2 years of Demonetisation

5 trends that defined India’s digital payments industry 

Two years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi put the entire nation in a frenzy. In one stroke, the government made Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes invalid, leaving the country of 1.3 billion in a limbo.

As citizens queued up outside banks to deposit old currency notes in exchange for new ones, the digital payments ecosystem saw a huge opportunity to open up. Right after the prime minister announced the ban on high-value currency notes.

And they did!

Two years later,

All payment and settlement systems – NEFT, IMPS, UPI, NACH, card payments, Electronic Clearing Systems as well as Forex and market clearing systems – have seen a 44.6 per cent increase in volume in 2017-18 and an 11.9 percent increase in the value of funds transferred.

In the annual report, RBI also said that during the financial year 2016-17, the volume of transactions through digital payment systems witnessed a 56 per cent increase, with the value of funds increasing by 24.8 per cent.

Transactions across the digital retail payment infrastructure, which includes card payments, UPI and others increased to 92.6 per cent in 2017-18, up from 88.9 per cent in the previous year. [Report here]

The RBI also said the share of paper-based clearing instruments reduced from 11.1 per cent in 2016-17 to 7.4 per cent in 2017-18, showing a strong trend in favour of digital payments.

The growth of debit cards stalled after Demonetisation 

From FY16 to FY17, the total number of credit and debit cards grew by almost 29 per cent, but this trend didn’t quite sustain in the next financial year. Card growth fell sharply in FY18, growing at 1.5 per cent, with total physical cards in the country standing at almost 900 million.

This can be attributed to the slow growth of debit cards post demonetisation, which showed less than 1 per cent growth between FY17 and FY18. Credit cards maintained an average 20 per cent increase year-on-year.

Debit card growth in the country is now back on track, having grown 13.6 per cent as of August this financial year. As of August 2018, there were a total of 1.02 billion credit and debit cards in the country.

Acceptance of digital infrastructure   

Acceptance of digital infrastructure has grown since demonetisation with the number of Point of Sale (POS) terminals increasing by 24 per cent from 2.53 million in 2016-17 to 3.08 million in 2017-18, according to the RBI. During the same period, the number of ATMs deployed by banks witnessed a marginal decline from 222,475 to 222,247.

The digital infrastructure still needs to expand as currently, for a total 1.02 billion credit and debit cards in the country, there are only 3.3 million PoS devices and only 228,422 ATMs.

That means for every 309 million cards in the country there is one PoS machine available as an acceptance point.

UPI – the real winner

When it comes to digital payments, Unified Payments Interface has been the real winner.

Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushing digital payments app BHIM which runs on the UPI infrastructure, the total volume of UPI payments stood at 17.9 million in FY17. And the value of funds transferred for the same period, stood at Rs 6,900 crore, according to the RBI.

In 2017-18, after the adoption of UPI by private players like Google, Paytm and others, the total number of transactions skyrocketed by more than 5,000 per cent. In FY18, the total number of UPI transactions stood at 915.2 million and total funds transferred on the service stood at Rs 1.09 lakh crore.

Within eight months of this year, according to data from National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI transactions in the country have already crossed the 2 billion mark with a total Rs 3.42 lakh crore being transferred.

Content credit: Your Story

How to download your ITR-V from the Department website?

ITR-V stands for tax assessment and IT department for taxpayers to verify the validity of their e-application. This applies only to those who have no digital signature file. ITR-V is easier to get from your home or office. This is the essence of the following steps.

Step 1:  Go to the Income Tax India website and log in.

income tax

Step 2:  Select the “View Returns/ Forms” option to see e-filed tax returns.

income tax review form

Step-3: Click on the confirmation number to download your ITR-V. You may also choose to confirm your income tax. To confirm an email, select the option “Click here to view your refund waiting for email confirmation”.

income tax ITR-V

Step 4:  Select ITR-V/Acknowledgement to begin the download.

Acknowledgement ITR-V

Step 5: Once you have downloaded, enter the password to open the document. The password is your PAN number in lower case with birth date.
Example:

PAN: AAAPA2211F

Date of Birth: 01/01/1965

Password: aaapa2211f01011975

Step 6: Print, write and send this document to CPC Bangalore within 120 days from the filing date. Address and instructions here.

ITR-v e-filling

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Complete Guide to ITR-4 Form

The report, issued by the Ministry of Finance, the deadline for filing tax returns is extended from 31 July 2018 until 31 August 2018.

For the year of assessment 2018-19, the format was changed to include the GST part with detailed financial information. The old tax form ITR-4S was renamed ITR-4.

1. What is the ITR 4 for AY 2017-18 and 2018-19 AY?
Form ITR-4 is the tax return form for those taxpayers who have opted for the scheme estimated income under section 44 ad, 44ADA Section and Section 44AE the Income Tax Act. However, if the turnover of the business referred to above is greater than Rs 2 crore, the taxpayer must submit an ITR-third

Click here to download the ITR-4 for the assessment year 2018-19

download

What is the structure ITR 4 for AY 2018-19 and 2017-18 AY?

ITR-4 is divided into:

  • Part A: General information
  • Part B: gross total income of the five chapters Revenue
  • Part C: deduction and the total taxable income
  • Part D: The tax calculation and tax status
  • Checking and signing of the return
  • Schedule BP: Details of income from business
    * (For AY 2018-19, the form has been modified to include details of GST, along with detailed financial information to be provided under Schedule BP)
  • Schedule AL: assets and liabilities at year-end (applicable if the total income exceeds Rs 50 lakh)
  • Schedule IT: application for payment of advance tax and self-esteem.
  • Schedule-TCS: Statement of taxes withheld at source.
  • TDS1 Schedule: The application of the tax withheld at the source of wages.
  • TDS2 Schedule: The application of the tax withheld at the source of income other than wages.
  • Additional schedule TDS1
  • Additional schedule TDS2
  • Additional schedule IT
  • Additional schedule TCS

2. What is the structure of MFI 4 for AY 2018-19 and 2017-18 AY?

Here are a few general guidelines to keep in mind when filling out your form ITR-4:

  • If a schedule does not apply to you, hit him, and through him to write -NA-
  • If an item does not apply to you, write NA against him
  • Show zero digits «Nil»
  • Located – sign in front of negative numbers “”
  • All figures should be rounded to the nearest one rupee except for indicators on the total profit/loss and tax payable. Those have to be rounded to the nearest multiple of ten.
  • If you are an individual, under the employer category you need to tick the government if you are Central / State Government employee. You must tick PSU if you work in the public sector companies in Central / State Government.

3. How do I file the ITR-4 form for AY 2017-18 and 2018-19 AY?

You can send the ITR-4 form online or offline.

Offline:

Form ITR can be filed only in the standalone mode in any of the following cases:

  • The individual has an age of 80 years and more.
  • Individual income is less than Rs 5lakhs and which do not require compensation in the income tax return.

The return may be filed in standalone mode:

  • By providing a return in the form of physical securities
  • Providing return barcode
  • Income tax department will give you a confirmation at the time of your physical paper return.

Online:

  • By providing a return in electronic form in accordance with the digital signature
  • When transferring data in electronic form, and then supplying verification return form of return ITR-V.

If you submit your ITR-4 form in electronic form in accordance with the digital signature confirmation will be sent to your registered email id. You can also download it manually from the income tax website. Then you have to sign it and send it to the IRS CTC office in Bangalore within 120 days of e-filing.

Remember that ITR-4 is fewer APPENDIX forms, i.e. you do not have to make all the documents when you send it.

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