Society Now:12 Smart Storage Solutions for a Compact 2BHK Home

Even if you are running a tight budget, and can’t afford a large home in a cooperative society with 3 or more rooms, then your stay needn't be an uncomfortable one. It is not necessary for you to throw away things and stop buying new stuff. With some smart planning, you can easily stay comfortably without feeling crowded in. Here are 12 storage solutions you can incorporate in your compact 2BHK house.

Think Outside The Bedroom: If you can set up open shelves or closed cupboards in the bathroom, you can use those to store hair dryers or clean towels instead of using up shelf space in other rooms.

Under The Sink’s Shadow: The sink is very useful, but it usually takes up a lot of vacant space underneath which is almost never used. Because the area is humid, you need to create a closed cupboard to use this space, and it must be water resistant.

Bed Storage: This is one of the oldest techniques used for space saving in any apartment management system, but it is still very popular and useful. People use these spaces not only for storing things like bed sheets, blankets or pillows, but even clothes or some oddly shaped objects.

Kitchen Rack: We usually have modular cabinets below the kitchen shelves, but a different alternative might be required. The first is when the number of utensils and cookware you have is more than the available storage space. The second is when you find it difficult to bend and take out things. In either case, a metal rack on the wall would help save space.

Stairs: This is another popular space saving technique. The space under the stairs can be used for open as well as closed storage. If you are using it to display some knick-knacks, then you might need some extra lighting as well.

Doors: This is a very useful place to hand stuff at, and this neither uses additional space nor does it catch the eye. That will help you keep some of your ugly stuff out of sight of Society Now.

Folding Furniture: We have seen folding chairs in many homes. But there are many other options available, like tables or beds which fold back into walls, foldable tables, and racks etc. These can be left as they are when in use, and can be folded and kept away after use.

Hang Up The Television: If you mount your television on the wall, it frees up lots of space on the mantelpiece which you use to store books or curious. For big rooms and big televisions, hanging on walls also makes it easier to view from a distance.

Use Your Garage: Many garage spaces are oversized to accommodate the larger cars. In case your car is of usual size, you should move some of the less used stuff to the garage and keep track of it in the society management software.

The Last Three: The three other things to do could be to get vertical shelves, use cubbies, and use small baskets in your closet. These are common solutions which do not cost a lot but help you make the best use of the available space.

The above 12 things can help you make the best use of the square footage of your 2BHK.

Society Now: Income tax rules for cooperative housing societies

By housing.com/news

Cooperative housing societies also fall under the ambit of income tax laws. We look at the tax rates, benefits available, the procedure for filing returns and deduction of TDS that are applicable to housing societies

As housing societies are not apparently engaged in any income-earning activities, there is a perception that they are not required to comply with any income tax provisions. This impression is heightened by the fact that housing societies are managed by honorary office bearers, who are generally not well-versed with the laws. A housing society is a legal entity and therefore, is treated as separate from its members. It has to comply with various legal laws, including income tax laws.

Status of housing societies under the income tax laws

Section 2 (31) of the Income Tax Act defines the entities that are treated as persons, for the purpose of income tax. A person is a basic entity under the income tax laws, which has to comply with various income tax provisions, including the filing of the return, payment of taxes, deduction of tax at source, etc. The definition includes ‘an association of persons or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not’.

All housing societies are registered under the cooperative society laws of their respective states. In Maharashtra, housing societies are registered under the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act 1960. Being an association of persons registered under a law, a cooperative housing society has to comply with the income tax laws, wherever applicable. As it is a tax entity under the income tax laws, it needs to have a Permanent Account Number (PAN), even for opening a bank account.

Tax benefits available to a cooperative housing society

Section 80 P of the Income Tax Act, allows certain deductions to cooperative societies, including cooperative housing societies.

While computing the total income of a housing society, any income derived by it by way of interest or dividends from any other cooperative society is fully treated as exempt. As housing societies are mandated to keep their deposits with cooperative banks, all of the interest received by it on its deposits with the cooperative bank shall be fully excluded from the income of the housing society. However, in case the housing society invests its funds with other entities like public sector banks or private banks, income from there shall become taxable in its hand.

Liability of housing societies to file income tax returns

Unlike an individual and HUF, for whom the law provides a basic exemption limit beyond which they are required to file their income tax returns (ITR), there is no such basic exemption limit for cooperative societies.

Hence, all housing societies are required to file their ITR by the due date, which is September 30 of the year following the financial year, as the accounts of the housing society are required to be audited under the provisions of their respective cooperative society laws. If the housing society fails to file its ITR by the due date, it has to pay interest on the outstanding tax liability in case the liability is not already discharged by way of TDS or by payment of advance tax, for the period of delay, in addition to interest liability on the shortfall in payment of balance tax after adjusting TDS and advance tax. In case the housing society fails to file its ITR by the due date, it can still file the same by March 31 of the year next to the period for which the ITR belongs. For the delay, the society has to pay a mandatory fee of Rs 5,000 if the delay is up to December but the fee will be Rs 10,000 if the delay goes beyond December of the next year. The mandatory fee for delay in filing of the return shall be restricted to Rs 1,000, in case the taxable amount of the housing society does not exceed Rs five lakhs.

