Selvamagal Savings Scheme to PAN Card. This will Change from january 2025. Important Things

Chennai: There are changes in various government services and schemes from january 2025. Here is a list of what kind of changes they are.

Change 1

The central government has extended the deadline for UAN activation and linking bank accounts with Aadhaar to avail benefits under the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) scheme till january 15.

The earlier deadline was december 15. The Provident Fund Organisation has now announced that it will extend this deadline till january 15, 2024. Earlier, the deadline was fixed till november 30. Generally, there is a Universal Account Number (UAN) to avail of EPFO services online. Before using it, it needs to be activated. UAN is a 12-digit number, which is given to employees by EPFO. The deadline for activating this is january 15.

In addition, the central government has extended the deadline for linking bank accounts linked to EPFO with Aadhaar until january 15. A bank account should be linked to Aadhaar so that whenever money is paid through EPFO, the money will be transferred directly to the bank account linked to it. The central government has extended the deadline for this until january 15.

A few days after the introduction of PAN 2.0, the central government is now said to be preparing to introduce the EPFO3.0 scheme. Currently, withdrawing PF money is a very difficult thing. This is going to change. Accordingly, it is said that the scheme is going to be changed so that subscribers can directly receive PF amounts through ATMs.

The Ministry of Labor is also said to be working on issuing cards to facilitate PF withdrawal through ATMs. This facility is expected to be operational by May-June 2025, which will provide more convenience to EPFO subscribers. You can withdraw money using these cards like ATM cards. These cards will be linked to your phone and Aadhaar card.

Change 2: Aadhaar Card

The deadline for linking the Aadhaar-PAN card is approaching. This will become mandatory from november 6. You have to link your Aadhaar card with your PAN card by december 31. This will enable verification of economic activities carried out through your PAN card, verification of income tax details, as well as prevention of frauds committed using your PAN card. There are chances that additional restrictions will come into effect from january 1.

Change 3

Savings Accounts: New rules for the regularization of the Public Provident Fund (PPF) account, new rules for sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, and other small savings schemes operated through post offices are to be notified by the Finance Ministry.

There are possibilities of changing the current interest rates for small savings schemes. Interest rates on the Public Provident Fund, Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS), sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), National Savings Certificate (NSC), Post office Time Deposit (POTD), Mahila Samman Savings Certificate, and Post office Monthly Income Scheme (POMIS) may be changed.

Change 4

The increase in Dearness Allowance may come into effect in January. It has been reported that DA may soon be linked to basic pay in january itself. That is, it has been reported that both basic pay and DA are going to be linked together. Earlier in 2004, after DA reached 50 percent, DA was linked to basic pay. But it is noteworthy that for the last few months, even though DA has crossed the 50 percent mark, the central government has been maintaining its stance that DA will not be linked to basic pay.

It is in this context that information has been released that DA may soon be linked to basic pay. Generally, if the dearness allowance exceeds 50%, it will be merged with the basic salary. Due to this, it is reported that both may be merged in January.

Change 5

GST sources say that it has been decided to increase the GST tax on aerated drinks, cigarettes, tobacco, and related products from the current 28 percent to 35 percent. This change may come into effect from January. Similarly, ready-made garments up to Rs. 1,500 will be taxed at 5 percent GST, and garments between Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 10,000 will be taxed at 18 percent. Garments above Rs. 10,000 will be taxed at 28 percent.

In total, the GST Council is said to have decided to change the tax rates for 148 items. These decisions will be finalized after the GST Council decides. These tax rates will come into effect only after the GST Council decides.