IDFC has launched their own 80CCF infrastructure bonds, and these come with a slightly higher interest rate than the other bonds that have been released so far.
They carry a 9% annual interest rate, and IDFC has simplified the issue a little bit by having the option with only one maturity – that of ten years.
Like, the other 80CCF bonds, these will have the the annual interest payment or the cumulative option, and a buyback option after 5 years.
The issue opens on November 21, 2011 and closes on December 16, 2011. In the past they have appeared on online platforms like ICICI Direct and Edelweiss, so that’s one way to buy them, or as Austere suggested you can print the forms online and submit it in one of the collection centers.
And of course, there’s always the option of taking the help of financial advisers like Shiv to apply for them.
Here are some other details about the bonds.
| Series |
1 |
2 |
| Interest Rate |
9% |
Cumulative but effectively 9% |
| Maturity Period |
10 years |
10 years |
| Buyback Option |
5 years |
5 years |
| Buyback Amount |
5,000 |
7,695 |
| Maturity Amount |
5,000 |
11,840 |
After the lock in period of 5 years, the bond will list on the NSE and BSE.
For whatever it’s worth the issue is rated highly by ICRA and Fitch – both of them rated the issue AAA. To me, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to apply anything more than Rs. 20,000 and that too only on one of these 80CCF bonds, so if you have applied for something already then you are better off investing your money in any other bank fixed deposit which doesn’t have any lock in period and will have a slightly higher interest rate also.
A new question that I see appear a few times with respect to these bonds is if you need to buy it every year to get the tax benefit. I think the source of that question is the confusion between the tax benefit.
Please be cognizant of the fact that the interest is not tax free. The interest will be taxable every year, but the way you get the tax benefit is that the value of bonds that you buy gets reduced from your taxable salary, and that means you have to pay less tax.
The other question that I saw today was would you have to pay tax if you exercised the buyback and the answer to that is that buyback doesn’t affect how the bond is taxed.
If you took the annual interest option then the interest will be taxed every year, and if you took the cumulative option then you will be taxed capital gains. The face value of the bond will not be taxed.
I can’t quite think of anything else to cover about this issue – so if you have any comments let’s hear them and a special thanks to Shiv who informs me about these bonds quite in advance.
Hi, I had purchased IDFC bonds in Nov -2011 for INR 20k.. I received the redeemed amount of INR 35k in Mar’2017 . I had opted for annual interest. Is LT CG applicable for the excess amount received (35k-20k) @ 10%?
Hello,
How should one look at the taxability of the buy back option for IDFC infrastructure bonds Tranche1 issued in Dec. 2011?
I had invested Rs. 20,000/- and opted for cumulative buy back option. It got exercised after 5 years lock in in Dec. 2016 and I received a sum of Rs. 30,780/-
Que: Should I include Rs. 10,780 (interest income?) as income from other sources to be taxed as per my tax slab? OR it has to be considered as long term capital gains and taxed as per debt LTCG (20% with indexation)?
Hi Vaibhav,
This amount of Rs. 10,780 is taxable as Income from Other Sources and not as Capital Gain, as you have surrendered these bonds back to the company and not sold them on the stock exchanges.
Thanks Shiv.