Budget 2016: Assocham demands income tax exemption to Rs 2.5 lakh, re-introduce standard deduction

Budget 2016: Assocham demands income tax exemption to Rs 2.5 lakh, re-introduce standard deduction

New Delhi: Industry body Assocham demanded an increase in income tax exemption ceiling for salaried people to Rs 2.5 lakh and and re-introduce standard deduction for salaried employees to boost consumption in the upcoming Budget.

The income tax exemption ceiling at present is Rs 1.5 lakh.

“And re-introduce the concept of standard deduction for salaried employees who can then give a boost to consumption demand and boost economic growth,” Assocham said in a release.

Besides, Assocham has also pitched for revision of the deduction of interest on housing loans to at least Rs 3 lakh from the existing Rs 2 lakh and a similar limit be set for principal loan repayment from Rs 1 lakh at present.

Explaining the rationale for its demand for standard deduction, it said the salary of the employees has gone up moving along with inflation and other cost factors.

“So in order to benefit the salaried employees, the standard deduction should be reintroduced as one-third of salary or Rs 2,00,000 whichever is less”.

It has also suggested a depreciation allowance for salaried tax-payers in line with professionals.

Assocham said the deduction of depreciation is allowed under the head ‘Business and Profession’. No tax benefit is accrued to the salaried employees when they add assets. Though the assets get depreciated when owned by an employee, tax laws do not recognise this.

Moreover, to help salaried employees, it has suggested for leave encashment exemption limit for tax calculation to be raised to Rs 10 lakh.

“The current limit of Rs 3 lakh was notified by the CBDT way back in 1998 and needs to be raised substantially,” Assocham President Sunil Kanoria said.

Further, it has also asked for re-fixing of monetary limits under HRA/transport allowance and children education.

For the salaried employees, transport allowance is presently exempt from tax up to Rs 800 per month which should be raised to Rs 3,000 per month, it added.

Assocham pre-Budget memorandum to the Finance Ministry Arun Jaitley also suggested that a provision may be made in the Income Tax Act that any expenditure incurred by an employee for education of under-privileged children by making payment directly to a recognised school should be allowed as deduction from salary income up to Rs 1,000 per month for maximum of two children.

Inputs with PTI

7th Pay Commission – Leaves Army out in the Cold – The US defence budget is more than 4% of their GDP while that of India is less than 2% of the GDP

7th Pay Commission – Leaves Army out in the Cold – The US defence budget is more than 4% of their GDP while that of India is less than 2% of the GDP

The 7th Pay Commission has submitted its report to the government recently. The repercussions of the report are now being felt on government finances. The Railways have, as per reports, requested the finance ministry to bear the additional cost arising out of recommendations of 7th CPC. Similarly, there are reports that the Budget will need adjustments to accommodate recommendations of the 7th CPC.

The elite Indian defence forces (EIDF), consisting of the Army, Air Force and Navy, explicitly continues to be unsatisfied with the CPC recommendations. The Army has some genuine grievances which can be fixed without substantial fiscal implications. The disciplined soldiers of Indian defence forces have exhibited exemplary courage in defending our borders.

In addition, in times of every national calamity, they have also excelled in civilian duties. The defence forces in India, are also an example of national integration, to be emulated by others.

It is important that soldiers and officers of EIDF enjoy a special status among defence forces, the way the Indian Administrative Service continues to enjoy supreme status, in comparison to other civil services. If India has to emerge as a global super power, it will need fighting-fit EIDF.

Interestingly, some of the grouses of EIDF are easily addressable and seem minor in terms of costs to the government. The US defence budget is more than 4 per cent of their GDP while that of India is less than 2 per cent of the GDP. It is acknowledged by the 7th CPC that the army is short by nearly 22 per cent of officers, which amounts to substantial savings in the Budget.

Similarly, the Air Force and Navy are also short of officers. Officers account for less than 5 per cent of defence personnel, and curtailing their food allowance in those times when they are not in hardship postings would not lead to any significant savings in the fiscal deficit. Rather it would only create hardship for officers when they are undertaking war training for months together, away from family.

In such war-like locations, ensuring private food supply to such officers would probably imply higher costs than savings in curtailing food allowance.

Similarly, it needs to be recognised that promotion avenues at senior level are very few in EIDF. A large number of officers stagnate at different levels in the Army and many of them get superseded, not because of incompetence but medical reasons arising from harsh border conditions.

Therefore, compensation and allowances for stagnating solders should factor such extreme conditions to ensure that they stay motivated. Also disability pension of the solders needs to be related to the nature of the disability rather than be a fixed amount.

The reward system of the British Army needs to be closely examined. Indian soldiers were happily fighting for the British in alien lands. The award of land and handsome pension attracted many a youth to a career in defence services. This is in sharp contrast to the present situation where EIDF, despite so-called lucrative compensation, are short of officers.

