Finance and Taxation ( Most important concepts you need to know)

As an Indian, you need to be well versed in the important topics of finance and taxation. Being well versed in and knowledgeable on topics such as finance and taxation leads you to find financial opportunities that you may have overlooked previously.

This article aims to give you a brief overview of how finance and taxation work in India, along with some of the most important components that you need to keep an eye on.

Table of Contents:

1. What is finance?
2. Key concepts in finance
3. Investment and risk management
4. Importance of Risk Management
5. Role of risk management in investment
6. Risk Management Strategies
7. What is taxation?
8. What laws govern finance and taxation in India?
9. Tax Planning and Strategies
10. Understanding tax planning
11. Deductions and Exemptions (as of 2023)
12. Tax slabs for individuals
13. Tax slabs for companies
14. Penalties for non-compliance
15. Important points to remember about Finance and Taxation in India
16. Future Trends in finance and taxation

What is Finance? (Meaning of Finance)

Finance is the study of money. The field of finance deals with the concepts of money management, financial planning, money allocation, taxation, organization, control of money and other financial assets. Everyone should at least have a baseline understanding of how finance works in order to live a fulfilling life. The subject of finance is subdivided into three main categories:

• Personal Finance: Personal finance deals with the management of a person’s or his family’s financial position.
• Public Finance: Public finance deals with the management and allocation of the state’s money and other financial assets.
• Corporate Finance: Corporate finance deals with the management, allocation, and strategies relating to the finances of corporations and entities.

Key concepts in finance

To get a reasonable understanding of finance, you will have to a base-level understanding of the key concepts of finance. The key concepts of finance are:

• Risk and Return: Risk is the uncertain rate of return of an investment. This rate of return can either be positive or negative. Return is the % earned on the principle investment. A person ideally wants a healthy rate of return and low risk on their investment. That being said, the rate of return is also associated with the amount of risk. This basically means that the higher the risk, the higher the expected rate of return. This can be explained with simple examples. For instance, a bank fixed deposit is an example of a low-risk instrument where the depositor earns 7%–10% ROI based on the tenure chosen. If a person wants to increase their ROI, they will have to venture into higher-risk products like stocks, bonds, or derivatives like futures or options.
• Diversification: How can a person protect themselves against financial risk? One of the best ways to protect yourself from financial risk is through diversification. For instance, a person can put 50% of this investment in fixed deposits, 20% in bonds, and the rest in stocks. This is a basic example of diversification. The idea of diversification is to ensure that the risk component gets spread out. Legendary investor Ray Dalio talks about diversification through non-correlated instruments; this should be worth a read.
• Time Value of Money: Time is money. This is not just a statement; it is the truth. Why do we say this? Well, quite simply, because it takes time to earn money. Money requires time to earn an interest or a return on investment (ROI). Time is the fundamental component here that leads to wealth creation. Therefore, an investment that gives an ROI within a lower time frame with the same risk is considered superior compared to an instrument that gives the same ROI in a longer time frame with the same risk profile. 
• Financial Instruments: The world of finance functions on the back of financial instruments. It is well worth your time to investigate some of the most notable financial instruments and how they function. Some of the most important financial instruments include stocks, bonds, government bonds, options, futures, ETFs, mutual funds, index funds, REITs, and more.
• Management of Risk: Risk in an investment can be reduced through effective risk management. Every financial instrument has its own way of managing risk. A person should ensure they get an effective grasp of risk management with respect to the financial instrument they are using. For instance, if you invest in stocks, a way to manage risk would be to inculcate a stop-loss in your trades. There are various methods of risk management with different complexities.
• Financial Markets: It is important to understand the functioning of various types of financial markets like the stock market, bond market, money market, derivatives market, and more. Understanding the dynamics of how a financial market works will give you an edge.

Investment and Risk Management

Definition and importance of investment and risk management

• Definition of investment: An investment is the allocation of money with the expectation of earning interest or a return on interest (ROI) on a principal amount. Types of investments include stocks, bonds, government securities, property, fixed deposits, gold, precious metals, and more.
• Definition of risk management: Risk management is the art and science of managing the risk component of an investment.

