Reduce your Medical Bills

It is not necessary to follow the brand name that your doctor prescribes. You need to follow the generic name. A simple to use website and a good way to reduce the cost of your and your family's medical bill. 

Medicines are prescribed by brand name & not by the generics (Ingredients). Hence we end up paying more money for the same medicine. Would like to share something extremely interesting, which would not only educate you with contents of medicine you're consuming but also save large sums of monies. 
 
I've tried it myself with Mox 500 (Ranbaxy) which was prescribed to a family member last week. Cost per capsule came to over Rs. 9.65/- whereas another medicine with similar properties (Amoxycillin) of Indoco Remedies (Dicimox Kid 500 mg) came to Re 1.75/-. 

Follow these few steps to know more & start saving on your medical bills.

1. Log on to http://www.medguideindia.com/

2. Click on 'Drugs'
 
3. Click on 'Brand'

4. Type the brand name which you are using (e. g. Metocard XL (50 mg). The site will also help you with drop down menu) & Click on 'Search'

5. Click on 'Generics'. It will display the ingredients of the tablet.

6. Click on 'matched brands'

7. Don't be surprised to see that same drug is available at very low cost also. And that to by other reputed manufacturer. e. g. Metocard XL 50 is for Rs. 62.00 & same drug by Cipla (Mepol) is available ONLY @ Rs. 7.00. 

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt 

Sales Tax versus Value Added Tax

How sales tax is calculated?

Assume the business chain: Raw Material Supplier → Manufacturer → Retailer → Consumer

Let Raw Material Supplier Price = Rs 100

Cost of Raw Material to Manufacturer = Rs 100

Let Selling Price charged by the Manufacturer = Rs 120

Cost to Retailer = Rs 120

Let Selling Price charged by the Retailer = Rs 150

The Actual Selling Price charged = Rs 150 + 10% ST on Rs 150 = Rs 150 + Rs 15 = Rs 165

Tax Collected by Retailer and submitted to the Government = Rs 15

Overall Tax Collected = Rs 15

Raw Material→(Rs 100)→Manufacturer→(Rs 120)Retailer→(Rs 165)→Consumer

Important:

1. Tax is collected by retailer only and submitted to the government.
2. Each chain member has to ensure that the next member is not a consumer by verifying his business documents.

How value added tax is calculated?

Assume the business chain: Raw Material Supplier → Manufacturer → Retailer → Consumer

Let Raw Material Supplier Price = Rs 100

Tax Collected by Raw Material Supplier and submitted to the Government = Rs 10

Cost of Raw Material to Manufacturer = Rs 100 + 10% VAT = Rs 100 + Rs 10 = Rs 110

Let Selling Price charged by the Manufacturer = Rs 120

Actual Selling Price charged by the Manufacturer = Rs 120+10%VAT=Rs 120+Rs 12=Rs 132

Tax Collected by Manufacture and submitted to the Government = Rs 12 - Rs 10 = Rs 2

Cost to Retailer = Rs 132

Let Selling Price charged by the Retailer = Rs 150

The actual Selling Price charged by the Manufacturer =Rs 150+10% VAT=Rs 150+Rs 15=Rs 165

Tax Collected by Retailer and submitted to the Government = Rs 15 - Rs 12 = Rs 3

Overall Tax Collected = Rs 10 + Rs 2 + Rs 3 = Rs 15

Raw Material→(Rs 110)→Manufacturer→(Rs 132)→Retailer→(Rs 165)→Consumer

Important

1. Tax is collected by each member and submitted to the government.
2. The responsibility of ensuring sales to non-consumer is void.
3. Accounting of VAT paid to govt. to the predecessor and collected from next member has to be done by each chain member. Thus costing on account of accounting increases at each chain level.

Meta-Market

It has been described as a cluster of complementary goods and services that are closely related in the minds of consumers but are spread across a diverse set of industries. 

How to fill Income Tax Return Online

1.      Go to any website that aids e-filing of your Income Tax Return eg: www.cleartax.in

2.      Create an account by typing in your email address and choosing a password

3.      Fill in Permanent Information such as your Name, PAN number, Date of Birth and Father's Name.

4.      If you earn Income from Salary, then specify the Income charge-able under the head ‘Salary’. Also specify the name of your employer. Here is detailed guide to understanding your Form 16

5.      If your employer has deducted TDS, specify the amount they deducted. Also specify their TAN number and Address. You should find this in your Form 16 Click on "Save" to continue. If you have multiple Form-16s (In case you have you changed jobs during the year), then click on the bottom right where it says "I want to add another Form-16".

6.      If you earn Income from Bank Interest, Fixed Deposits, etc - you can declare this income here. Specify the total Interest earned by you during the Financial Year 2011-12.

