Indian Taxes : Charitable Contributions, Salary Structure

Charitable giving becomes a habit after a couple of years in the U.S. It may initially be coerced [ by the boss ] but the satisfaction surrounding the activities makes it a self initiated process for most of us. No matter what the cause, the end result makes it all worthwhile, since it draws people together who are willingly contributing to an altruistic purpose.

While investigating the tax related items about India, I found this very informative article by Ameet Patel that deals with Charitable Contribution Deductions in India.

Oh .. dont forget to calculate your estimated Indian Taxes using TaxCalculator at Outlook Money..

Outlook Money also has an interesting article on the affect of the recently enacted fringe benefit tax in india. It discusses ways for employers and employees to draw up tax efficient and win-win salary package. Article can be accessed here

Time to call HR and see if this can be leveraged.. or it may already be built into the current package being offered...

Stuff, Stuff , and more Stuff.. What do we do with it ?: T-6 Weeks

6 weeks to go..... [ Before I start my journey back to Hyderabad, India ]

This week, we took an inventory of all the items we had including finances etc... sorted into 4 groups, Yes-No-Maybe-Deferred.. "Yes" items are getting shipped/being transferred to india, No items are going to charity and May-be's are on the border depending on the space and cost of shipping, Deferred items are related to finances and assets that need further consideration related to taxes and penalties..

Electronics : decided to take my existing Klipsch Reference Series HT System along with the 96" carada and projection system I have at home. This week I splurged and got a 50" nec 50xr5 multi system plasma [ There are very few choices in multisystem, and avsforum was a good resource to investiage them. Also bought a small/low-end HT system for the second room. Vijay@WorldImport helped me make some informed decisions about adapters / converters etc., that I will be using to setup my projector and main HT.

Furniture : Based on wyrablog and other recommendations, we decided to take all our hard wood and high end furniture. Since the sofa's were pretty beaten up, went ahead and got a new Leather Sofa Set to replace them. Also got a replacement for an existing queen bed which was falling apart. We have a glass dining table and its costing more to ship the glass top [ $400 to crate the glass] than to buy a new one, so we decided to sell it on craigslist.

Kitchen : Most pots and pans are going to the dumpster except the items that were recently purchased. Wife is planning on buying a complete set of tableware and cookware next week.. and these may be the only items going back with us. Small appliances like Toasters, Sandwitch makers etc.. are going to charity since we can acquire new ones in India. It didnt make any sense to take Large appliances like refrigerators etc., since they are readily available in India and you can look them up at Compare India.

Other Stuff : No we are not taking paper-towels, cleaners etc., decided to get used to the Indian stuff. May be a couple of personal hygiene items will go.. but nothing major.

Computers : Laptops and Desktops that we already own are going with us and we are also thinking about getting a new laptop, but it can always be done later during one of my business trips back to US.

Overall, the week was pretty laid back.... Its amazing how many people respond to the listings on craigslist.. time to get rid of my junk..

Listing My House for Sale : T - 7 Weeks

A hectic week, with majority of the time spent in cleaning the house before getitng it on the market. Finalized on the realtor that will list my house and completed the necessary paperwork. Craigslist and ebay were very useful in selling/giving away the non-essential stuff we accumulated over the past 5 years in this house. Craigslist local listings were particularly helpful in finding local mover to move non-essential stuff to storage, painter as well as an electrician [ at a reasonable cost ] .

House was listed on MLS this saturday and within the first 24 hours, we received a couple of showing requests. At this rate we may be able to receive an offer within 4 weeks of the listing.

Based on recommendations from R2I sites, I sent emails 2 movers about shipping a 20 feet container to Hyderabad, India. Got the initial estimates from poonam@air7seas and tarun@sky2c . Air7Seas estimate was more consolidated and easy to understand while sky2c had a long list of ala-carte services. HR team recommended that I try our approved moving companies and I fired off an email to get some estimates.

Getting an admission in a good school at Hyderabad is proving to be a complex task. I Enlisted the help of a very resourceful colleague at work and a close friend to close this. Depending on when they call, schools are giving them different answers on whether they can allow my son to join or not.

Looking back, I am really surprised how much we were able to accomplish this week wrt the listing, packing and movement of the non-essentials to storage. I hope this will be my last major move !!!

Oh, one more addition to this week, Congratulations to the new parents G&H, who had a baby boy this week.

Weekend Update

It was a fun weekend and we spent a lot of time with our close friends. A close friend had a baby girl over the long weekend. I dont know if they felt the same way, but we enjoyed being there .. May be they were wishing that I had moved already out of the US ;-)

First order of business is to get my 5 year old home on sale. This week I sent emails and left vmails for couple of realtors who were already selling houses in our neighborhood. Two of them came back with estimates and the reasons why they were the best choices to sell my house. First one was a lady from a reputable company that had no idea about the neighborhood and the second one sounded like a car salesman trying to get the listing at any cost.

Couple more realtors who came by and a call from one of the realtors that lives in the same neighborhood as me and he sounded much more in tune with my assessment of the values. Will be talking to him more today/tomorrow before I make a decision to list my house with one of them.

One thing that bugs me is the 6% commission they demand for selling the house. I know for a fact that selling / listing agent doesnt really do much other than list it on MLS, I can certainly understand the buyers agent requiring the 3% [ in some cases .. ]

more next week