By
Sunil Dhawan, ECONOMICTIMES.COM
Even
after several decades, Public Provident Fund (PPF) Scheme, 1968 continues to be
a favourite savings avenue for several investors. After all, the principal and
the interest earned have a sovereign guarantee and the returns are tax-free. The
principal invested qualifies for deduction under Section 80C of the Income Tax
Act, 1961 and the interest earned is tax exempt under Section
10.
With
interest rates on taxable fixed income investments coming down, PPF remains a
suitable alternative for allocating debt portion of one's investment portfolio.
Allocation to equities through diversified equity mutual funds is equally
important, especially when the goals are at least seven years away.
In
1968-69, PPF offered a 4 per cent per annum interest (inflation was -1 per cent)
and today it offers 8 per cent (inflation at 5 per cent), while from 1986-2000
it offered 12 per cent (inflation varied between 3.3 and 13.7 per cent).
PPF
is a 15-year scheme, which can be extended indefinitely in block of 5 years. It
can be opened in a designated post office or a bank branch. It can also be
opened online with few banks. One is allowed to transfer a PPF account from a
post office to a bank or vice versa. A person of any age can open a PPF account.
Even those with an EPF account can open a PPF account.
One
can deposit a maximum of 12 times in a year, but remember to deposit before the
5th of the month to get interest for the full month, as the interest is allowed
on the lowest balance at the credit of an account from the close of the 5th day
and the end of the month. Many investors deposit a lump sum amount right at the
beginning of the financial year. There are provisions to take loans and make
partial withdrawals from the scheme as well.
With
the tax-saving season on, many of us are looking to open a PPF account. Here are
a few things to consider before opening one.
Effective
interest
PPF
is a debt-oriented asset class, i.e., one's investment is not exposed to
equities and hence returns are not linked to the stock market performance. The
interest rate on PPF returns are set by government every quarter based on the
yield (return) of government securities. Currently, it offers 8 per cent
interest per annum till March 31, 2017.
As
the interest is tax-free, the effective pre-tax yield for someone paying tax at
10.3 per cent, 20.6 per cent and 30.9 per cent rates will be 8.91 per cent,
10.07 per cent and 11.57 per cent per annum respectively.
Deposit
limit
While
the minimum annual amount required to keep the account active is Rs 500, the
maximum amount that can be deposited in a financial year is Rs 1.5 lakh. One can
open a PPF account in one's own name or on behalf of a minor of whom he is the
guardian. This is the combined limit of self and minor account.
If
contributions are in excess of Rs 1.5 lakh in a year, the excess deposits will
be treated as irregular and will neither carry any interest nor will this excess
amount be eligible for tax benefit under Section 80C. This excess amount will be
refunded to the subscriber without any interest.
PPF
in the name of minor
A
PPF account on behalf of a minor can be opened by either father or mother. Both
the parents cannot open a separate account for the same minor. An individual
may, therefore, open one PPF account on behalf of each minor of whom he is the
guardian.
At
times, grandparents are interested in opening PPF for their grandchildren. PPF
rules however, do not allow them to do so, when the parents of the minor are
alive. They can open the account only if they are appointed as legal guardian
after the death of the parents.
Number
of accounts
An
individual can open only one account in his name either in a post office or a
bank and he has to declare this in the application form for opening the account.
Persons having a PPF account in the bank cannot open another account in the post
office and vice-versa.
If
two accounts are opened by the subscriber in his name by mistake, the second
account will be treated as irregular account and will not carry any interest
unless the two accounts are amalgamated. For this, one has to write to the
Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) and get its
approval.
Premature
closure of PPF account
Unlike
in the past, when only loans and partial withdrawals were allowed, now even
premature closure of the PPF account is possible. It will, however, be allowed
only after the account has completed five financial years and on specific
grounds such as treatment of serious ailment or life threatening disease of the
account holder, spouse or dependent children or parents, on the production of
supporting documents from the competent medical authority.
If
the amount is required for higher education of the account holder or the minor
account holder then, on production of documents and fee bills in confirmation of
admission in a recognised institute of higher education in India or abroad,
premature closure of the PPF account is allowed.
Nomination
The
application form of PPF (Form-A) does not carry the provisions for nominations
as it is to be filled in a separate form. Make sure to fill the nomination form
(Form-E) at the time of opening a PPF account to avoid any legal hassles for the
nominee later on.
Attachment
The
PPF account and its balance cannot be attached by a court and hence the debtors
cannot access one's PPF account to claim the dues, if any. However, it does not
apply to the income tax authorities and so the amount standing to the credit of
subscriber in the PPF account is liable to attachment under any order of income
tax authorities with respect to debt or liability incurred by the
subscriber.
Conclusion
PPF
suits those investors who do not want volatility in returns akin to equity asset
class. However, for long-term goals and especially when the inflation-adjusted
target amount is high, it is better to take equity exposure, preferably through
equity mutual funds, including ELSS tax saving funds.
Comparing
them, however, is not warranted as both are different asset classes, with one
generating around 8 per cent returns as compared to the others around 12 per
cent. The latter has a higher maturity corpus (with relatively more volatility)
than the former (with relatively more volatility.) Diversifying one's savings in
PPF and equities would serve the purpose rather than relying entirely on any one
of them.
Source
: The Economic Times
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