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Monday 29 February 2016

New PF Tax Amendment - Ending "Interest Subsidy" in Unpopulist way

Ok so first of all let me say that this proposal of taxing the 60% of withdrawal of PF (Provident Fund) amount at time of maturity is really a bold step and may be one of the most Un-populist step taken by any government in recent times affecting large section of middle class. It might have been done to make it equal to other tax saving options but can have negative impact on popularity of NDA government and also this tax change doesn't apply on PPFs that many people invest into for tax saving that has 15 years lock-in period. 

As per new rule if you are withdrawing PF at maturity time, 60% of total amount will be taxable unless you invest that amount again into an annual pension scheme of government that pays you monthly pension amount. The total amount will not include the money deposited in PF until March 2016, that means:

  • If you are an existing PF account holder and have deposited 5 lakh in your PF account so far, this 5 lakh will be tax free totally, and 60% of the amount added from April 2016 till the maturity time will come under consideration for tax.
  • If you are new PF account holder from April 2016, whatever you deposit into PF account, 60% of that will come under consideration of new tax proposal.
  • Not only this, if employer contribution is more than 1.5 lakh in a year, that amount also will be taxed on annual basis based on same rule, so it will become tax on already taxed income at time of maturity.  

Now to understand PF, it is called “Interest Subsidy” by many economists, because first of all almost 17% of your CTC (combing Employee + Employer share) becomes tax free , then you get the highest possible risk free compounding interest ( more than 8-9% ) on it by Government year on year and then at time of maturity it used to be totally tax free so far before this new budget proposal, so may be Modi government has tried to break this jinx of one more subsidy too like other subsidies.

It is up to individuals how they read this move and Government might revert this decision in future, but as per government it is done to give level playing field to other investment options like NPS. As per Government, entire moto of PPF is to make source of constant income post retirement called Pension and if you opt for pension with that 60% of PF amount, you are still not paying any tax :)

Wednesday 24 February 2016

Flipkart outdoors - The day of outdoor activities with cool gadgets

Each one of us know that outdoor activities are good not only for physical health but also mental health, but how many of us get to do it and how often. There can be many reason for not doing it like lack of time, free space and accessories to make the activity a complete and fruitful one. With proper accessories one can not only enjoy the outdoor activities but also get the most benefit out of it.

For we bloggers in Bangalore, last Saturday was one such day at Flipkart Outdoors meet organized by Indiblogger and Flipkart in Mango Mist resort. There were many brands showcasing their products that are essential for outdoor activities and we got the chance to use those products while doing many physical activities. There were big MNC brands like Samsung, Garmin, Sony and many others. All of these brands had many products that could add value to our outdoor activities. The product varied from action camera to smart gears to outdoor activity specific shoes and many more.

The Event:

The event was organized by Indiblogger team and around 100 bloggers were part of it. It was happening to see so many bloggers excited for a full day event on lazy Saturday morning. We reached to venue by IndiBus at 9 AM and after awesome breakfast it was time to get ready for the activities. After initial breefing by Indiblogger Team about event, Bloggers were divided in separate teams and every team got chance to get information about the products being showcased by brands one by one and also some members of each time got chance to use those products for whole day doing different set of activities. Hosts made sure that we don’t walk hungry anytime so we were provided with awesome breakfast and lunch to feed energy within ourselves.

Team Indiblogger explaining the agenda 
The Brands:

The brands who showcased there product were Samsung, Sony ,Garmin, Red Chief, Polaraid cube, Altec Lansing and Coleman. All of these brads have different set of products that one can use in outdoor activities and value to the same.

Samsung had smart watches and smart gears that can keep track of essential parameters like heart rate of body and calorie burnt while doing the activities.


Sony had Sony action camera variance for normal photoshoot,wildlife and even under-water photo shoot. Many of these were advanced version of DSLR cameras.


GARMIN showcased its smart intelligence equipment like GPS tracker and bands for fitness tracking while performing physical activities.




Checking the steps count 
Polaroid Cube showcased some of the products that add value to working of your normal cameras like printing snaps instantly during outdoor activities and HD Cameras by Polaroid Cube of 


Red Chief showcased its various range of shoes that were suitable for outdoor physical activities, for a each type of activity there was a different shoe available.


Altec Lansing had Bluetooth speakers ,in-water earphones and various types of headphones that can take care of your boredom while doing any physical activities.


Coleman showcased products that can be really useful in outdoor activities like camping. The products ranged from Tents, sleeping bags, coolers and many more that can make your outdoor life more fun and exciting.


The Activities:

There were number of activities that one could take part in and show their physical strength, activities like rock climbing ( in hot weather with rock facing the scorching Sun) , walking on  Bamboo / Burma Bridge, Russian ladder, water and land zorbing ,archery and the most exciting Paint ball. In Paint ball 8 members team fought against each other and top 3 quickest winner got some awesome goodies as prize. 





All these activities required physical as well as mental toughness and many bloggers faced those challenges and out of them few conquered too. There were different set of prizes for all activities and the best performers were rewarded by Team Indiblogger and Flipkart, awards like winner in rock-climbing, calorie burning. As Twitter has become an essential part of Social media grid, the best tweets done from the event were also rewarded.

Aiming to shoot- Paint-Ball
To conclude the post, the event was one of its kind where we got to know the brands, the fellow likeminded bloggers and got to share weekend among them. We met many bloggers for 1st time and now we are connected to each other like never before. These events are not only fun but also add value to one’s social media circle in big way.     

At the last but not least, 3 cheers for Team Indiblogger for keep rocking with such events time after time and thank you Team Flipkart for being part of such an awesome weekend. Thanks to our #IndiBus driver and thanks to Mango mist resort for hosting us so well. 

All the awesome tweets for this event can be found on Twitter