Tax on begging? Never. Exemptions on purchase? That too never!
Either directly or indirectly tax will be an inevitable matter for income and expenses in countries with Government. It is a concept directly connected to welfare nation. Everyone cannot be forced to pay tax for Income even though tax on expenses is mandatory. Because tax is levied for the welfare of the people and there is no meaning of collecting it from everyone when the same persons are struggling to meet their expenses other than daily bread. To bypass tax evasion and tax avoidance various departments from time to time adopt new strategies to attract more tax from the public. But, lack of systematic approach bring the entire system into trouble.
Tax Deducted at Source seems to be adopted for ease of fund mobilization of individuals and Government. A lot of persons got it’s advantage since a lump sum amount was not required to source for the payment of tax. But there is a fraction of people who took advantage of the system which demands TDS. Bringing an example which is a case about the TDS on Professional Fees and charges which were misrepresented against Contract. So, someone who are enrolled in the company records as partnered professionals in the individual capacity holding systematic knowledge, passing the criteria for eligibility and following the professional code of conduct fell down into the title of a contractor. Hence the person who is a professional as per company records get projected under the category of Contractor in IT records. Whether it is a professional or contractor there would be the liability to pay TDS; though the amount will be different.
And the person’s ‘liability to pay more’ or ‘eligibility for refund’ will be determined only at the time of finding Total Income. Finally, the persons who get refund will appear to be happy. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who do not have the clear knowledge about the payment of Income Tax. It is really heart breaking for such people whose entire income is based on commissions like commission from sale of Insurance policies, lottery tickets, etc. Earlier they have to pay more TDS. And they do not go for tax filing or refund when they were eligible to claim back more than INR 10,000. Yet some of the same persons who sacrificed the whole eligible amount of refund earlier have tried to file their returns and demanded the tiny portion due to unforeseen financial situations from the times of pandemic. The harsh reality is avoidance of double tax for a person earning 1lakh per year when he spent the entire income for household expenses; the majority of which attracts an Indirect Tax of 18%.
Monsoon is prosperous; but not for everything
Monsoon season gives the most abundant version of nature. From reducing the scarcity of water to sprouting of new plants and shoots in agriculture as well as clearance of dust in the atmosphere which creates difficulties in breathing. It is the time when a lot of birds roam around the human habitats with trees and plants.
But it is also the time which needs more precautions. Agricultural crops that are about to reap turns to be a welcoming arena and thereby becomes more prone to the guests that are travelling above the trees. Studies by some of the ecologists suggests not to feed other species of living beings with what humans like to consume. Though there is a good side for the beings for easily get adapted and tamed by humans. Vulnerabilities to more diseases that are common among other species will easily spread to humans when there will be common medium of food to connect the human world with other living species. Squirrels, parrot, white cheeked barbet, bat, etc are the major species which easily get attracted to the agricultural crops other than wild boars and small intruders in tropical evergreen forest type areas.
The financial loss caused by this creatures can be reduced by tight fencing or covering the trees or plants with net. But such loss due to inevitable encounters could not be completely safeguarded. It is due to the counter moves which make them easily get adapted.
The New Economic Disasters- A context from India
It was with curiosity that a Google search was initiated for finding the GSTIN with a state code that starts with 99. The matter is around a bill receipt that was received against the domain name registered in a popular platform ‘WordPress.com’ for the blog I used for creating content. The same GST number that have not been noticed last year when subscription was received at 90% discount. It is to be noted that the bill is only for registration and renewal of domain name. Availing the premium services or monetization of the website/blog (which is somewhat treated similar to making money from online gaming or gambling) need other subscriptions. The standard GSTIN is a 15 digit alphanumeric code that starts with the state code. In case if the GSTIN belongs to a non resident then the ‘N’ will be highlighted at the appropriate space in the GSTIN. A lightening that flashed through the mind while seeing the GSTN of non-residents was about the exemption of healthcare facilities from GST and hospitals displaying GSTIN before everywhere other than at the pharmacy. Here, the address of the vendor is shown as Automattic Inc., San Francisco, United States of America. As GSTIN is publically displayed, the vendor GST ‘99*19USA29016OS2’ is displaying here. It is notable that the ‘N’ for non-resident is absent. As read earlier if the company is a resident then they might have an office in the country. As there is nothing called GST number in USA, it is to be assumed that it is specifically registered for their Indian customers counterpart. Further searches that were followed by the initial searches shows that 99 is a special code assigned directly by the Centre and it will not be related to a specific State. When the GSTIN was searched it shows the same address in the bill and filing has been made by them in GSTR 5A every month. A doubt that has arisen was if the company is a