Society needs to pay advance tax, in case its advance tax liability exceeds Rs 10,000 for a year in four installments on June 15, September 15, December 15 and March 15, in the ratio of 15 per cent, 30 per cent, 30 per cent and 25 per cent of the aggregate advance tax liability.

Taxation of housing societies

The tax rates and slabs applicable to housing societies are different from those of individuals and companies. Since there is no basic exemption, every rupee of the taxable income of the housing society suffers income tax.

For the first Rs 10,000 of the taxable income, after excluding the items discussed above, the society is required to pay income tax at the rate of 10 percent. For the next Rs 10,000, the applicable rate is 20 percent. On the income above Rs 20,000, the society has to pay tax at 30 percent of the income. In addition to the above, the society will have to pay a surcharge of 12 percent on the tax, in case the income exceeds Rs one crore in the year. The tax calculated shall also attract an education cess of three percent.

Liability to deduct tax, deposit and file TDS returns

Like the liability to have a PAN, pay advance tax and file its income tax returns, housing societies are also required to deduct tax on certain payments, like salaries to its staff, payments to contractors for carrying out any activity in the society’s buildings, on interest on money borrowed, etc. In order to fully comply with the TDS requirements, the society is required to obtain a Tax Deduction Account Number (TAN), so that it can deposit the TDS to the credit of the central government and also file the TDS returns periodically.

Disclaimer: The content has been sourced from a third party, therefore, we are not liable for the relevance and accuracy of the content.

Society Now: Can Housing Societies Refuse Tenants?

Times of India

Yes, they can, but if they infringe on the fundamental rights of a citizen, they can be challenged in a court of law

Sumanta Layak, 25, is used to rejection. Whenever he has to look for a house on lease in the National Capital Region, he goes through a harrowing time. Layak is well-qualified, has a well-paying job and has no criminal history. Yet, he is refused rental accommodation by most owners of housing societies. The reason? He is single. “Being single is the biggest disadvantage if you are looking to rent a house in the metros. This is because most housing societies disallow their members from leasing their properties to bachelors. So, even if the owner wants to give it on rent to a group of singles, the housing society won’t give him a no-objection certificate (NOC),” he explains.

According to real estate experts, being single is not the only reason that people find it difficult to rent a house in the top cities, though it is the most common one. “The society feels that a group of singles is likely to rough up the place and create the nuisance for other society members. Besides, bachelors typically don’t stick to a place for long and this doesn’t provide stability in rental income compared with that from families,” says Ramesh Prabhu, chairman of Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association.

The other reasons for refusal include keeping pets, such as dogs and cats, for fear that they will dirty the society or harm the children. “Besides, people with certain meal preferences are known to have been denied tenancy. There were some media reports as well about people belonging to a certain religion being denied permission by the housing society,” says Prabhu.

Can housing societies frame their own laws?

If legal experts are to be believed, the housing societies can indeed frame their own laws. According to Ravi Goenka, advocate, Goenka Law Associates, there are broad guidelines, or bye-laws, that every housing society adopts when it is registered. These rules and regulations govern the day-to-day functioning of the housing society and are crucial to its smooth running.

“These guidelines are typically framed under the Co-operative Societies Act, which is a Central Act. This provides specific guidelines for a society to be registered with the municipal corporations, its governance structures, common area maintenance rights, dos & don’ts, accounting practices and various other covenants related to leasing/ purchasing a house within the society,” he explains.

The Act also offers a degree of flexibility to societies to add regulations of their own, he adds. “For instance, if the housing society has made a rule for tenants, according to which they cannot park their vehicles in the parking slots allotted to members, then they have every right to enforce it,” he explains.

Can the housing society overrule a flat owner?

Om Ahuja, CEO, residential services, Jones Lang LaSalle India, explains that though it is the legal right of the owner to lease his property, the housing society in which the flat is situated, too, has a say in it. “Individual societies are legally empowered to deny tenancy based on their bye-laws. In many cases, such bye-laws are interpreted in a certain manner in order to achieve this. However, they have no constitutional right to do so,” says Ahuja.

Besides, the housing societies that impose additional maintenance charges on the apartment owners who have leased their property are legally allowed to do so under The Societies Act. According to Goenka, bye-law 43(2) of the Co-operative Housing Societies Act mentions a proper format according to which a member of the housing society can sublet his house to tenants.

Can the bye-laws be challenged?

Vinod Sampat, president, Cooperative Societies Residential Users Association, and a real estate lawyer, explains that any regulation which infringes on the fundamental rights of an individual can be challenged in the court of law. “The housing society regulations don’t have the same stature as that of a law. Every Indian citizen has the right to reside anywhere in the country and discrimination is not allowed on the basis of religion, caste, sex, eating habits or marital status,” he explains.

So if a tenant feels a housing society has not been fair, he can file a police complaint against it, claiming infringement of his rights as a citizen. The member, too, can take legal recourse, such as approaching the civil or the cooperative court. He can also appeal to the deputy registrar of housing societies concerning his grievances. In fact, there have been several cases, where the courts have ruled in favor of the owner and against the housing society. According to Sampat, as per a recent court judgment, pets such as dogs and cats are also regarded as family members, and tenants have every right to keep them. “Besides, it is not mandatory for the housing society to issue no-objection certificates. What is mandatory is police verification,” he adds.

Disclaimer: The content has been sourced from a third party, therefore, we are not liable for the relevance and accuracy of the content.