7.      For those who pay an EMI on housing loan, you can claim the Interest paid on the loan as a tax deduction. The upper limit is Rs. 1,50,000 on Self Occupied House Property (House that is your residence). You can skip ahead if you don't own a House Property.

8.      Similarly, if you have a Rental Property from which you earn Rent, you can add this information. Skip ahead if you don't own a rental property.

9.      Deductions Under Section 80: Specify total amount invested in Section 80C. This can include payments for LIC, PPF, NSC etc. Also school fees for children. You can claim the principal amount of your housing loan. The limit is Rs. 1 Lakh. You can declare your charitable donations which are tax deductible under Section 80G.

10.  More Deductions Under Section 80: You can specify other deductions such as Section 80D (For medical insurance), Section 80E (For Interest paid on education loan), Section 80DD, Section 80U, Section 80CCC, Section 80CCF, Section 80DDB, Section 80GG etc.

11.  Bank Details for getting your Income Tax Refund: You need to specify your Bank Account number to the Income Tax Department. For this you need your Bank Account Number and your MICR code.

12.  Review your Income Tax Return before filing: You should review your Income Tax Return by looking at the Word Report and the ITR PDF preview offered by ClearTax. Make sure everything is correct before actually e-filing your Income Tax Return.

13.  Final Step: E-file your Income Tax Return. Once you click this button, ClearTax submits your Income Tax Return to the Income Tax Department server. 14. The Income Tax Department will send you ITR-V after a few days to your email address. Sign and send this to CPC, Bangalore. Detailed guide for signing and sending your ITR-V to CPC, Bangalore is provided here.

14.  The Income Tax Department will send you ITR-V after a few days to your email address. Sign and send this to CPC, Bangalore.Detailed guide for signing and sending your ITR-V to CPC, Bangalore is provided here.

Leave Rules (Chapter-II)

CHAPTER II

General Conditions

 

1. Right to leave

                                 (i)         Leave cannot be claimed as of right.

                                (ii)        When the exigencies of public service so require, leave of any kind may be refused or revoked by the authority competent to grant it, but it shall not be open to that authority to alter the kind of leave due and applied for except at the written request of the Government servant.

2. Regulation of claim to leave

A Government servant’s claim to leave is regulated by the rules in force at the time the leave is applied for and granted.

3. Effect of dismissal, removal or resignation on leave at credit

                                 (i)         Except as provided in Rule 39 and this rule, any claim to leave to the credit of a Government servant, who is dismissed or removed or who resigns from Government service, ceases from the date of such dismissal or removal or resignation.

                                (ii)        Where a Government servant applies for another post under the Government of India but outside his parent office or department and if such application is forwarded through proper channel and the applicant is required to resign his post before taking up the new one, such resignation shall not result in the lapse of the leave to his credit.

                               (iii)       A Government servant, who is dismissed or removed from service and is reinstated on appeal or revision, shall be entitled to count for leave his service prior to dismissal or removal, as the case may be.

                               (iv)       A Government servant, who having retired on compensation or invalid pension or gratuity is re-employed and allowed to count his past service for pension, shall be entitled to count his former service towards leave.

4. Commutation of one kind of leave into another

                                 (i)         At the request of a Government servant, the authority which granted him leave may commute it retrospectively into leave of a different kind which was due and admissible to him at the time the leave was granted, but the Government servant cannot claim such commutation as a matter of right.

[Provided that no such request shall be considered unless received by such authority, or any other authority designated in this behalf, within a period of 30 days of the concerned Government servant joining his duty on the expiry of the relevant spell of leave availed of by him.]

                                (ii)        The commutation of one kind of leave into another shall be subject to adjustment of leave salary on the basis of leave finally granted to the Government servant, that is to say, any amount paid to him in excess shall be recovered or any arrears due to him shall be paid.

NOTE.- Extraordinary leave granted on medical certificate or otherwise may be commuted retrospectively into leave not due subject to the provisions of Rule 31.

5. Combination of different kinds of leave

Except as otherwise provided in these rules, any kind of leave under these rules may be granted in combination with or in continuation of any other kind of leave.

EXPLANATION.- Casual leave which is not recognized as leave under these rules shall not be combined with any other kind of leave admissible under these rules.

6. Maximum amount of continuous leave

Unless the President, in view of the exceptional circumstances of the case otherwise determines, no Government servant shall be granted leave of any kind for a continuous period exceeding five years.

7. Acceptance of service or employment while on leave

                                 (i)         A Government servant (other than a Government servant who has been permitted a limited amount of private practice or who has been permitted to undertake casual literary work or service as an examiner or similar employment) while on leave, including leave preparatory to retirement shall not take up any service or employment elsewhere, including the setting up of a private professional practice as accountant, consultant or legal or medical practitioner, without obtaining the previous sanction of –

                                                        (a).      the President, if the proposed services or employment lies elsewhere than in India; or

                                                       (b).      the authority empowered to appoint him, if the proposed service or employment lies in India.