Importance of Investments

•  Generates ROI: The fundamental role of an investment is to generate a return on investment, also known as ROI. An investment without a healthy ROI is considered a bad investment.
• Wealth through compounding: “My life has been a product of compound interest.” – Warren Buffett. There is a reason compound interest is considered as the eighth wonder of the world. Investments that compound ought to be wealth creators over a long enough time scale. Understand how compounding works in order to give yourself the best chance for wealth creation.
• Combat inflation: Inflation is a silent killer. The cost of goods and products is increasing day by day as the amount of liquidity in an economy increases. How can we combat inflation? We can combat inflation by buying high-quality assets that appreciate in value. Check out the 9 assets  that beat inflation above.
• Retirement Planning: Planning your retirement early on can be a great gift to your older self. As per a survey, over 80% of urban Indians fear that they will run out of money in retirement. That is rather unfortunate, and you should ensure that you participate in proper retirement planning early on.
• Passive Income: Investments are a great way to earn passive income. Passive income is the kind of income that you earn without actively working. Examples of passive incomes include dividend income, fixed and recurring deposit interest, bond interest, and more.
• Financial Independence: As per a recent survey, around 72% of Indians do not know how to achieve financial independence.  Another survey stated that around 50% of Indian women are not financially stable. 

These figures alone should ensure that you immediately work towards a brighter and more financially secure future by participating in responsible investments.

 Importance of Risk Management

Every investment comes with inherent risks. Managing these risks is the key to ensuring long-term and safe returns on your investment. Every investment comes with its own set of risk management techniques and strategies. That being said, they share similar importance. Mentioned within are the most important factors concerning risk management.

• Loss Minimization: Effectively managing risk leads to the mitigation of losses. Remember, it is important that your investments give you returns in a safe and steady manner. Ideally, you do not want to invest in highly speculative and dangerous instruments.
• Creates Growth: Effectively managing your risk ensures that you are able to stay in the game for longer, effectively increasing your chances of growth and prosperity.
• Asset Protection: Managing risk properly ensures that the asset in question is protected and secure. For instance, if your asset is your stock portfolio, effective risk management techniques will ensure that your portfolio is reasonably secure against adverse market conditions.
• Stability: Risk management leads to stability. High-quality risk management strategies will mitigate some of the most inherent risks of an investment, like liquidity risk, market risk, and more.
• Peace of Mind: Having quality risk management metrics in place leads you to be in a more peaceful state, knowing that your assets will be protected in the event of volatility. This peaceful state leads to better decision-making and more growth and success.

 Role of Risk Management in Investment

Mentioned within are the top 3 roles of risk management in investment.

• Identifying Risks: Risk management begins with identifying the risks associated with the type of investment. There can be no mitigation or elimination of risk if a person cannot identify the risk in the first place. The most important types of risks in finance and investments are liquidity risk, credit risk, market risk, sovereign risk, political and regulatory risk, and interest rate risk. A high-quality risk management system must take into account all of the above-mentioned risks and attempt to identify them as early as possible.
• Reduction or Elimination of Risk: Once risks are identified, they now need to be mitigated, reduced, or even eliminated if possible. Some of the most important risk reduction strategies in investment and finance include diversification, effective asset allocation, stop-loss, timely monitoring and review, and more.
• Assessment of Risk and Return Trade-off: Effective risk-to-return assessment or trade-off deals with assessing the ideal amount of risk a person is capable of or should be capable of taking. For instance, the risk and return trade-off of a young person will be drastically different compared to the risk and return trade-off of a senior citizen. Further, the risk-return trade-off is dictated by the financial position of the individual.

