28 Jun 09 Service Tax
For freelance developers/contractors/consultants,
If you work as an Information Technology Professional and offer your Services to an Indian Company then it is subject to 12.36% Service Tax [as per Section 65(105)(zzzze) of the Finance Act, 1994]. On the other hand if you offer your Services to a Foreign Company then you are exempt from paying Service Tax. Normally service tax is claimed on the bill (collected from the Client) and then submitted to the Central Excise Department on a regular quarterly basis. You can collect Service Tax only after obtaining a valid Service Tax ID.
If your annual income exceeds INR 9 lacs then you need to register for Service Tax ID. If your annual income exceeds 10 lacs then you should start paying 12.36% service tax for every since Rupee collected after the initial 10 lacs. Definition for Export Services pertaining to Information Technology (rendered to a foreign company) states that:
(1) The Client that is recipient of your Service should reside in an address other than India
(2) Invoice raised with the Client should be in foreign currency and the payment from Client should also be in foreign currency. It doesn’t matter if that payment had been converted to equivalent Indian Rupees after Foreign Exchange.
Personally, the only reason that I sense is, the Indian Government sort of encourages foreign currency reserve (particularly USD, EURO, GBP, AUD, YEN) and hence offers a service tax exemption for Export Services [falling under the above mentioned points (1) and (2)]. The Reserve Bank of India might make profit out of for-ex conversion as well.
Disclaimer: I am _not_ a tax expert. I am sharing information based on my interaction with Auditor.
27 Jun 09 Taxation
The taxation rules in major Democracies are designed in such a way to promote Consumerism and Conformity. In other words they (read: Governments) don’t want people like Noam Chomskys (read: intellectuals).
23 Jun 09 Form 26AS
OK Folks. If you are a registered PAN card holder and would like to view Tax Credit against your PAN number, you can actually sign up for the “NSDL’s view tax credit online feature” using Form 26AS. After successful registration, take a print out of the form and walk to the nearest TIN facilitator in your town/city. Take your PAN card (original) and a photocopy of it. After verification, the concerned person at the TIN facilitator (office) will authorize your application. It takes up to three working days to approve your online submission request and after the local authorization.
After three working days, login to the TIN-NSDL site and view tax credits or advance taxes (that you might have paid earlier) against your PAN number. This is extremely useful for individual consultants/contractors as they need not run behind companies that don’t explicitly provide the TDS certificate or Form 16A. I think this feature is also applicable to registered Companies. Checkout the TIN NSDL site for more info.
Tags: form26AS, info, taxation
22 Jun 09 Modi Musketeers on the Apollo Mission
“There is Cricket and then there is IPL”
I am getting the feeling that they (??) are sucking life out of Cricketers and sending them in to a phase of disillusionment. If true, Modi has succeeded in his vision of turning Cricketers in to Entertainers - much like Pratap Reddy has turned the Profession of Medicine in to Capitalism and Medical Tourism.
What is even more appalling is, the lack of Governmental intervention on the way BCCI operates (read: monopoly) and subsequent treatment to ICL (read: competitor’s league). Did someone reading this post, utter healthy competition? I can’t hear you.
Alter-ego: Sucka, just dive in and enjoy the moment. You are way outdated!
Tags: capitalism, scribble
16 Jun 09 Passport re-issue timeline
OK. Here is some info. I had been to the Passport Office thrice in the last one month. Before heading to the Office I had my usual preconceived notions about Governmental Bureaucracy. Quite to my surprise, after dropping my application and that of my Parents, I received my re-issued Passport as well as my Father’s Passport in about 8 to 10 business (working) days. Considering the fact that I made a normal application and our Passports were valid (i.e. not expired).
Point is…if you are in real hurry (i don’t know how you might end up in such a situation), you can opt for Tatkal and the Passport will be (re)issued to you in about 2 weeks timeframe (or earlier). Based on my personal experience, I received my reissued Passport (i.e. renewed for another 10 year period) within 8 working days (spread across 2 - 3 weeks). More or less, it is wise to use the normal application as you pay INR 1500 less (at the time of writing this).
Please follow the instructions listed on the Passport India website. It is pretty much self explanatory. As an additional information, if your (about to expire) Passport has been issued by an out of region Passport Office (say, abroad), it still takes about 10 working days (about 3 weeks) to get the reissued Passport.
NOTE: For some reason the word renewal is used by the Ministry of External Affairs to indicate the renewal of passport for the next nine years after an emergency passport was issued for a short period of one year. That service is done on a free-of-cost basis.
Titbits: Apply for Passport re-issual at about 8 months ahead of its expiry date. Most of the countries expect at least a Passport that is valid for six months. If you are out of Country (say, abroad), I think you can factor in the processing time at the nearest Embassy/Consulate.
Tags: info, madurai, passport-office
14 Jun 09 Recently enjoyed - 4
Vijay TV’s தமிழ் பேச்சு எங்கள் மூச்சு which is broadcast between 9 AM and 10 AM on Sundays is worth a watch! Don’t mistake the title of the show to Tamil fanatics right-wing hoot. It is in fact a show that encourages kids to improve their oratory skill in Tamil with interesting cues from thoughtful judges. I should say both the judges do a fantastic job of provoking the reasoning aspect of children (and indirectly the conservative adults or parents). Wish we had more teachers like them!
Tags: recently enjoyed
06 Jun 09 Pointing the Scapegoat
This Cricinfo article reminds me of my time under a Manager from Australia. It was quite a painful revelation (for the lack of better oxymoron term) working under her. She used to say:
“People are extremely nice because they are extremely incompetent”
Oh, and she hated the word try. Now, I don’t know how you would feel working under such person, but I am really sorry for the aspiring Cricketers whose morale took a beating under Buchanan. To me, Buchanan sounds more ominous than the Bubonic Plague. After all, Cricket is a team game and it can’t be executed in a ruthless hire-and-fire fashion. Even the military styled training camps don’t help either. Ever watched Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket? Cricketers are not mean killing machines. Period.
Tags: cricinfo, just saying