Hence, curtailment of salaries, pension, and allowances for EIDF may not be a correct strategy to correct the fiscal deficit. The need is to ensure that soldiers are secure, so that they can focus on safeguarding our borders.

Source: Business Line

1.5% Extra Growth Needed to Grant Wage Hikes – Jaitley

1.5% Extra Growth Needed to Grant Wage Hikes – Jaitley

“In the coming year, there would be a burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore of Seventh Pay Commission, OROP (one rank, one pension) burden is also there. That burden can be sustained only when there is increase in economic activity.”

1.5% Extra Growth Needed to Grant Wage Hikes – “We need to increase our growth rate. We have to at least increase it by 1-1.5 percent”.

The government is ready to have a dialogue with the trade unions on wage increases, but the country needs to grow by an extra 1-1.5 percent so that it can sustain wage hike and other benefits given to workers and the poor, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday.

“Our GDP growth of 7.5 percent is at a time when the world is experiencing global slowdown. We need to increase our growth rate. We have to at least increase it by 1-1.5 percent,” he said at a felicitation function organised by the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh.

“In the coming year, there would be a burden of Rs 1.02 lakh crore of Seventh Pay Commission, OROP (one rank, one pension) burden is also there. That burden can be sustained only when there is increase in economic activity. Because of increased economic activity, government revenue and resources will go up,” the finance minister said.

Noting that wages or bonus can only be increased when the government and private sector have the required resources, Jaitley said the minimum wages of labour should, at the least, be respectable and allow for inflation.

He asked the BJP-affiliated BMS to support the growth-oriented policies of the government, which will, in turn, take care of all their reasonable demands.

Source: Business Standard

Central Government employees taking leave on Jan 1, 2016 may face cut in salary revision

Government employees taking leave on Jan 1, 2016 may face cut in salary revision

New Delhi: It is bitter bill that the Central Government employees will have to swallow if they take leave on January 1, 2016.

As per the 7th Pay Commission Recommendations, taking leave on 1-1-2016 will affect the effective date of pay revision. The notification says that pay revision will be effected from 1st January 2016 only for those who are present on duty on 1st January 2016.

A Department of Para Military Forces has also informed its officials that if an employee goes on leave on 1st January 2016, the increased pay will be effected only from the date of which such employee resumes duty and not from the first of January 2016.

Hence the Central government employees planning to go on leave to celebrate New Year day or for any other reasons on 1st January 2016, have to re think about their decision.

Its advisable to check with their departments about the impact on revision of pay if they avail leave on 1st January 2016. If the department has announced January 1, 2016 as a holiday, it will be better to report to work the next day.

Source : Zee News

7th CPC had kindled such a great curiosity among the employees

7TH CPC: CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES EXPECTATIONS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016

That the 7th Pay Commission which was eagerly expected by all the Central Government Employees submitted its recommendations to the Finance Minister on 19/11/2015 would have been known to almost all the employees.

This is because all the popular websites, blogs, newspapers and TV channels flashed news about the pay commission. It is a crucial announcement which benefits 45 lakh employees and 50 lakh pensioners and so the websites and blogs had a tough time to handle lakhs of visitors who visited them at the same time.
The 7th CPC had kindled such a great curiosity among the employees. When the 6th CPC announcement was made it did not receive such a wide publicity. Since the past eight years, the internet usage has increased tremendously.

In the same way, we can say that when the 8th CPC is announced even the way it is announced might change completely. To that extent the use of online applications are increasing rapidly.

Today, it is very common to find almost all the employees carrying Android cell phone in their hands and having a Desktop or a Laptop in their homes. Using these gadgets they performed a massive number of searches on 7th CPC.

The searches performed by the users tried to find answers for questions like: How the Basic Pay has changed? Is there still a system of Grade Pay? What happened to HRA? What is the status of CEA?
However, after seeing the 7th CPC report, the employees were in a state of disappointment as they did not get what they had expected. Most of the employees felt that they did not get benefits and pay increase in 7th CPC as they got when the pay commission changed from 5th to 6th. The faces of most of the employees were sad because the rise that they got occurs only once in ten years.

All federations expressed their disapproval through reports. Through the NJCA agency, they have decided to go on an indefinite strike in the month of March.

In this scenario, the new years is beginning on 01/01/2016. The employees who had planned to enjoy the New Year in a grand way along with the announcement of 7th CPC in are pushed to a state of grief as they heard the news that they have to compulsorily come to work on 01/01/2016 failing which their pay revision will happen from the date they came for work lastly.

News such as these has put a big question mark on their New Year celebrations. In many Central government offices, the holiday that was already announced for the New Year day has been changed to some other day.