Risk Management Strategies

• Diversification: Diversification is the fundamental way in which an investor mitigates their risk. Through effective diversification, an investor can attempt to reduce the total standard deviation of his portfolio, thereby increasing its stability. For instance, an investor can invest in a diverse portfolio that is made up of stocks, bonds, fixed deposits, REITs, and more.
• Monitoring and Review: Every investor needs to regularly monitor his or her investment. This regular monitoring and review is crucial and ensures that the investor is taking in any important news relating to his or her investment.
• Hedging: Hedging is the concept of taking the opposite position from an existing investment or trade with the aim of reducing the risk factor of a portfolio. A popular example of hedging is buying an option short straddle. This is an advanced options trading hedging strategy. Some of the other hedging strategies include futures hedging, currency hedging, pair trading, forwards contracts, and swaps.
• Back-testing: Back-testing is a technique used by stock market and derivative market traders and investors. Through back-testing, an investor will enter into a set of virtual trades and ascertain whether these trades have performed well under different market conditions in the past.
• Non-correlated asset allocation: This is one of the keys to successful risk management, as per legendary investor and trader Ray Dalio. Ray Dalio is an advocate of non-correlated asset allocation. What is non-correlated asset allocation? Non-correlated asset allocation is when an investor invests in two or more non-correlating financial instruments, so if they invest in two financial instruments, instrument A and instrument B, and both are non-correlated, then the changes in price of instrument A will have no bearing on the price changes in instrument B, and vice versa. The idea behind this is that the entire portfolio will have higher stability and robustness if investments within it are non-correlated.

What is taxation?

Taxation is a charge imposed by the government on individuals as well as corporations. They may be direct taxes like income tax and corporate tax or indirect taxes like sales tax, GST, excise duties, entertainment tax, and more.

These taxes are utilized by the government for a variety of purposes like defence, infrastructure, development, welfare schemes, growth schemes, education schemes, and more.

What laws govern finance and taxation in India?

• Income Tax Act, 1961: The Income Tax Act, 1961, governs the collection of income tax for both individuals and corporations. This act lays down the rules and regulations with respect to income tax in India. 
• The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act, 2017: The GST Act, 2017, governs the indirect taxation that occurs in India. The indirect taxes include taxes on sales and purchases made within India. GST replaced a variety of indirect taxes like VAT, service tax, and excise duty and brought them under a single umbrella tax called GST.
• Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Act, 1992: The SEBI Act governs taxation with respect to the buying and selling of listed securities in India. For instance, if a person is buying or selling a share on the NSE or BSE, he or she will have to pay a Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on every share they buy or sell.
• Customs Act, 1962: The Customs Act deals with the levy and collection of custom duties on imports and exports from India. Understanding the Customs Act, 1962, would be crucial to a cross-border Indian trader.

Apart from the above acts, there are also other acts like the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, and more that govern parts of taxation in India.

Tax Planning and Strategies

Let us now dive into what is the meaning of tax planning and some of the most popular and notable strategies concerning tax planning in India.

Understanding Tax Planning

Tax planning is the process of arranging finances in such a way that minimizes the tax load of a person or a corporation. Effective tax planning leverages incentives, deductions, exemptions, tax refunds, and other such tax planning techniques. Mentioned within are the most important aspects of tax planning

• Managing finances: In order for you to participate in effective tax planning, you will need to first ensure that your finances are effectively managed. It would not be wise to be in a position where you have not factored in your tax liability in advance, and are waiting for the last moment to know what your tax liability is. You must always manage your finances in such a way that lowers your tax liability along with ensuring that you know what your tax liability will be well in advance of the due date.
• Deductions and Exemptions: Deductions and exemptions are the most important tools when it comes to effective tax planning. Every prudent tax planner leverages deductions and exemptions to lower their tax liability. In India, there are a list of deductions that you can leverage.
• Understanding short-term and long-term gains: In India, long-term capital gains and short-term capital gains are taxed at different rates. Also, there are various techniques that save tax in India by understanding how long-term and short-term capital gains works in India. For instance, a person can save on long term capital gains by selling a property by investing in another property within a year. There are a variety of other techniques that are helpful to save long-term capital gains tax in India. 

Let us talk about some of the most important tax planning tools such as deductions and exemptions

Deductions and Exemptions (as of 2023)

Mentioned within are a list of deductions and exemptions in India as of 2023.

