Month: July 2015

5 Common Mistakes People Make When Planning For Retirement

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Retirement may be many years ahead, but what you do today will determine how smoothly you handle your post-retirement life.

Dreaming about your retirement is the first step; planning and working towards your retirement goals is what will actually get you there.

Here are some of the common mistakes to avoid and what to do instead.

Mistake #1: Not creating a retirement road map

Mistake #2: Not knowing how much you need at the time retirement

Mistake #3: Not starting early enough

Mistake #4: Not including contingencies such as health care expenses in your retirement plan

Mistake #5: Not making smart investment decisions

When planning for retirement, it’s important to realize where you want to be, in order to know what you need to do to get there.

 

Click Here for the full explanation and recommendations

MCGM Circular – Policy for granting permissions to erect Pandals on footpaths and roads

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Dear friends,
I am attaching the BMC Commissioner’s Circular listing out conditions for granting permissions to erect Pandals etc. for Ganesh Utsav, Dahi Handi etc. celebrations on our roads, footpaths and other open spaces.

If you feel they are unreasonable and would cause noise and inconvenience to residents, pedestrians and motorists, then do send your objections to the Mun. Comm. as soon as possible.

Regards.

G R Vora

BMC Commr’s Circular – Policy to grant permission for erection of temporary structures for Ganesh & other festivals after the HC Order – 24.7.2015

What you need to know about the new rules for filing tax returns

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New forms, additional information, completely paperless filing…. the Finance Ministry has introduced several changes in the way taxpayers will file their returns this year. As a taxpayer you need to be aware of these changes lest you file an incorrect return that gets rejected or results in a scrutiny notice.

Many taxpayers tend to believe that if they have no tax liability or have already paid all taxes, they need not file their returns. “It does not really matter whether you have paid any taxes or not.

Even if all your taxes are paid through TDS by the employer and bank or you have paid an advance tax, you still need to file returns if your annual income exceeds Rs 2.5 lakh,” says Archit Gupta, Founder and CEO, ClearTax.in. But before we get there, let’s look at the major changes in this year’s tax filing rules.

Who needs to file tax returns?

If the gross taxable income after exemptions, but before deductions, exceeds the basic exemption of Rs 2.5 lakh, you need to file your tax return.

Click Here for the detailed article from Economic Times, on the deadlines, forms, methodology, foreign income and assets and much more

Associate Members

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There is a lot of confusion about who can be an Associate Member in a Co-operative Housing Society, based on the new regulations. This month’s issue of MSWA’s Housing Societies Journal lists out several FAQs which are enlightening.

Click Here to view

State govt sets deadlines for NOCs, clearances, FIR copies

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17 Services Covered By Ordinance

The home department on Friday promulgated the Maharashtra Right to Public Services Ordinance 2015, making it mandatory for time-bound delivery of permissions and information.The ordinance covers 17 services. Soon, another is expected to include many more.For example, copies of FIRs must be given immediately after a complaint is lodged, attestation of documents must be done within seven working days, an NOC for passport verification must be issued within 21 working days, which is also the limit for NOCs for petrol pumps, gas agencies, hotels and bars, and police clearance certificate for foreign nationals should not take more than 30 days to be issued. “As per the ordinance, a specific time limit has been prescribed for 17 services. If the designated officer fails to grant permission or provide information within the time limit, the competent authority has powers to impose a penalty, ranging between Rs 500 and Rs 5,000 on the erring officer,“ said a bureaucrat.

Devendra Fadnavis, a month after taking charge as CM, said he was keen to bring in legislation to provide public services on time. A draft of the ordinance was circulated in February for public opinion, following which the Maharashtra Guarantee of Public Services Bill was introduced in both houses of the state legislature in April. Since it could not be passed, the ordinance was promulgated.

“Fadnavis had proposed to cover 160 services. The home department promulgated the ordinance to cover 17 services.Other departments will cover more,“ the bureaucrat said.

Jul 11 2015 : The Times of India (Mumbai)

Prafulla Marpakwar

Mumbai:
Click Here for the Draft of the proposed Maharashtra Guarantee of Public Services Bill, 2015

Greece Problems – Lessons for India

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Greece — The One Biggest Lie You Are Being Told By The Media

Greece did not fail on its own. It was made to fail.

In summary, the banks wrecked the Greek government, and then deliberately pushed it into unsustainable debt … while revenue-generating public assets were sold off to oligarchs and international corporations. The rest of the article is about how and why.

If you are a fan of mafia movies, you know how the mafia would take over a popular restaurant. First, they would do something to disrupt the business – stage a murder at the restaurant or start a fire. When the business starts to suffer, the Godfather would generously offer some money as a token of friendship. In return, Greasy Thumb takes over the restaurant’s accounting, Big Joey is put in charge of procurement, and so on. Needless to say, it’s a journey down a spiral of misery for the owner who will soon be broke and, if lucky, alive.

Now, let’s map the mafia story to international finance in four stages.

Click Here to read more

Confessions of an economic hitman – watch the truth behind the scenes – BE SCARED – VERY SCARED !

 

Stop One-sided Contracts of E-commerce companies

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Time to frame some rules for Ubers and Flipkarts in the interest of consumers
E-commerce companies, sustained on massive doses of funding provided by private equity funds, have been such a boon to consumers that we were happy to condone glitches, especially if the redress or reversal process was smooth and efficient. But large and well-funded e-commerce companies are probably so focused on fund raising and increasing valuation that they may be in danger of forgetting that the customer is central to their mega plans. Some funded e-tailers seem to believe that throwing money at consumers to compensate for bad experiences is an adequate customer retention strategy. As the business grows, companies are finding it difficult to offer cash compensation and to dish out freebies; some brazenly renege on promises published on their promotional material.
 In one particular case, a consumer complained that Flipkart was claiming to offer a discount by projecting a false high price that was crossed out, while the discounted price was the actual MRP printed on the product.
All online retailers and service-providers have notoriously one-sided contracts which nobody reads. None of this mattered while they wowed customers with choice, price and speed of delivery. But rapid growth and gigantic size is bound to have an impact. Aggrieved consumers will be shocked at the one-sided terms in their legal disclaimers. Flipkart and Snapdeal, who call themselves marketplaces, are especially aggressive about not accepting responsibility for prices and product details posted on their websites.
Click Here for the full story from Moneylife