non-resident then why do they charge tax from the retail customers who are not registered with GST. And there is reverse charge option for Indian companies with GSTIN who avail the service and as a result GST registration is not needed for such an American company. What might be the obligation of a US based company like Automattic.Inc to collect and pay tax to India? When the GST registration details were looked it shows that it is categorised under web hosting, online gaming, etc. It reminded about the noise that has break out against charging taxes for online gaming and tax notices sent to online gaming companies for earlier taxation periods and the ongoing litigation at SC of India. Some data shows that the ecosystem of Automattic.Inc is linked to 40% or more of the entire internet that relates to WordPress, Woocommerce, and so on. Some of the world’s popular organisations which uses the enterprise level premium subscription of WordPress (WordPress VIP) priced around 2 million INR are Meta, Microsoft, IBM, NASA, The White house, CNN, Aljazeera, Capegemini, etc. A plugin from WordPress is widely accepted for it’s scalability by Meta and news channels, as it can handle millions of visitors at a time during breaking news or product launches. Hence, it is an indirect way that Automattic Inc. through Woocommerce that they could know and understand about the activities of GST in India by availing their software for invoice generation, GST filing, etc. The standalone platforms of websites of financial sector like GST, banking, etc. demands privacy and are run by GOI in association with Indian tech companies with different coding features apart from the organizations hosted by WordPress. So no one can easily access the data from GOI and it could act as a hindrance for their interference. It was with immense pride that our leadership clapped hands for reporting formats like xbrl by companies like Infosys, TCS, etc. Yes, it was of course secure. But, one day when our female workforce who are behind the development and maintenance of software system was negotiated by some groups for their advantage it was not only their personal modesty that got troubled. It was the national security that got breached. Since it was an act that has the potential to threaten and destroy entire Indian economy, specifically through banking, such culprits need to be treated under UAPA itself. But, the network which want to derail our security tries constantly for our degradation. Some of the countries that share border with India have enmity towards us from the earlier days. Earlier, it was only our citizens who were there at other countries especially in the Arab regions co-existed with them and have communications with those citizens from such countries which have enmity towards us. But the gateways of communication are easily available to everyone in this times of communication revolution and AI. Recently, at such a context on a near war situation at the global front our NSA tweeted and urged everyone for their contribution against the acts of national security in their individual capacity since it is beyond the reaching hands of military. It is heart breaking that some of the groups in the party based political ecosystem with well structure and functional organisations containing violent groups together with their youth organisations which responds for each and every actions that affect the society were the ones who were primarily hijacked years before and are acting like a mechanism for some anti-national groups. Later, the youth and active ones belonging to some backward communities who do not rely on history were also misused by such enemy hands against themselves as well as the mainstream communities for injecting their ideologies according to their will and needs. Fancy names like narcotic jihad were not considered seriously by our society since it sounds like it will not hurt the society as there are elderly insiders among them who have global exposure within such culprits to oppose against such activities. But, the situation has changed and is different now. The population which obeys the rule of law has declined. It is somewhat alarming that the number of persons in the main stream society who got abused or intoxicated with narcotics or similar substances and thereby pushing to fell them with health issues that affect brain and mind for opposing such unlawful activities have been increased. The role of internet based networking is notable behind such changes.While looking back it can be seen as caution only since it becomes easy for the enemies to fasten their operations in a place where Finance, Law and healthcare are compromised. A lot of cultural exchange have happened due to LPG. But, economic reforms which emphasises LPG turned into a question mark at such a moment when inflation and less GDP hit simultaneously, though we have survived the recession of 2008. It didn’t affected our national economy directly. It is applauded that humanitarian elements and fraternity bonds have increased globally and visibly there is no one as strangers. On a contrary internet based networking channelized into a new economic corridor from 2005 by the so called creepy organisations of the world with the emergence of social media platforms like Orkut, Facebook, etc. The back door immigrations continued even after India got independence. It still remains suspicious and together with it a new challenge in the form of cyber space was really a terrible hit. The system has not acquired such development to employ the majority of its citizens into government sponsored jobs throughout this decades. It was when we are going through such a context that we got hit by a cockroach remark towards that category of unemployed youth. The countrymen who crossed the national boundaries for employment due to lack of required amenities in the country would also be needed to get dignified if they return back due to overcrowd of Indians in such countries, non receipt of salary and incomes due to geopolitical issues, etc.