Deductions under Section 80C

• Life Insurance Premiums
• Public Provident Fund (PPF)
• Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS)
• Post Office Time Deposit (POTD)
• Home Loan EMI
• Stamp Duty and Registration (Subject to certain conditions)
• National Saving Certificate (NSC)
• Equity-Linked Saving Scheme (ELSS)
• Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY)
• 5-year tax-saving FD
• Infrastructure bonds

Deductions under Section 80CCC and 80CCD

• Annuity plan offered by insurance company (Subject to conditions)
• Employee Contribution Under Section 80CCD(1)
• Self Contribution Under Section 80CCD(1B)
• Employer’s Contribution Under Section 80CCD(2)

Deductions under Section 80D, 80DD, and 80DDB

• Health insurance premium paid
• Expenses against the care-giving of a disabled person
• Deduction that can be claimed by a person who is providing medical expenses for medical treatment of a person suffering specific special types of illnesses.

Deductions under Section 80E, 80EE, and 80EEA

• Interest paid on higher education loan
• Subsidy from Tea Board
• Interest paid on home loan

Deductions under Section 80G, 80GGB, 80GGC, and 80GG

• Relief fund contributions
• Dividend earned from Indian companies, income from Unit Trust of India, Mutual funds and income from venture capital.
• Profits earned from free trade zones, electronic hardware technology park or on software technology park for up to 10 years.
• Donations made to a registered political party
• Rent paid towards an unfurnished house

Deductions under Section 80RRB, 80TTA, 80TTB, and Section 80U

• Royalty payments
• Salary income earned as an interest
• On gross income earned by senior citizens up to a certain amount
• Individuals suffering from a disability

Exemptions under 10(1), 10(2), 10(2A), 10(3), 10(4) and 10(6)

• Agricultural income
• Share from income of Hindu Undivided Family (HUF)
• Share of profit from firm whose taxes are filed separately
• Income received in a casual form (not more than Rs.5,000)
• Interest earned from notified bonds or NRE account
• Income of foreign citizens like ambassadors and diplomats of foreign nations

Exemptions under 10 (7), 10 (8), 10 (10), 10 (10A), and 10 (10AA) 

• Income received while serving the Indian government head
• Payments from foreign governments for taxes due in India
• Gratuity received by a government servant
• Pension received from the government or statutory body
• Leave encashment for central / state government employee 

Exemptions under 10 (10B), 10(10D), 10(16), 10(17), 10(17A), 10 (18), and 10 (19) 

• Commission received by employees for retrenchment
• Receipt from life insurance policy
• Scholarship to meet cost of education
• Allowances of MP and MLA. (Subject to certain terms and conditions)
• Awards and rewards by central and state government.
• Pension received by gallantry award winners
• Pension received by the family of armed forces of India.

Exemptions under 10(26), 10(26A), 10(30), 10(31), 10(32), 10(33)

• Income of members of scheduled tribes of North Eastern States or Ladakh region. (The income should be earned from the area itself)
• Income of a resident of the state of Ladakh. (His or her income can arise in Ladakh or outside India)
• Income of a resident of the state of Ladakh. (His or her income can arise in Ladakh or outside India)
• Subsidy from Tea Board
• Subsidy from any concerned board under approved scheme of replantation
• Income of minor clubbed with individual (maximum of Rs.1,500)
• Dividend earned from Indian companies, income from Unit Trust of India, Mutual funds and income from venture capital

Exemptions under 10(A), 10(B), and 10(C)

• Profits earned from free trade zones, electronic hardware technology park or on software technology park for up to 10 years.
• Profits form complete export oriented undertakings, manufacturing articles or computer software for 10 years
• Profits from newly established undertakings in IIDC or IGC in the North-Eastern region for up to 10 years

Exemptions under 10(15)(i)(iib)(iic), 10(15)(iv)(h), 10(15)(iv)(i), 10(15)(vi), and 10(15)(vii)

• Interests, premiums, redemptions or any other payments that you get from securities, bonds, capital investment bonds, relief bonds, etc. that are notified. The exemption limit is to the extent that is notified.
• Interest paid by public sector company on its bonds and debentures.
• Interest that the government pays on the deposits made by employees of central and state government or public sector employees for their retirement
• Interest received on notified gold deposit bonds
• Interest received on notified local authorities’ bonds

