December financial changes: The month of December is about to come and apart from being the last month of the year, it is also important in terms of many economic and financial activities. The most important among these is the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank. After this, the last date for payment of advance tax as well as the last date for free Aadhaar update is also important for those who file tax returns late. At the same time, changes are also being seen in the credit card charges of some banks.
RBI’s loan policy will come on December 6
All eyes are on the monetary policy of the Reserve Bank of India on 6th December. Is RBI going to cut the rates this time or will it maintain it at 6.5 percent? If RBI does not change rates for the 10th consecutive time in its MPC review, there will not be much change on the financial front. However, the RBI has withdrawn the adjustment in the policy by changing its stance from neutral to neutral, which was unchanged from May 2022. Economists believe that if inflation rates remain under control, RBI may decide to cut policy rates. If RBI does not change its stance and change the rates on December 6, there will be no improvement in your home loan interest rates and EMIs. After this, loan takers will get stability in their financial planning.
Last date for free update in Aadhaar is 14th December
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has fixed December 14 as the last date for free updating of Aadhaar. Under this, you can make any change in name, address and date of birth in your Aadhaar without any fee, provided it is done online only. UIDAI has recommended updating Aadhaar every 10 years so that the information present in your Aadhaar remains updated. If you get this update done after December 14, you will have to pay a fee of Rs 50 per request.
Last date for third advance tax installment – 15 December
If you are a salaried individual and you also have income from interest on deposits, rental income, capital gains or any other source, you will have to pay advance tax. Under Section 208 of the Income Tax Act, if the tax liability after deducting TDS and TCS in a financial year exceeds Rs 10,000, advance tax has to be paid. Taxpayers are required to pay their estimated tax liability in four installments and 75 per cent of it is required to be paid by December 15. Penal interest at the rate of 1 percent per month will be levied under section 234C on late filing or unpaid tax.
Axis Bank Credit Card Associate Fees will change – 20th December
The last date for revision of Axis Bank credit card associate charges is December 20 and under this, customers will have to pay new redemption fees, credit card interest rates and changed charges on many other transactions. Axis Bank has changed the fees for customers using EDGE Rewards and Miles and will have to pay Rs 199 plus GST on every cash redemption. At the same time, if the points are converted into mileage program, then Rs 199 plus GST will have to be paid.
This fee will be applicable on select Axis Bank credit cards, including Atlas, Samsung Axis Bank Infinite, Samsung Axis Bank, Magnus (including the Burgundy variant) and Reserve Credit Cards. There will be no impact on Citi-protected cards such as Axis Bank Olympus and Horizon.
AU Small Finance Bank is also changing the charges on some of its credit cards and these are also going to be implemented in December.
Last date for filing belated tax return – 31 December
If you have not filed your income tax return yet, you can file a deferred or amended tax return till December 31, 2024. Although the last date for filing ITR was July 31, 2024, you can file your amended late return with a penalty of Rs 5000. For those whose income is less than Rs 5 lakh, the fine is Rs 1000.
Along with filing the tax return, if there is any left for the financial year 2023-24, the outstanding tax will also have to be paid and interest will also have to be paid on it. If you miss even this deadline, you will have to submit an application to the Income Tax Commissioner giving true and logical reason for late filing of return.
