Five changes from this month that will impact your wallet

• Follow

Even the minutest changes in finance rules can have serious impacts on one’s personal finance regime. Come August and we have a flurry of changes in terms of new announcements and additions in the existing structure. From ATM transactions becoming expensive to ICICI Bank’s new rules on chequebooks and tax deadlines being pushed further, here’s a quick roundup of the upcoming personal finance changes this month.

NACH enables salary credit on bank holidays

The National Automated Clearing House (NACH) will now be available 365 days, irrespective of any bank holiday or weekend, to credit salaries, pensions and other debits including investments. It’s great news for those awaiting their salary to execute financial plans. There won’t be any unnecessary delay in crediting due to bank holidays or weekend at the start of the month. Until now, the NACH was functioning as per bank working days.

ATM transactions to pinch more

After the recent guidelines by the Reserve Bank of India, all banks can increase the interchange charge at ATMs by Rs 2. The interchange fee is charged by banks to all the merchants that process payments using the debit or credit card. The interbank charge can be increased from Rs 15 to Rs 17 for financial transactions as well as to Rs 6 from Rs 5 for non-financial transactions.

ICICI Bank’s new rules

From August 1, ICICI Bank customers will get the facility to conduct up to 3 transactions free of cost from non-bank ATMs in six metro cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. In other cities, 5 transactions will be free. This includes both financial and non-financial transactions. After crossing this limit, Rs 20 will be charged for financial transactions from non-bank ATMs and Rs 8.50 for non-financial transactions. This charge will be applicable on Silver, Gold, Magnum, Titanium, and Wealth cardholders.

Meanwhile, four transactions per month can be processed from ICICI Bank branch for free. After this, a charge of Rs 150 per transaction will be charged as per the new rules. This includes both deposit and withdrawal transactions. Not more than Rs 25,000 can be paid to third parties in a single day. Cash transactions are not permitted beyond this limit. Moreover, from August 1, in every financial year, a chequebook of 25 leaves will be made available free-of-cost. After this, Rs 20 will have to be paid for every 10 leaf chequebook.

Form 15CA/15CB filing deadline extended 

In view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the CBDT has announced further relaxation for taxpayers. It has extended the deadline for filing form 15CA/15CB which is an I-T department mandated filing requirement for any foreign remittances made. The new deadline for filing form 15CA/15CB is August 15. The previous deadline was July 15.

Penalty on self-assessment tax for dues above Rs 1 lakh 

While the Centre has pushed several deadlines due to the continued health crisis in India, certain rules remain unchanged. An official release in May stated that if an individual’s tax dues, after considering TDS deduction and advance tax dues, remain over and above Rs 1 lakh for the financial year 2021, then payment needs to be tendered on or before July 31, 2021. As per section 234A of the Income Tax Act 1961, penalty at the rate of 1% per month will be levied on those who meet the above criteria and failed to comply by July 31.