Is Ethanol E20/E30 refined
It is a topic of discussion for centuries that crude oil reserves cannot be measured. As a result caution was there for the utilisation of available crude oil. Researches are carrying out around the globe for finding the alternatives to crude oil. To depend the under ocean for each and every activity in the ground results in the easy depletion of resources. Hence it was cautioned that every available alternatives need to be explored. It was in such a context that bio fuels were started to explore. But the fuels that were processed from plants had a different octane compared to the natural petroleum. Such bio fuels were a reason for higher fumes and increased pollution. So recently it was claimed by some reports that blending of ethanol is very effective. But what is the speciality of E20/E30? E20/E30 are simply bio products processed from natural resources like sugarcane. The energy we get from drinking sugarcane juice or its by products like beverages is very good for health. But over use of it results into life style diseases like diabetic and in a future date it may result into the failure of some parts of the body. When the same sugarcane is distilled and blend into petrol the constituents in petrol will change. In the case of E20, it is claimed that there is 20% of Ethanol. But sources does not admit that the ethanol blend is refined and it does not affect the lifetime of vehicles. But it is promoted with a tagline that crude oil use will be decreased. May be it is true. But the damage produced to the engine of vehicles are still not clearly stated. If a vehicle can completely run on alcoholic substitutes like ethanol it will be an achievement for the environmental researchers. Petroleum mining can be reduced and the impact of climate change due to the release of heat and other emissions from crude oil can be decreased. In the meantime the profit of companies that produce ethanol has also been increased. But as a matter of contradiction, even the carriages used to transport Ethanol from the place of manufacturing to the fuel stations at a distant place do not depend on Ethanol blend. So the credibility of Ethanol mix itself is questioned. As a result the reliability itself has been questioned if there would be a successfully processed E95/E100.
That random code
That awkward moment when you see a guy going to a restaurant. It is the same place that he go for solo dinner occassionaly. A locality that is under survival due to its typical nature. The restaurant has a seating capacity of above 30. It is a place he reached recently. He sit beside the dining table. His order has taken and the food is served. A POLICE inspector on duty at the circle come for his dinner. By the time the guy is about to start eating. When the inspector is near him on the way to wash, he try to align the seating as the chair was not in order. The guy thought that they find him suspiciously when they comes to sit opposite to him accompanied, which was due to a gesture of aligning the seat. Though he thought that the inspector finds him suspiciously but simultaneously another guy who was watching from outside stares at him like he was also a cop and was showing respect to his superior officer. After completing the dinner the inspector goes to wash his hand. By the time the guy completed his food and he follows the officer to hand wash. All of a sudden the power supply goes off and all lights have turned off. The inspector said to turn on ’emergency’ (emergency lamp). But the flashlight doesn’t work in the guy’s phone when he try to turn it on. The guy replies there is no ‘Flash’. When coming out from hand wash area other peoples and restaurant workers* might look each other like ‘is it a secret code’?
An innovation every phone photography enthusiasts waited
Last few years witnessed the change of gadgets used for photography from traditional professional cameras to handheld mobile devices. Though there was a lot of experimentations in the field almost everything has been turned out like shutting of a sprout for the case of images that need zooming. Then a lot of mobile phones released with the feature of 200 megapixel cameras. It was a success up to certain level. But such cameras also lacked clarity due to deficiencies in processing. The camera features and quality of the mobile phone also matters in this regard. Alternatively there was a gadget called telephoto lens which can be used as an external device to extend the camera zooming. Actually it provides the utilities of a binocular or telescope and the image which is focused with it will be captured on the mobile phone. But the biggest drawback of such a gadget was lack of precision. It is at such a time entered a revolutionary camera phone called Vivo X300Pro. What makes it unique is a simple technology used to attach the telephoto lens, which is already available in the market, with the camera of the phone. On a contrary, when the same type of gadget has been used to capture some photo using different phone models a lot of details were missing. When the precision of telephoto extender is in tune with the processing capabilities of dimensity 9k series which got attached to each other using a small piece of joiner which is probably an engineering marvel of 3D technology, it resulted into a mesmerizing effect of magic. A lot of stunning photographs have been shot by majority of top wildlife photographers using x300 pro and displayed as promotion.
