The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is expected to retain the interest rate for its six crore account holders at 8.5% in 2010-11, with a formal announcement likely to be made in August. "I hope that the recommendation of 8.5% by the finance and investment committee of the EPFO will be retained," Central Provident Fund Commissioner S Chatterjee said. "The EPF rate will hopefully be finalised in the next EPF Board meeting, which is expected in August," he said. Asked if there was any shortfall in return from the current payout of 8.5%, Chatterjee said there was no deficit.
Though the deduction offered under Section 80CCD (1B) is `50,000 , it is not advisable to put the entire amount at one go. It is best to stagger your investments across several months, much like the SIP strategy in a mutual fund. However, don't make too many small contributions. There is a transaction charge of 0.25% or `20 (whichever is higher) on every contribution. If you invest `500-1,000 every month, you pay `20 per contribution, which works out to 2-4%. Invest at least `5,000-10,000 at one go. Remember, at most `2,500-5,000 of this will go into equities if you have chosen the maximum 50% allocation to stocks. The rest will flow into corporate bonds and gilt funds as per your desired allocation. Best Tax Saver Mutual Funds or ELSS Mutual Funds for 2015 1. ICICI Prudential Tax Plan 2. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund 3. HDFC TaxSaver 4. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund 5. Religare Tax Plan 6. Franklin India TaxShield 7. Canara Robeco Equity Tax Saver ...
