A Taxing Time
Disclaimer: This post is in no way remotely related to tax-saving. The writer claims absolute ignorance on the topic of investment & the market. Kindly read at your own risk.
My father has quite often remarked at how he fails to understand my lack of financial awareness, him being a retired bank manager. My mother says that even if I were to be allotted a yearly income of a crore or so, I'd still be broke at the end of the month. My expenditure is directly proportional to my salary & increases in geometric progression. Sadly both are extremely accurate in their observations.
I started working when I was 23 years old. You'd think at 28 I would have saved up enough to buy a house or a car since I'm working in the very lucrative IT industry (if you got the sarcasm, congrats!). All I have is a credit card outstanding amount of 30000 INR.
If you take a look at my Zomato reviews, you'd understand why I'm so broke. Or even the Amazon/Flipkart product reviews will vouch for my lack of self-control. Then you can proceed to my Facebook/Instragram account and hit a like on the pictures taken at various tourist places, while admiring the delicate balance I maintain with the hand-to-mouth existence I lead( I'm quoting my father here).
So as I write a helpless email to my old khadoos landlord to send me the scanned copy of the rental agreement since I lost mine, I wonder, is it just me?
Millennials can be divided into basically 3 categories-the ones that leave everything to their parents & put all their trust and financial decisions with them; ones like me who spend their time trying to Google the difference between 80CCD(1) & 80C NPS and then systematically bang their head at intervals on the keyboard. The third category are CAs who have just chosen the wrong the career path. They have all their investment proofs ready by January, with their boarding passes, their rent receipts, medical reports etc meticulously placed in a file. I'm yet to meet such folks-they are very elusive creatures, like the Himalayan Yeti.
All we were taught in school was something about BASIC+DA+HRA=Gross income. And now when you actually have to do your taxes, you realise this wasn't even the tip of the iceberg. 80C has 80CCD, 80CCD(B) and other equally confusing sub-sections. I can't even...!
I used to believe that only us Indians suffer from this predicament. Then I watched an episode of Two Broke Girls, in which Max hasn't done her taxes since forever!
So it's not just me. And I still haven't given up hope. One day before I turn 60, I will definitely figure out how to do my taxes without taking advice from 10 other people.
Meanwhile, I need to ask a certain airlines to issue me a travel certificate because apparently just buying a flight ticket isn't proof enough for the Govt that I actually travelled. Hello...have you never checked the refund amounts of cancelled flight tickets people???
My father has quite often remarked at how he fails to understand my lack of financial awareness, him being a retired bank manager. My mother says that even if I were to be allotted a yearly income of a crore or so, I'd still be broke at the end of the month. My expenditure is directly proportional to my salary & increases in geometric progression. Sadly both are extremely accurate in their observations.
I started working when I was 23 years old. You'd think at 28 I would have saved up enough to buy a house or a car since I'm working in the very lucrative IT industry (if you got the sarcasm, congrats!). All I have is a credit card outstanding amount of 30000 INR.
If you take a look at my Zomato reviews, you'd understand why I'm so broke. Or even the Amazon/Flipkart product reviews will vouch for my lack of self-control. Then you can proceed to my Facebook/Instragram account and hit a like on the pictures taken at various tourist places, while admiring the delicate balance I maintain with the hand-to-mouth existence I lead( I'm quoting my father here).
So as I write a helpless email to my old khadoos landlord to send me the scanned copy of the rental agreement since I lost mine, I wonder, is it just me?
Millennials can be divided into basically 3 categories-the ones that leave everything to their parents & put all their trust and financial decisions with them; ones like me who spend their time trying to Google the difference between 80CCD(1) & 80C NPS and then systematically bang their head at intervals on the keyboard. The third category are CAs who have just chosen the wrong the career path. They have all their investment proofs ready by January, with their boarding passes, their rent receipts, medical reports etc meticulously placed in a file. I'm yet to meet such folks-they are very elusive creatures, like the Himalayan Yeti.
All we were taught in school was something about BASIC+DA+HRA=Gross income. And now when you actually have to do your taxes, you realise this wasn't even the tip of the iceberg. 80C has 80CCD, 80CCD(B) and other equally confusing sub-sections. I can't even...!
I used to believe that only us Indians suffer from this predicament. Then I watched an episode of Two Broke Girls, in which Max hasn't done her taxes since forever!
So it's not just me. And I still haven't given up hope. One day before I turn 60, I will definitely figure out how to do my taxes without taking advice from 10 other people.
Meanwhile, I need to ask a certain airlines to issue me a travel certificate because apparently just buying a flight ticket isn't proof enough for the Govt that I actually travelled. Hello...have you never checked the refund amounts of cancelled flight tickets people???
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