'

The Head Post Offices in the state are witnessing an unprecedented rush as the last date of the special arrangement to send relief materials to the flood victims in Uttarakhand without any postage charges is nearing. A large number of people are turning up at the special counters hoping to contribute their bit for the suffering thousands in the last two days of the service.

 

Boxes containing clothes, medicines, tarpaulin, plastic sheets, torches, long shelf-life foods etc are piling up at the head post offices in the state ever since the inception of the service. Materials have been coming from various institutions, agencies, non-governmental organisations and even general public.

 

“We have been receiving a great response from the public as the sender will not be required to pay any postage charges. The service is available at all the 51 head post offices in the Kerala Circle till July 20. One can send any number of packages which do not weight more than 35 kilograms each,” said P Suseelan, Assistant Director (Financial Services) of Kerala Post. The packets should be securely packed and marked as ‘Relief material for Uttarakhand’, addressing to Senior Post Master, Dehradun GPO, Dehradun-248 001 (Uttarakhand).

 

“The packets should not contain any liquid, breakable items or any other items prohibited for transmission through post offices. The substances that are prohibited according to the Airports Authority of India and IATA norms are also not permitted. Certified medicines are exceptions, even though they are in liquid form,” he added.

 

“The materials gathered are collected from here each day and dispatched to Dehradun. The number of senders have increased as the closing date of the service is nearing,” said Vijayan, an employee at the General Post Office, Thiruvananthapuram.

 

“We came to know about the arrangement from the news. So, we approached the office after collecting some clothes to send them, aiming at adding our share to the cause,”said Jose Antony, a law college student. The Pankajakasthuri College of Engineering and Technology sent 28 packets of clothes collected from students on Friday from the Thiruvananthapuram General Post Office. Several religious groups and student organisations are also making contributions, taking advantage of the service. Taking into account the huge number of senders every day, there have been demands to extend the last date.

 

Source : http://newindianexpress.com

Govt. allots Rs. 1300 crore to Post Bank.

To view the news published in English Daily Newspaper 'The Times of India' on 22/7/2013, please CLICK HERE.

 

Letter to Secretary (Posts) i/c/w non payment of RPLI incentives to Sub Divisional Heads.

No. CHQ/AIAIPASP/RPLI-Incentive/2013                           Dated :  22/7/2013

 

To,

Ms. P. Gopinath,

Director General, 

Department of Posts,

Dak Bhavan, Sansad Marg,

New Delhi 110 001.  

Subject : Non payment of RPLI incentives to Sub Divisional Heads.  

Respected Madam,    

           PLI Directorate vide letter No. 26-2/2009-LI dated 16-01-2013 has issued clarification about admissibility of incentive to SDI/ASP for verification/scrutiny of RPLI proposals clarifying that neither the Directorate letter no 26-02/2009-LI dated 18.9.2009 nor any other subsequent letter has been superseded by any of Directorate letter. Unfortunately despite clear and repeated instructions most of the postal divisions in the country are not still paying incentive equal to 10% of the procurement commission paid to the Gramin Dak Sewaks and Gramin Dak BPM’s whose proposals are verified by such SDI/ASP. As such these orders are found not implemented in true spirit.  

          Furthermore, the PLI/RPLI work has long back been decentralized to the Divisions except Surrender and Death claims. This has increased enormous work pressure on the Divisional Office, particularly, the IPs and ASPs working in the Divisional Office. At present Inspectorial Staff are burdened with variety of duties in addition to what has been enumerated in Chapter-III of Postal Manual Volume-VIII. The honorarium paid to the Inspectorial Staff attending to the scrutiny of new proposals is Rs. 2/- per proposal subject to ceiling of Rs. 4000/- p.a. The ceiling of Rs. 4000/- p. a. honorarium was fixed by the Department of Personnel & Training which includes, the honorarium paid for conducting departmental inquiries as IO or PO and also other allied additional works.  

          The quantum of honorarium paid for scrutiny of PLI/RPLI proposals is no commensurate with the quantum of work performed and the ceiling on honorarium is a major setback for the Inspectorial Staff working in Divisional Offices. The Association requests your kind honour to replace the existing system of payment of honorarium for this work without a ceiling limit of Rs. 4000/- and Inspectorial Staff may be remunerated at the same rate not as honorarium but as incentive that do not have any limitations. Also call for reports from Circles why incentive equal to 10% of the procurement commissions as required in Directorate letter No. 26-2/2009-LI dated 16-1-2013 of the procurement commission paid to the GDS whose proposals are verified by SDI (P)/ASP is not being paid despite clear instructions on the issue. 

          With warm regards,  

Yours sincerely,

 

Sd/-

(Vilas Ingale)

General Secretary

To view letter, please CLICK HERE & dispatched under EM785046818IN

CHQ needs data from Circles.....

All Circle Secretaries and Office Bearers are requested to furnish the following information to CHQ immediately through email.

 

1. No. of JTS Gr. A posts vacant in the Circle.

 

2. No. of PS Gr. B posts vacant in the Circle.

 

3. No. of Inspector Posts (Direct Recruit) posts vacant in the Circle (year wise).

 

4. Names of surplus IPs working in other circle whose request pending for re-allotment.

 

5. Monetary ceiling for purchase of briefcases/ladies purses for official purpose to IP/ASP.

 

12 foods to battle cancer.....

To view details, please CLICK HERE.
 

Assam sees drop in spending on MGNREGA in last four fiscals; down 13% in FY'13

GUWAHATI: The government's spending on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme in Assam has been declining continuously in the last four fiscals and it dropped by 13 per cent during 2012-13.

According to official documents, the total expenditure, including both the Centre and the state's shares, in Assam on MGNREGA during 2012-13 stood at Rs 651.55 crore.

However, the same was Rs 748.44 crore during the previous financial year.

The spending on this ambitious rural employment generation scheme has been falling since 2009-10.

As per the documents, Assam witnessed a total spending of Rs 1,033.52 crore on MGNREGA scheme in 2009-10. It declined to Rs 921.04 crore in the following fiscal.

These figures in the state government records are arrived at after taking into account all the 27 districts.

The figures also said an unskilled labourer is paid a daily wage of Rs 152 at present.

However, as per the official website of the MGNREGA 2005, the average daily wage paid to each labourer during 2012-13 was Rs 136.

Last week, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) had flayed the Assam government in its report for financial irregularities and anomalies in issuing job cards, among others.

The CAG report for 2011-12, which was tabled in the Assam Assembly, said, "There were instances of non/short as well as delayed release of both central and state share in addition to cases of gross financial irregularities. Funds were also not utilised optimally, properly and promptly affecting the implementation of the scheme."

It further said there was not effective and transparent process to register the households and there were deficiencies in maintaining and issuing the job cards.

"One possible reason to generate excess job cards was to get more funds from the Centre as labour budget is prepared on the basis of number of job card holders," CAG said.

Besides, wages at revised rate were also not paid top a large number of workers, it added.

"There was shortfall in providing 100 days of annual employment to a large section of targeted rural community besides non-payment of various entitled allowances/ compensations, thereby frustrating the primary objective of ensuring livelihood security of the rural population," the report for 2011-12 said.

According to CAG, the state government spent Rs 4,060.48 crore during 2007-12 against an available fund of Rs 4,152.54 crore.