- Where can you purchase mutual funds - banks, brokerage houses, third party distributors
- Fill out form - you will need your PAN number for that
- Get receipt/acknowledgment as proof that you have invested in the fund
- Fund House will send you regular statements on your status and NAV of your units
- You can choose to invest through a SIP scheme - Systematic Investment Plan. Allows you to invest small amounts of money at regular intervals. Helps you avoid market timing and you can enter the market with a small amount of capital rather than a lump sum. You can also set up an electronic transfer directly from your bank through the ECS transfer facility, so you don't have to write a cheque every month
- How can you educate yourself about MF's - read personal finance magazines like Outlook Money or Money Today or the personal finance sections of business newspapers; may newspapers like Hindu or Business Standard also carry weekly reports on the mutual funds
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...