Exemptions under 10(5), 10(5B), 10(7), and 10(8)

• Leave travel assistance or concession received. (The amount should not exceed the amount payable by the central government to its employees)
• Remuneration received by technicians who have specialized knowledge in specific fields. Their service must commence after 31.3.93 and their tax should be paid by the employer. The exemption limit is in respect of tax paid by employer for a period of up to 48 months
• Allowances and perquisites that the government provides to citizens of India who provide their services abroad
• Remuneration received from foreign governments for duties in India (provided it is under cooperative technical assistance programmes)
• You will also get exemption for income arising outside India provided that the tax on that income is paid by the government

Exemptions under 10(10), 10(11), 10(13), 10(13A), 10(14), and 10(18)

• Death-cum retirement gratuity from government, payment made under Gratuity Act, 1972 the amount must be as per section(2), (3) and (4) of that Act and up to one and half month’s salary for each completed year of service.
• Payment received under Provident Fund act, 1925 and other central government notified bonds.
• Payments received from approved superannuation fund.
• House rent allowance, the exemption is either the least of actual allowance, actual rent in excess of 10% of the salary or 50% of salary in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Calcutta and 40% in other places.
• Prescribes special allowance or benefits granted to meet expenses that incur in performing your duties, the exemption is granted to the extent of expenses that actually incur.
• Pension amount that includes family pension of recipients of notified gallantry awards.

Source: https://incometaxindia.gov.in/Charts%20%20Tables/Deductions.htm

Penalties for Non-Compliance

In India, there are a variety of penalties that will be levied for the non-compliance of income tax payments. Mentioned within are some of those:

• Penalty for under reporting income: If a person under reports his or her income he or she is liable to pay 50%-200% penalty of the unreported tax amount under Section 270A of the Income Tax Act.
• Penalty for late payment: Under Section 221 of the Income Tax Act, if a person makes a late payment of his taxes, he or she will have to pay an interest of 1% to 1.5% of the tax amount due per month.
• Penalty for unpaid taxes: Under Section 234A, if a person does not pay their share of tax, he or she is liable to pay the taxes along with interest.
• Seizing of assets: Under section 132 of Income-tax Act, 1961, the Income Tax Department has the authority and power to seize assets after attaching them for the non-payment of taxes. They have the power to sell these assets and recover the tax amount.
• Imprisonment: u/s. 51, the I.T Department has the authority to arrest a person and begin prosecution against them. If prosecuted, the person can be jailed for a period of three months to seven years.

Tax Slabs for Individuals

Tax slabs for indivuduals are categorized as as tax slabs for the old tax regime and tax slabs for the new tax regime. Let us mention both of them below.

Tax Slabs for Individuals (old tax regime)

Tax Slabs for Individuals (new tax regime)

Tax Slabs for Companies

For Domestic Companies

For Foreign Companies

Source: https://incometaxindia.gov.in/pages/i-am/foreign-company.aspx

Note: If the net income of a foreign company ranges from ₹ 1 crore – ₹ 10 crore, then a 2% surcharge is levied to it. A surcharge of 5% is levied if its net income exceeds ₹ 10 crore.

Additional Charges: A Health and Education Cess of 4% is applicable on the sum of income tax plus surcharge, irrespective of the level of a company’s net income. Further, any company availing benefits of Section 115BAA are exempted from paying Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) under Section 115JB.

Important points to remember about Finance and Taxation in India

Mentioned within are some of the most important aspects that every Indian needs to know about finance and taxation in order for them to at least get a baseline understanding of how finance and taxation works in India, and to be financially knowledgeable.

 Important points to remember about Finance

• Diversification: Diversification is the cornerstone of effective investment. Always ensure that all of your eggs are not in the same basket. Diversification reduces the volatility of a portfolio while simultaneously increasing its stability.
• Compounding: Do not underestimate the power of compounding. Compounding works its magic in mysterious ways. Did you know that a small amount of ₹ 10000 if compounded at 12% CAGR for 40 years will turn into ₹11,86,477.25?
• Regulations: Always be cognizant of the regulations surrounding your activity. For instance, if you are in banking, be cognizant of RBI norms. If you are into the trading of stocks and derivatives, you will have be aware of SEBI norms. Always be up to date with the latest changes in norms and regulations.
• Financial Institutions: The gatekeepers of finance are the financial institutions. It is prudent to understand how financial institutions like banks, stock exchanges, derivate markets, and more function. Knowing this will give you holistic knowledge about finance.