                                (ii)         

                                                        (a).      No Government servant while on leave, other than leave preparatory to retirement shall ordinarily be permitted to take up any other service or employment.

                                                       (b).      If grant of such permission is considered desirable in any exceptional case, the Government servant may have his services transferred temporarily from his parent office to the office in which he is permitted to take up service or employment or may be required to resign his appointment before taking up any other service or employment.

                                                        (c).      A Government servant while on leave preparatory to retirement shall not be permitted to take up private employment. He may, however, be permitted to take up employment with a Public Sector Undertaking or a body referred to in Clause (a) of sub-rule (2) of Rule 38 and in that event also leave salary payable for leave preparatory to retirement shall be the same as admissible under Rule 40.

                               (iii)        

                                                        (a).      In case a Government servant who has proceeded on leave preparatory to retirement is required, before the date of retirement for employment during such leave in any post under the Central Government in or outside.  India and is agreeable to return to duty, the unexpired portion of the leave from the date of rejoining shall be cancelled.

                                                       (b).      The leave so cancelled under Clause (a) shall be allowed to be encashed in the manner provided in sub-rule (2) of Rule 39.

                                                        (c).      Deleted.

                               (iv)       Deleted.

  

Leave Rules (Chapter-I)

Preliminary

1.      Short title and commencement

                                 (i)         These rules may be called the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972.

                                (ii)        They shall come into force on the 1 day of June, 1972.

2.      Extent of application

Save as otherwise provided in these rules, these rules shall apply to Government servants appointed to the civil services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union, but shall not apply to-

                                 (i)         Railway servants;

                                (ii)        persons in casual or daily-rated or part-time employment;

                               (iii)       persons paid from contingencies;

                               (iv)       workmen employed in industrial establishments;

                                (v)        persons employed in work-charged establishments;

                               (vi)       members of the All India Services;

                              (vii)      persons locally recruited for service in Diplomatic, Consular or other Indian establishments in foreign countries;

                             (viii)     persons employed on contract except when the contract provides otherwise;

                               (ix)       persons in respect of whom special provisions have been made by or under the provisions of the Constitution or any other law for the time being in force;

                                (x)        persons governed, for purposes of leave, by the Fundamental Rules or the Civil Service Regulations;

                               (xi)       Persons serving under a Central Government Department, on deputation from a State Government or any other source, for a limited duration.

3.      Definitions

                                 (i)         In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires-

                                                        (a).      “Administrator” means an Administrator of a Union Territory;

                                                       (b).      “Audit Officer” means the Accounts and Audit Officer, whatever his official designation, in whose circle the office of the Government servant is situated;

                                                        (c).      “Authority competent to grant leave” means the authority specified in Column (3) of the First Schedule to these rules, competent to grant the kind of leave specified in the corresponding entries in Column (2) of the said Schedule;

                                                       (d).      “Completed years of service” or “one year’s continuous service” means continuous service of specified duration under the Central Government and includes the period spent on duty as well as on leave including extraordinary leave;

                                                        (e).      [“Date of retirement” or “date of his retirement” in relation to a Government servant, means the afternoon of the last day of the month in which the Government servant attains the age prescribed for retirement under the terms and conditions governing his services.]

                                                        (f).      “Department of the Central Government” means a Ministry or a Department of the Central Government as notified from time to time and includes the Planning Commission, the Department of Parliamentary Affairs, the President’s Secretariat, the Vice-President’s Secretariat, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Secretariat;

                                                       (g).      “Foreign service” means service in which a Government servant receives his pay with the sanction of Government from any source other than the Consolidated Fund of India or the Consolidated Fund of any State  [or the Consolidated Fund of a Union Territory];

                                                       (h).      “Form” means a Form appended to the Second Schedule to these rules;

                                                         (i).      Government servant in quasi-permanent employ” means-

A.    an officer who, having been declared by the Union Public Service Commission to be eligible for appointment to the Ministerial Services of the Government of India, has been appointed to a temporary or officiating vacancy on the understanding given to him in writing before he took up the appointment, that that vacancy is expected to become permanent but is not confirmed after completion of three years’ continuous service;

B.     an officer who may be declared as quasi-permanent under the Central Civil Services (Temporary Services) Rules, 1965.

