SBI had introduced home loans linked to RBI Repo rates as the benchmark in July 2019. This was before the RBI mandated all fresh floating rate loans to retail borrowers from October 1, 2019 to be linked to an external benchmark. SBI had used Repo rate linked lending rate (RLLR) as the benchmark. RLLR was… Continue Reading
When we are looking for home loans, we tend to go with the loan product that charges the lowest rate of interest. What if the bank were to charge you a negative interest rate? Essentially, the bank pays you to take a loan from them. Not possible? Well, a Danish Bank has just done that.… Continue Reading
The Reserve Bank of India has cut Repo rate by 110 basis points since the beginning of the year (2019). However, the banks have reduced their weighted average lending rates by 29 bps. If you have a floating rate home loan, then this news is not very comforting. This is a very common grievance for… Continue Reading
Union Budget 2019 announced an exclusive tax benefit of Rs 1.5 lacs for loans taken to purchase electric vehicles. Good news for those who plan to purchase electric bike or car in the next few years. The tax benefit is under Section 80EEB. I briefly touched upon the tax benefit in my post on Union… Continue Reading
In July 2019, the National Housing Bank (NHB) directed the Housing Finance Companies to refrain from lending under Interest Subvention Schemes to developers. Under an interest subvention scheme (80:20 scheme or any other nomenclature), you pay 20% of the purchase value upfront and the bank disburses the remaining 80% cost to the builder upfront. The… Continue Reading
The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, presented the final budget for the FY2019-2020 on July 5, 2019. The Interim Budget was present in February this year. The new budget retains the relief offered to the taxpayers and adds a few tax incentives for the taxpayers. At the same time, there will a small section of taxpayers… Continue Reading
In December 2018, RBI had proposed that all fresh floating rate loans from April 1, 2019 must be linked to an external benchmark. The implementation has since been deferred. It is now up to the banks to come up with products linked to an external benchmark. Citibank had launched a home loan product in the… Continue Reading
Income Tax Slabs Remain Unchanged Taxable Income Age < 60 years Taxable Income Senior Citizen (60 <= Age < 80 years) Taxable Income Very Senior Citizen (Age >= 80 years) Rs 2.5 lacs – Rs 5 lacs 5% Rs 3 lacs – Rs 5 lacs 5% Rs 5 lacs – 10 lacs 20% Rs 5… Continue Reading
A common grouse among many loan borrowers is that banks are very keen to hike the interest rates when the rates are moving up in the economy. However, banks are not very prompt to pass on the benefit when the rates are going down. Do you fall in the same category of borrowers? If you do not… Continue Reading
The Budget 2018 was presented on February 1, 2018. The Finance Minister did not propose any changes to the income tax slabs and tax rates. However, much needed relief was granted to senior citizen tax-payers. There were a slew of other relief measures for senior citizens. However, the biggest setback has come to equity investors, where the… Continue Reading