Important points to remember about Taxation

• Tax Slabs: Remember, tax is calculated based on the tax slab you fall into. Therefore, it is important to keep up to date on any changes in the tax slab. For instance, if you earn between 0- ₹ 2,50,000, you are not liable to pay any tax, but if you earn over ₹ 3,00,000 (under new regime), you are liable to pay taxes.
• Deductions and Exemptions: Deductions and exemptions should be leveraged as much as possible to lower your tax burden. Arrange your lifestyle and finances in such a way that you can effectively leverage deductions and exemptions.
• Advance Tax: Remember, as per section 208 of the I.T Act, every person whose estimated tax liability for the year is ₹ 10,000 or more, shall pay his tax in advance.
• Double Taxation: The concept of double taxation is relevant to Indians earning their income from abroad. Ensure that the country that you are earning an income in has a taxation treaty with India, where you do not need to pay double tax on the income earned.
• Short-term and long-term capital gains Tax: Ensure that you are well versed with the concepts of short-term and long-term capital gains. Knowing these concepts thoroughly will help you to lower your tax liability in the future.

Future Trends in finance and taxation

Scope of A.I in Finance in India

• Risk assessment: There are A.I systems currently in place with notable banks and financial institutions that can ascertain the credit worthiness of a potential borrower. Effective assessment increases the likelihood that the borrower will return the money to the financial institution thereby improving the financial stability of the entity.
• Customer Care: A.I chat systems are being integrated within the customer support of banks and financial entities. These A.I chat systems can be trained on custom data and answer a host of customer queries using NLP. The NLP component ensures that the A.I chatbot chats like a human being, thereby improving the conversion rate of every conversation.
• A.I Trading: A.I algorithm trading systems have been in place for quite a while, but the recent advancement in chip making is bound to increase the productivity of these A.I systems even more.
• Predictive analytics: A.I systems can analyze a vast amount of data like economic indicators, customer data, behavioral data, price patterns, and more, and create complex models that can predict future course of events, making it an invaluable tool to financial institutions.

Scope of A.I in Taxation in India

• Tax compliance monitoring: A.I systems can be placed where they can analyze huge chunks of data and ascertain whether an individual or corporation is practicing tax avoidance or evasion techniques.
• Fraud Detection: Tax fraud is an unfortunate reality. That being said, A.I can help tax authorities to pin-point occasions of tax fraud, malpractices, and concerning behaviors. These A.I systems can flag fishy events, and the authorities can take the relevant action.
• Tax Planning: A.I is also poised to play an interesting role in tax planning. Imagine feeding an A.I system your financial information, and the system telling you how you can effectively arrange your taxes in such a way that your tax liability is lowest.
• Risk Assessment: Risk assessment profiling can be done using A.I where risky behavior or other discrepancies in the tax filings of individuals and corporations. Authorities can decide on acting on this information based on the reports generated by the A.I.

Digital transformation in finance and taxation

• Unified Payments Interface (UPI): UPI has been a major innovation and disruptor in the Indian financial sector. In May 2023, 9.41 billion UPI transactions occurred in India. Such huge volumes of online transactions are bound to make a lot of transactions taxable that were previously not taxable. It will also increase the gross spending within India.
• E-invoicing: E-invoicing is integrated within the GST portal, where businesses can directly upload electronic invoices to the portal. This is done with the view to reduce tax evasion.
• Income tax e-filing: Income tax can now be filed directly by the tax payer through the I.T e-filing portal, making tax payments easy and seamless. Payments can also be made using UPI.
• Aadhaar integration: Aadhar has been integrated into taxation and finance, with the intention to reduce frauds, increase tracking, and reduce tax avoidance and evasion.