SOS from Mamata

With reference to the news report ‘Mamata demands joint action against BJP’ (April 1), one fails to comprehend the rationale behind such a strange move, just a day prior to the scheduled voting in her Nandigram constituency. She is likely to face stiff opposition from none other than Suvendu Adhikari, her former aide. Does she fear a set back in her political career, at the hands of Modi-Amit Shah combine? Needless to say, the malicious and violence centric pre-poll campaigning across the West Bengal was least expected by any worthy democratic norms.

Vinayak G

Bengaluru

Googly from I-T Dept

Apropos the news item ‘Reporting interest income: IT Dept message to revise ITR baffles tax payers (April 1), I too received the mail communication from IT Dept on 29th regarding the mismatch in the ITR on the High Value transactions for the FY 2019-20 and to complete the compliance process by 31st. It was a herculean task, which took 4-5 hours in understanding as to what the mismatch was.

The list of the high value transactions consisted of interest earned on individual deposits and also the sum of the interest (Deductor's TAN-wise). One had to reconcile the reported high value transactions with Form 26AS of the relevant period entry-wise. But 100 per cent reconciliation could not be done. There was no free text field in the compliance portal to input the details in brief.

As is the general practice in vogue, interest earned on Term Deposits gets credited to the respective customer’s operative account and applicable TDS on the interest portion is deducted to the debit of the operative account. Banks remit TDS to IT Dept every month, which duly get reflected in Part A of Form 26AS (Deductor's name-wise). IT Dept could have devised a mechanism in their software for auto-reconciliation of the details received from banks with that of details individuals’ Form 26AS-Part A and unmatched entries alone could have been mailed to IT assessees, which could have avoided this last minute rush and pressure.

RV Baskaran

Chennai

Of inflation and targeting

Apropos ‘Inflation targeting has been a success’ (April 1), the government’s decision to continue with this regime is welcome given its sucess in anchring inflation expectations and price stability over the last five years. The RBI and the MPC deserve full credit for this. Thanks to the success of inflation targeting, India’s reputation has been enhanced in the global financial markets. The orchestrated effort of RBI and MPC to continue in FIT achievement by using apt model to forecast inflation.

NR Nagarajan

Sivakasi

 

Banks and education loans

The article ‘Educated unemployed and in debt’ throws light on the quantum of NPAs banks carry on their balance sheets with little prospect of recovery. Though education loans are essential even for middle-class families in India to enable their children to pursue higher studies, the onus is on the borrower to repay the loan after obtaining jobs.

A sizeable number of students, after their education, end up taking up all and sundry jobs. The quality of education is also plays a spoiler. The irony is many of the faculty members opt for the teaching profession due to non-availability of suitable jobs.

To tackle the alarming NPAs on one side and non-payment on the other, the best course of action will be for banks to insist on at least 50 per cent loan coverage being shielded and protected by demanding “collateral” securities to insulate banks from falling into the NPA trap.

Ashok Jayaram

Bengaluru

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