We have come across various relaxations provided by the Government, in view of coronavirus-induced lockdown. Some of these concessions ended on 1st July 2020. These include
- a waiver of charges levied on ATM transactions,
- penalties for non-maintenance of minimum balance in savings account. .
Relaxations on ATM withdrawal removed
- The government, on March 24, announced that for three months there would be no charges or limits on withdrawal of money from any ATM. From July 1, this relaxation came to an end.
- From July 1 onwards, five transactions are free in a month at one’s own bank ATM at any location.
| For metros | In case of other banks, if you’re based in any of the six metro cities namely Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru, you shall get three transactions free per month irrespective of any bank you withdraw cash from. |
| For non-metros | In case of other banks, first five transactions free in case of other banks’ ATMs in a month. |
| Transaction charges | After these free transactions, the debit cardholder will be charged a maximum of Rs 20 per transaction plus taxes, if any, as per the Reserve Bank of India guidelines. |
| Fine for non-maintenance of minimum balance. | Yet another relaxation on non-maintenance of minimum balance announced by the Finance Minister now stands exhausted. |
Buying duty on buying shares and mutual funds
Changes to stamp duty on financial securities were first slated to come into effect on April 1 but were deferred till July 1 on account of the lockdown. From July 1, stamp duty will be levied on buying financial instruments such as mutual funds, and shares. Following is the rate chart:
| Instrument | Rate |
| Issue of Debenture | 0.01% |
| Transfer and Re-issue of debenture | 0.00% |
| Issue of security other than debenture | 0.01% |
| Transfer of security other than debenture on delivery basis; | 0.02% |
| Transfer of security other than debenture on non-delivery basis | 0.00% |
| Government Securities | 0% |
| Repo on Corporate Bonds | 0.00% |
| Futures (Equity and Commodity) | 0.00% |
| Options (Equity and Commodity) | 0.00% |
| Currency and Interest Rate Derivatives | 0.00% |
| Other Derivatives | 0.00% |
**Source: Finance Ministry
This stamp duty will only be levied on buy transactions and not while selling units of financial instruments.
Penalty on late payment of tax
- The government also provided relaxation on the interest rate charged on late payment of advanced tax, self-assessment tax, regular tax, TDS, TCS, equalisation levy, STT, CTT, between March 2020 and June 2020.
- However, any delayed payment made after July 1, 2020 will attract a penal interest of 12/18 per cent as applicable.
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