They say this change has been done to avoid unnecessary problems that may arise in the Revision of Pay. However, after the New Year day, we get a Saturday and Sunday, so we can hope that the New Year celebrations will happen in a glorious manner on these two days.

S.VISHAL

Source: centralgovernmentemployeesportal

Web Based Cadre Management System – updation of data of CSS/CSSS/CSCS officers

21/1/2014-CS.I (PR/CMS)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, PG and Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training
*****

2nd Floor, Lok Nayak Bhavan, New Delhi-110003
Dated the December, 2015

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Web Based Cadre Management System – updation of data of CSS/CSSS/CSCS officers

As Ministries/Departments are aware, the Web Based Cadre Management System for CSS, CSSS and CSCS has been operational since January, 2013. The system is hosted at cscms.nic.in. Despite lapse of more than two years, complete and upto date data is still not available in the system in respect of several officers. The prime objective of the web based system is to ensure accurate real time data of all the officers to enable quicker decisions relating to cadre management functions. Unless the data is maintained upto date, the purpose of the web based system will be defeated.

2. Nodal Officers in all the Ministries/Departments are, therefore, requested as under:

(a) Employee module: Nodal officers should ensure that correct and up to date personal information in respect of all personnel posted there is available. Nodal officers have been empowered to modify/correct (i) Employee details (ii) Basis Details (iii) Address details (iv) Training details and (v) qualification details. All the officers belonging to GSS/CSSS/CSCS may also be advised to verify their data in the system and bring discrepancies to the notice of the nodal officers for correction. If there is any difficulty in this regard, nodal officers should call CMC Ltd. Engineers at Tele: 24629890.

(b) Experience and Promotion data: CS.I Division will modify data in these two fields. If any modification is required duly certified information may be sent to CS Division for correction.

(c) Pay: Please ensure that pay of the officer is correctly indicated in the system. After drawl of increment on 1 st July every year the data should be corrected.

(d) APAR: Ensure that APAR grading is entered in the system and the APAR is scanned and uploaded in the system. If there is any difficulty in this regard, please call the CMC Ltd. Engineers at Tele: 24629890.

(e) IPR and Lokpal return: All the officers of CSS/CSSS/CSCS are requested to file their returns online. It may be noted that defaulting officers will not be granted cadre clearance for deputation, foreign training, empanelment etc.

(f) Deputation: Ensure that all Officers apply for cadre clearance through the system. If any application is received in CS.I Division without online application it will not be entertained. Prior to forwarding application online, nodal officers should also ensure that correct and up to date information of the officer concerned is available in the system.

(g) Foreign Training: All nominations for foreign training should be processed through the web based cadre management system in respect of all Officers. Their reliving for the training will also be updated in the system to capture the details of foreign trainings attended. If the training period is more than three months, the nodal officers will forward the online request to CS.I Division for cadre clearance in respect of US and above level officers.

(h) Domestic Training: All nominations for domestic training should be processed through the web based cadre management system in respect of all officers. If the training period is exceeding one year, the nodal officers will forward the online request to CS.I Division for further processing in respect of US and above level officers.

(i) Permission to visit abroad: All requests for private foreign visits should be processed through the web based cadre management system to capture such information.

(j) Furnishing of information of death of an employee: In case of death of an employee, the nodal officer of the Ministry/Department concerned will henceforth immediately update the information in the web based system to enable capture of the vacancy to facilitate provision of a substitute.

(k) Furnishing of information of long leave of an employee: If any employee proceeds on leave for six months or more, the nodal officer concerned should update the information in the web based system immediately to capture the vacancy to facilitate provision of a substitute.

(l) Voluntary Retirement: CS.I Division conveys . approval of MoS (PP) for voluntary retirement of US and above level officers of CSS. Henceforth, if the request for voluntary retirement is not received through the system, the same will not be entertained.

(m) Resignation: Resignation requests from employees should be obtained and processed in the web based system so that such vacancies are brought to the notice of the cadre controlling authority immediately.

(n) Technical resignation: Requests for technical resignation to join another employment under the Government should also be obtained and processed in the web based cadre management system.

(o) Vigilance status: Vigilance clearance whenever required in connection with cadre management activities will be sought and obtained through the system. In respect of US and above level officer it will be updated both by the Ministries!Department and by AVD.I of DoP&T. Upto SO level, Ministries/Departments will update the system.

3. This circular may be brought to the notice of all CSS Officers for their information and active cooperation to ensure correctness of data.

4. Nodal officers may also depute their subordinates to CS.I Division to clear doubts if any about the functioning of the system.

(V.Srinivasaragavan)
Under Secretary to the Govt. of India
Tele.: 24629412

Original Order