Mediclaim policyholders, who are not satisfied with the service of their existing service providers, will be able to switch to another insurer soon without any change in the premium outgo. However, this facility will be available to those policyholders who are insured for a sum of Rs 1 lakh and above, to begin with. It has been decided to widen the cover, according to the recommendation submitted by the General Insurance Council, an association of non-life insurers. Issues have been sorted out and it has been suggested that portability would be allowed for sum insured over Rs 1 lakh, General Insurance Council secretary-general SL Mohan said. Insurers will be able to sell such health covers once the regulator has approved it, he added. The policyholders will be able to switch their health cover providers with the same benefits retained once they have bought this cover.
DDT is deducted when a non-equity fund declares dividends. Equity and balanced fund dividends are tax-free The AMC is correct to deduct the dividend distribution tax (DDT) as it is mandated by tax laws. DDT in mutual funds is deducted every time a non-equity fund declares dividends. Equity fund and balanced fund dividends are tax-free . It is possible that you have invested in a non-equity fund for the first time or have received the dividend under a non-equity fund for the first time. That is why this is the first occasion when you have come across DDT. The rate at which non-equity schemes deduct DDT has also gone up after the July 2014 budget. This is due to a change in calculation methodology. Earlier, if the fund has to declare a dividend of R 100, it used to make a provision for R 128.3, paying R 28.3 to the taxman and distributing the balance to the investor. This allowed the investor to bear less tax since the effective tax rate was 22.07 per ce...
