Starting April 1, Here Are 10 Rate Changes That’ll Dent Common Man’s Pocket

With the start of new financial year, there will be many changes in taxing, medicines, mutual funds, and much more which will be affecting the pockets of common man. Tax will have to be paid on PF Account, LPG rates will be hiking, and much more. Here are the 10 changes which could affect the budget

1. Tax On PF Account- One of the biggest changes that is going to happen from April 2022 is the tax on PF account. A tax free contribution limit of Rs. 2.5 lakhs is being imposed on EPF account. If contributed above, interest income will be taxed. On the other hand, the limit of tax free contribution of government employees in GPF will be Rs. 5 lakhs per annum.

2. Discount On Home Loan Ends-  The government had added a new section 80 EEA in the income tax law in the 2019 budget. Under this section provision has been made that first time home buyers will be given the benefit of additional tax deduction of up to Rs. 1.5 lakhs on interest payment of home loan. This benefit is in addition to tax exemption up to a maximum of Rs. Two lakhs on home loan interest under section 24. Budget 2022 did not extend this section further.

3. Earnings On Crypto- One major change is the tax on cryptocurrencies. In Budget 2022-23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a 30 per cent tax on all virtual digital assets or crypto. Under this, if the investor gains by selling cryptocurrency, he will have to pay tax to the government. At the same time, whenever one sells cryptocurrency, TDS will be deducted at the rate of one per cent of its sales.

4. Medicine Price Hike- From the beginning of the new financial year, the common man is going to spend more on medicines. The prices of about 800 essential medicines are going to increase by 10.7 per cent. These include paracetamol, the basic medicine for fever. The National Drug Pricing Authority has approved the change in the wholesale price index of these drugs.

5. No Cash Interest At Post Office- The rules relating to investment in Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (MIS), Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) or Post Office Term Deposit are also going to change. The interest amount will not be received in cash from April 1. For this you need to open a savings account. In addition customers who have not linked their post office savings account or bank account with these plans will need to be linked. It will pay interest directly.

6. GST E-Challan Rule To Change- CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs) has reduced the turnover limit for issuing e-challan (electronic challan) under Goods and Services Tax (GST) from Rs 50 crore to Rs 20 crore. This rule is also being implemented from April 1, 2022.

7. Change In Minimum Balance Amount At Axis Bank- New rules are being implemented for Axis Bank customers who have a salary or savings account. The bank has increased the minimum balance limit in the savings account from 10 thousand to 12 thousand rupees. According to the information given on the website of Axis Bank, the bank has also changed the prescribed limit of free cash withdrawal to Rs. 4 lakhs or 1.5 lakhs.

8. Digital Payments In Mutual Funds- From April 1, you will not be able to make payments, checks, bank drafts or any other physical means for investing in mutual funds. Mutual Fund Transaction Aggregation Portal MF Utilities (MFU) is going to close the payment facility through check-demand draft etc. from 31st March 2022. After that you will get only UPI or NetBanking facility for depositing amount.

9. Vehicle Rates To Increase- Some large companies have announced price hikes for their vehicles. Tata Motors has said it will increase the prices of its commercial vehicles by 2.5 per cent. Mercedes Benz India has also said that it will increase the price of vehicles by three per cent. Toyota has announced a four per cent increase in prices. BMW will increase prices by 3.5 per cent.

10. Change In LPG Rates- The prices of 19 kg commercial LPG have been increased by Rs 250 per cylinder effective from Friday. This is the second hike in a month. With this, the 19 kg commercial cooking gas will now cost Rs 2,253. The commercial LPG was increased by Rs 105 on March 1.