Skip to main content

Gold schemes draw lacklustre response so far

By
Two of the government’s high-profile schemes launched with the aim to reduce demand for physical gold and rein in the current account deficit have so far yielded modest results, signaling lack of clarity and volatile prices of the yellow metal.
According to traders and experts, while the schemes fare better than existing options for gold, wider involvement of jewelers and a clear communication on the tax structure could improve response as days go by.
T he Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi two weeks ago, to monetise part of the estimated 20,000 tonnes of gold lying idle with households, has been able to bring in only around 400 grams of gold.
The gold bond scheme, the first tranche of which closed on Friday, has raised about Rs.150 crore, according to people familiar with the development. Through sovereign gold bonds, an investor gets an annual interest of 2.75%, apart from the benefits of the market price of gold on maturity.
“Currently only gold hallmarking centres have been notified as the collection points. Hallmarking centres were essentially doing business-to-business activities, customers don’t know much about them and so may not have trust to deposit their precious gold,” said Keyur Shah, CEO, precious metals business at Muthoot Pappachan Group.
There are currently around 350 hallmarking centres, against 13,000 jewellers who sell hallmarked jewellery. Shah said it is necessary to involve jewellers and make them gold collection points since they have a good network with customers.
“Buyers need to be educated about the benefits. This was absent as jewellers did not have the incentive to sell the scheme,” said Sreedhar GV, chairman of All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation.
On the gold bond scheme, distribution was a problem as only select banks, post offices and some non-banking finance companies were allowed. This would require people to furnish documents that would have revealed the source of the gold bought. “This had deterred people from stepping forward,” said Manish Jain, chairman of the All India Gems Jewellry Trade Federation.
When the GMS was first announced, the price was fixed at Rs.2,684 per gram, which according to the RBI was based on the simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity in the previous week (October 26-30). But since then, prices have actually fallen to about Rs.2,550 per gramme.
Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 21st Nov. 2015

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New income tax slab and rates for new tax regime FY 2023-24 (AY 2024-25) announced in Budget 2023

By
  Basic exemption limit has been hiked to Rs.3 lakh from Rs 2.5 currently under the new income tax regime in Budget 2023. Further, the income tax slabs in the new tax regime has been changed. According to the announcement, 5 income tax slabs will be there in FY 2023-24, from 6 income tax slabs currently. A rebate under Section 87A has been enhanced under the new tax regime; from the current income level of Rs.5 lakh to Rs.7 lakh. Thus, individuals opting for the new income tax regime and having an income up to Rs.7 lakh will not pay any taxes   The income tax slabs under the new income tax regime will now be as follows: Rs 0 to Rs 3 lakh - 0% tax rate Rs 3 lakh to 6 lakh - 5% Rs 6 lakh to 9 lakh - 10% Rs 9 lakh to Rs 12 lakh - 15% Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakh - 20% Above Rs 15 lakh - 30%   The revised Income tax slabs under new tax regime for FY 2023-24 (AY 2024-25)   Income tax slabs under new tax regime Income tax rates under new tax regime O to Rs 3 lakh 0 Rs 3 lakh to Rs 6 lakh 5% Rs 6
Post a Comment
Read more

Jaitley plans to cut MSME tax rate to 25%

By
Income tax for companies with annual turnover up to ?50 crore has been reduced to 25% from 30% in order to make Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) companies more viable and also to encourage firms to migrate to a company format. This move will benefit 96% or 6.67 lakh of the 6.94 lakh companies filing returns of lower taxation and make MSME sector more competitive as compared with large companies. However, bigger firms have shown their disappointment since the proposal for reducing tax rates was to make Indian firms competitive globally and it is the large firms that are competing globally. The Finance Minister foregone revenue estimate of Rs 7,200 crore per annum for this for this measure. Besides, the Finance Minister refrained from removing or reducing Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT), a popular demand from India Inc., but provided a higher period of 15 years for carry forward of future credit claims, instead of the existing 10-year period. “It is not practical to rem
1 comment
Read more

Don't forget to verify your income tax return in August: Here's the process

By
  An ITR return needs to be verified within 120 days of filing of tax return. Now that you have filed your income tax return, remember to verify it because your return filing process is not complete unless you do so. The CBDT has reduced the time limit of ITR verification to 30 days (from 120 days) from the date of return submission. The new rule is applicable for the returns filed online on or after 1st August 2022. E-verification is the most convenient and instant method for verifying your ITR. However, if you prefer not to e-verify, you have the option to verify it by sending a physical copy of the ITR-V. Taxpayers who filed returns by July 31, 2023 but forget to verify their tax returns, will get the following email from the tax department, as per ClearTax. If your ITR is not verified within 30 days of e-filing, it will be considered invalid, and may be liable to pay a Late Fee. Aadhaar OTP | EVC through bank account | EVC through Demat account | Sending duly signed ITR-V through s
Post a Comment
Read more