Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) vide their E-Gazette Notification dated 12th Dec,2019,G.S.R. 913(E),has notified that Central Govt. rescinds the Public Provident Fund Scheme-1968 published vide G.S.R.1136(E) dated 15th June,1968 with immediate effect.
Further, Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) vide their E-Gazette Notification dated 12th Dec,2019, G.S.R. 915(E), has notified a scheme called the Public Provident Fund Scheme-2019.
The Scheme offers an investment avenue with decent returns coupled with income tax benefits. Salient features of the Scheme are as follows
Features
Investment Limits:
A minimum of Rs.500.00 subject to a maximum of Rs.1,50,000 per annum may be deposited.
Original duration is 15 years. Thereafter, on application by the subscriber, it can be extended for 1 or more blocks of 5 years each.
The rate of interest is determined by Central Govt. on quarterly basis. At present it is 7.90% per annum with effect from 01.10.2019.
Loans and withdrawals are permitted depending upon the age of the account and balances as on the specified dates.
Income Tax benefits are available under Sec 88 of IT Act.
Nomination facility is available in the name of one or more persons.
The shares of nominees may also be defined by the subscriber.
The account can be transferred to other branches/ other banks or Post Offices and vice versa upon request by the subscriber.
The service is free of charges
Everyone is concerned about how to avail the best saving and investment avenues to save the maximum possible tax and gain maximum return in a convenient way.
The Public Provident Fund or PPF is one such avenue and an account of which may be opened and maintained online.
PPF is a very secure and good tax-saving vehicle and one of the most preferred tax-saving investments, as it gives tax exemption in all three stages and falls in the EEE (exempt, exempt, exempt) category.
Apart from tax deductions on the investment amount under 80C, the interests earned on deposits in PPF account are also tax free and so is the maturity amount.
The 80C deduction alone may save Rs 45,000 from your tax outgo, if you are in the 30 per cent tax bracket and avail full benefit of Rs 1,50,000. Such, savings would be Rs 30,000 for a person in 20 per cent tax bracket and Rs 15,000 for those in 10 per cent tax bracket.
If you are a tech-savvy person and have a Net-banking account, you may avail the tax benefits conveniently by opening a PPF account and making investments online.
To illustrate how to open a PPF account online, let’s take the example of India’s largest commercial bank – State Bank of India.
Steps to open a PPF account in SBI:
To open a new PPF account, first go to ‘Request and Enquiries’ tab after logging in to your SBI Online account and click on ‘New PPF Account’ option. You will get details of Savings Bank Account on the page that opens.
On the page, you have to mention the Branch Code of the bank branch in which you want to open the PPF account. If you don’t have the Branch Code, you may search the code from the drop down menu of the search option given on the page.
After entering the branch code, you have to put the name(s) of the nominee(s), date of birth (if nominee is a minor) and percentage share the particular nominee would get. You may nominate maximum five persons as nominees.
You may check more information about PPF scheme from the link given on the page, or submit the form straightway by clicking on ‘Submit’ button.
Once submitted, you will get a pop-up message that your application has been submitted successfully. To download and print the application form, you may click on the reference number of your application, which you will get after selecting the option given for this purpose on the page.
After taking the print out, you have to paste your recent passport-size photograph and fill the details along with the amount you want to deposit. If you have opened a PPF account earlier, you have to provide details of the account(s) as well.
You have to submit the form in the designated branch within 30 days of applying online, along with KYC documents and the pre-filled nomination form after putting your signature and signature of two witnesses along with their addresses. In case, a nominee is a minor, you have to mention the name and address of the guardian as well.
To open an account in the name of a minor, you have to click on the check box given against such option and fill the name of the minor, his or her date of birth and the relationship with the applicant in the first page that opens after clicking on ‘New PPF Account’ under ‘Request and Enquiries’ tab before entering other details.