The network with unorganised title
It is a significant custom that society determines our future. But sometimes the expectations of society and our experiences based on social expectations will have contradictions. The trends followed by some members of a society might be different from the family traditions of some other people. A lot of aspects which becomes the cause of such diversities of our societies determines the importance of connecting with each other. When two or more persons get connected as legal entity with perpetual succession for daily bread or livelihood it will be called as a company. Generally the company which is registered under a Company law will be categorised under organised sector and those which falls outside of registration are collectively called unorganised sector. Sole proprietorship is one of the most misinterpreted term in the unorganised category. Since partnership requires a minimum of two persons either at decision making, capital contribution, profit sharing, etc the vast majority of sole proprietorships that we see today falls under partnership business. Only some small entities labelled as proprietorship are meaningful in this regard for the entitlement. As such small proprietorship businesses have adequate capital, products are basically produced by themselves (mostly food items), no additional requirements to depend on experts for tax related or other financial decisions, etc. they do not have any inter dependencies. They manufacture and sell the goods by themselves. Most probably uses the profit for operations of the business and the remaining for livelihood. But, as a contradiction a lot of proprietorships we see around us are actually ‘partner in profits only’ and hence it need to be entitled as partnerships. When a stationery shop which is registered as proprietorship sells a biscuit from ‘abc brand’ of ‘xyz company’ they are getting the shared profit from ‘xyz company’. Since a company can have partnership some companies execute contracts to have partnership with businesses which are sometimes registered as proprietoriship. But even after the execution of such a deed the proprietary business still address themselves as proprietoriship for getting themselves free from regulatory compliances.
Gold standard; a different perspective
During the last millennial Gold became a standard of transaction apart from using it as ornaments. Then gold has been used as a medium of guarantee for the issue of cash. So whenever there is an issue of currency then gold became a necessity. Gold which is a rare Earth metal that was considered very difficult to obtain was there by entitled as so precious. Some people have even considered it as sacred due to its non availability. Mining of gold is regarded as difficult and hence considered as a costly process. Earlier in some countries ornaments were worn to deities as an honour. Later it became a practice to shield the statues and sculptures of divine importance with gold. Gold as a medium of regular transaction has been started with the popularity of gold loan by which Gold is pledged for taking loan and returns it when the loan is closed. But Gold is not used in the transfer of electricity even though it is the best conductor. If the gold that is kept in the custody of people as ornament or an asset to safeguard against inflation is used for transferring electricity then it would be a great revolution. When it is used as ornament it is similar to keeping a car in a car porch for years without using it. Moreover if kilograms of Gold is extracted in a single day it need to be reconsidered whether it is rare or abundant.
A success story which lasted more than 50,000 kilometres
Traveling is an unavoidable event of every movable living being. If the mode of transportation causes depletion of natural resources it need to be reconsidered. Whether the fuel used in the vehicle is renewable or not matters in this view. Another thing to be considered is the parts used in a vehicle. The parts which need to be replaced occasionally should also be monitored carefully. Optimum utilisation of resources is the factor to be considered at this point. One such part of every vehicle, whether it is two wheeler or a vehicle with twenty wheels, which can be used 3 or 4 times more is the tyre. From a personal experience it can be stated that by efficiently co-ordinating the different aspects of driving a vehicle the life span of a rubber tyre which lasts 10,000 or 20,000 kilometres can be increased to 50,000 kilometres or so.
Buying new tyres every 5,000 or 10,000 kilometres is a craze for someone, more specifically college students. On the other hand it is only a source of money drain. It is not even desirable to buy new tyres without utilising it properly. Moving at a speed of 80km/hr or more and applying brakes constantly without considering whether it is necessary or not is a cause for such a huge wear and tear. A better control of the speed is important in this regard. When the speed is limited the necessity to apply brake will be decreased. Eventually it reduces the friction and it results in reduced wear and tear.
Usually the tyres that are available in the market will be made out of rubber which may be natural rubber or any synthetic versions. A tyre will never have any signs of wear and tear if it is used to roll for a century. Because no kind of stress or friction is applied on it. But the complete story of a tyre’s life is determined on the application of brake either to slow down, down shift of gear or stopping the vehicle. We can analyse and classify the application of brake into vital, essential or desirable. City ride, slopes, etc. and actions like sudden brake, braking at curves, etc., are vital and can never be avoided. Apart from such actions there can be slow down actions or down shift of gear in the regular course of action. Slow down actions can be effectively done by reducing the acceleration in accordance with timing which gives a result that is equivalent to braking. Thereby an effective braking can give more span to tyres, brake pad, engine etc.