Changes that will impact your finances from Oct

NEW DELHI: From October 1, there are a number of changes that will impact your pocket expenses. From loan EMIs (equated monthly instalments) to banking transactions or using credit card or staying in hotels, things are going to change. Here are the changes:

* No more cashback for card payments at petrol pumps

Bankers discontinue 0.75 per cent cashback on fuel purchased with credit and debit cards. State-owned oil companies had introduced this cashback offer more than two-and-a-half years ago to promote digital payments.

* Lesser hassles in dealing with Income Tax (I-T) authorities

Taxmen to dispose off notices within three months from date of reply and all communications without a Document Identification Number (DIN) to be treated as invalid. The CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) has specified that any communication issued manually under exceptional circumstances would have to be uploaded and regularised on the system portal within 15 days of its issuance. The CBDT frames policy for the I-T department.

* Stay in specified hotels to get cheaper

GST (goods and services tax) rates for hotels with tariff of Rs 1,001 to Rs 7,500 to reduce from 18 per cent to 12 per cent, and those costing Rs 7,501 and above to see reduced GST at 18 per cent.

* Buying diamonds and other precious stones now easier on pockets

GST on polished semiprecious stones now at 0.25 per cent (down from 3 per cent) and job work related to diamonds to attract 1.5 per cent GST (down from 5 per cent). The same on supply of machine job cut to 12 per cent from 18 per cent.

* Spend more on your caffeine habits

Caffeinated beverages to get costlier as effective GST rates hiked from 28 per cent to 40 per cent (28 per cent plus additional cess of 12 per cent). With the GST revision, caffeinated drinks or energy drinks have been brought on a par with soft drinks.

* Throwing a party may be lighter on the pockets

A cut in GST rates on outdoor catering from 18 per cent (with input tax credit) to 5 per cent. Businessmen associated with the industry for months had been demanding a reduction of GST, claiming the rate to be very high.

* Boost for entrepreneurs setting up manufacturing enterprises

New manufacturing companies set up after October 1 will get option to pay 15 per cent tax. For instance, a new company that sets up a capacity to manufacture 100 units of a product in the stipulated time frame and adds to it by acquiring a plant or an asset will still be eligible for benefits under the new regime, but on a pro-rata basis.
* Your loan EMIs to see a change
With interest rate on loans to be linked to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) external benchmark, the EMI you pay will change. "It has been observed that due to various reasons, the transmission of policy rate changes to the lending rate of banks under the current marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) framework has not been satisfactory," RBI said in a statement.
The new floating rates for housing, auto, MSME sector shall be benchmarked to either RBI's repo rate, government of India's 3-month or 6-month treasury bill yielded by the Financial Benchmarks India Private Limited (FBIL) or any other benchmark market interest rate published by the FBIL, the central bank said.
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References

1. ^{^} October 1 (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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