                                                         (j).      “Government servant in permanent employ” means an officer who holds substantively or provisionally substantively a permanent post or who holds a lien on a permanent post or who would have held a lien on permanent post had the lien not been suspended;

                                                       (k).      “Head of Mission” means Ambassador, Charged’ Affairs, Minister, Consul-General, High Commissioner or any other authority declared as such by the Central Government, in the country in which the Government servant undergoes a course of study or training;

                                                         (l).      “Military Officer” means an officer of the Armed Forces who is-

A.    a Commissioned Officer of the Army, the Navy or the Air Force, or

B.     (i) a Junior Commissioned Officer (including an honorary commissioned officer), or an ‘other rank’ of the Army, or

(ii) a Branch List Officer or rating of the Navy, or

(iii) an airman  including a Master Warrant Officer of the Air Force;

                                                     (m).      “Vacation Department” means a department or part of a department, to which regular vacations are allowed, during which Government servants serving in the department are permitted to be absent from duty.

                                (ii)        Words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Fundamental Rules and Supplementary Rules shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Fundamental Rules and Supplementary Rules.

4.      Government servants on temporary transfer or on foreign service

                                 (i)         Government servants to whom these rules apply shall continue to be governed by these rules while on temporary transfer to the Indian Railways or to a State Government or while on Foreign Service within India.

                                (ii)        In the case of Government servants on foreign service outside India (including service with UN agencies within or outside India) or on temporary transfer to the Armed Forces of the Union, these rules shall apply only to the extent provided in the terms and conditions of foreign service or temporary transfer, as the case may be.

5.      Transfer from services or posts governed by other leave rules

Unless it be otherwise provided in these rules, a permanent Government servant to whom these rules do not apply –

                                 (i)         when transferred temporarily to a service or post to which these rules apply, shall remain subject to the leave rules which were applicable to him before such transfer;

and Provided that where a Military Officer not in permanent civil employ has elected to draw civil rates of pay, his leave shall be regulated as per the provisions under these rules:

Provided further that in the event of his release/discharge from the Armed Forces, he shall carry forward the annual leave due to him with effect from the date of such release/discharge.

                                                        (a).      when appointed substantively to a permanent post to which these rules apply, shall become subject to these rules from the  date of such appointment, in which case the leave at his credit under the rules previously applicable to him shall be carried forward subject to the maximum limits of accumulation as laid down in Rule 26.  The leave so carried forward shall first be exhausted before the leave earned under these rules is availed of.  The leave salary in respect of the leave carried forward shall be borne by the (Department or the Government from which the Government servant proceeds on leave):

Provided that in the case of Military Officer, half pay leave equal to the number of days of furlough shall also be carried forward in addition to the earned leave equal to the number of days of annual leave on the date he is so appointed, it would be permissible to grant him under the leave rules of the Armed Forces.

6.      Transfer to industrial establishment

If a Government servant governed by these rules is appointed in an industrial establishment wherein his leave terms are governed by the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948), the authority competent to grant leave shall suo motu issue an order granting cash equivalent of leave salary in respect of earned leave at his credit subject to a maximum of 300 days (w.e.f.1-7-1997) and also in respect of all the half pay leave at his credit.  The cash so granted shall be a sum equal to the leave salary as admissible for earned leave and/or leave salary as admissible for half pay leave plus dearness allowance admissible on that leave salary at the rates in force on the date the Government servant ceases to be governed by the provision of the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972.  From the leave salary paid for the period of half pay leave, if any, for which the cash is payable, deductions shall be made equal to the pension, which he would have got had he retired from service on that date and pension equivalent of other retirement benefits and ad hoc relief/graded relief on pension.  If the leave salary for the half pay leave component falls short of the deemed pension and other pensionary benefits, cash equivalent of half pay leave shall not be granted: Provided that the earned leave and the half pay leave so granted does not exceed the period between the date on which he is appointed in an industrial establishment and the date on which he would have retired in the normal course after attaining the age prescribed for retirement under the terms and conditions governing his service: Provided further that in the event of his return to a post or service to which the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, apply, the benefit of compensation against the terminal leave under Rule 39 will be modified as under –

                                 (i)         On superannuation – Encashment of unutilized earned leave on that date will be subject to the condition that the number of days of earned leave for which encashment has already been allowed under this rule and the number of days of earned leave to be enchased on superannuation does not exceed 300days (w.e.f.1-7-1997).  Cash equivalent of half pay leave already made under this rule shall be recovered.

                                (ii)        On premature retirement – Cash equivalent of unutilized earned leave and half pay leave applied for by way of terminal leave under Rule 39 would be subject to the condition that the number of days of earned leave for which the encashment had already been allowed under this rule and the number of days of earned leave applied for as terminal leave do not exceed 300days (including the number of days for which encashment has been allowed along with Leave Travel Concession while in service.  Deduction of pension and pension equivalent of other retirement benefits shall be made from the cash equivalent in lieu of half pay leave component of terminal leave:

Provided that the earned leave and the half pay leave so granted together with the earned leave and the half pay leave for which cash equivalent of leave salary was granted to him on the earlier occasion does not exceed the period between the date from which he is to retire prematurely and the date on which he would have retired in the normal course after attaining the age prescribed for retirement under the terms and conditions governing his service.