There are several significant changes coming up in September that will affect your savings, regardless of whether you pay income taxes, use debit cards for regular purchases, or participate in the national pension system.
1. Now, taxpayers have 30 days to check their returns
By confirming the tax returns, you certify that the data you submitted in the return form is true and accurate and that it complies with the requirements of the Income-tax Act of 1961.
For tax returns filed on or after August 1, 2022 (i.e., after the July 31 due date), the time frame for verification has been shortened from 120 days to 30 days. So, for example, if you filed your income tax forms on August 8, you must check them by September 7. The 30-day verification window begins on the day your tax returns are turned in.
The deadline to verify returns for tax returns filed on or before July 31, 2022, is still 120 days from the date of filing the tax return.
The IT department won't process the returns if verification isn't done within the allotted period. The longer you wait, the longer it will take for any refund- if there is one- to be credited to your account. Furthermore, if you don't check in a timely manner, your return will be considered unfiled and subject to all related penalties.
Additionally, if you validate the return after the allotted time has passed, it will be regarded as a late filing, and penalties and costs will be assessed.
Although physical offline verification is an option, e-verification using net banking and Aadhaar is more practical.
2. Card tokenization for safe transactions
In order to ensure secure transactions, all credit and debit card information used for online, POS, and in-app transactions will be replaced in September with special tokens.
The mandate of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) states that the tokenization rule would be implemented from October 1. This will prevent all merchant websites from storing your card numbers, CVV, or expiration date on their systems in order to perform online transactions. If the merchant has the option on its payment gateway page, card users should now save a token and save it on the specific website (for future use).
In order to ensure secure transactions, all credit and debit card information used for online, POS, and in-app transactions will be replaced in September with special tokens.
The mandate of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) states that the tokenization rule would be implemented from October 1. This will prevent all merchant websites from storing your card numbers, CVV, or expiration date on their systems in order to perform online transactions. If the merchant has the option on its payment gateway page, card users should now save a token and save it on the specific website (for future use).
3. Fee increase for the National Pension System
A commission is subtracted from your contributions to the National Pension Scheme (NPS) through the cancellation of units. On September 1st, the trail commissions on contributions submitted using NPS's direct-remit mode would increase from the current 0.10 percent of the contribution amount to 0.20 percent. The fee increase only applies to direct-remit investments, which give same-day net asset value (NAV) if the investment is received before 9.30 am as opposed to a two- to three-day lag for ordinary NPS investments.
As a result, a trail commission of Rs 15 to Rs 10,000 would be subtracted. For instance, a fee of Rs 100 will be taken out instead of Rs 50 earlier if you invest Rs 50,000 in NPS on September 1 in direct-remit mode, i.e., before 9.30 am. The points of presence, such as banks, non-banking financial institutions, or other financial organisations that assist you in investing in NPS, would receive these commissions.
4. The cost of issuing debit cards and annual fees are rising at banks
A number of banks have announced an increase in the yearly fees and issuance costs for debit cards starting in September. This is because the price of the semiconductor chips used in the card and other inputs has increased significantly.
For instance, starting of September 6, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) increased the fees for various debit card variations. A Rupay classic debit card from IOB has an issue fee of Rs. 50 and a yearly fee of Rs. 150 starting with the second year. From the second year on, the issuance fee and yearly charge would rise to Rs 150 and Rs 250, respectively.
Similar to this, Yes Bank has raised the yearly costs for its Element and Rupay debit cards, which are solely available for Kisan accounts, to Rs 149 and Rs 299, respectively. Previously, Yes Bank assessed yearly fees of Rs 99 and Rs 249 for these cards, respectively.
Central Bank of India and Suryoday Small Finance Bank are two additional institutions that have increased issuance fees and annual fees for various card types.
5. Atal Pension Yojana investment window closing soon September 30, 2022
It is the deadline for income taxpayers in the age range of 18 to 40 to sign up for the Atal Pension Yojana. For unorganised workers, the pension plan administered by the Pension
Fund Regulatory and Development Administration guarantees a minimum guaranteed pension of Rs 1,000–5,000 per month. It was introduced in 2015 as the Swavalamban Yojana for those with low incomes.
The author is a personal finance journalist with 9 years of reporting experience. Based in Agra, he covers financial planning, banking. He can also be reached at ajaakarshjain16@gmail.com
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