To attack black money, the government is now trying to link the Permanent Account Number (PAN) and the Aadhar number. From July 1, 2017, Aadhar number has been made mandatory for filing tax returns and for applying for PAN. Those who haven’t received the Aadhar number can quote the Aadhar enrolment number.

Failure to submit Aadhar number along with the PAN would result in PAN invalidation and such individuals would be treated as not having applied for a PAN. However, the Centre may exempt certain cases such as foreign nationals filing returns in India.

Change in premium policy

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has now allowed general insurance companies to increase or decrease the premiums charged on their products up to 5 per cent without filing a modification to the product under the product filing guidelines.

This change in premium pricing is being allowed due to the revision required in the commission or remuneration rates of the agents or intermediaries due to the IRDAI Regulations 2016 coming into effect from this April. However, the price change is limited to the extent of the increase in commission, inclusive of the reward.

Goodies for home buyers

The Centre's Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme for Middle Income Groups (CLSS-MIG) brings good tidings for home buyers. The scheme covers two income segments — ₹6-12 lakh (MIG-I) and ₹12-18 lakh (MIG-II) per annum. MIG-I will be offered interest subsidy of 4 per cent for loans up to ₹9 lakh, while MIG-II will be offered an interest subsidy of 3 per cent for loans up to of ₹12 lakh. The subsidy works out to a tidy ₹2.3-2.35 lakh, paid upfront.

But, for now, the window for claiming the benefit is set to one year, up to December 31, 2017. If you are planning to avail yourself of the benefit, it would be better to opt for ready-to-use property.

Corporate bond indices

IISL (India Index Services and Products Limited), a NSE group company, has launched a series of six AAA rated corporate bond indices for the Indian bond market. There are five indices tracking corporate bonds across different maturities and one composite index. Each of the five maturity-based indices represents performance of liquid corporate bonds falling in specific residual maturity bucket.

The composite index, on the other hand, covers all five distinct maturity buckets and hence seeks to represent the dynamics of the entire AAA corporate yield curve.

For asset managers looking for an effective gauge for corporate bonds, these indices can act as benchmarks. The base date for all the indices is December 31, 2013 with base value of ₹1,000. The index is calculated everyday and the constituents are reviewed every quarter.

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