How-To Guides
Practical guides to EMIs, reward redemptions, lounge access, fee waivers and getting more from your cards.
2040 posts · Page 112 of 170
How-To GuidesGifting reward points to family: the gift tax position
Many cardholders accumulate points they will never use and wonder whether transferring them to a spouse, parent, or child has tax consequences. India's gift tax provisions are specific about what they cover — and reward
How-To GuidesIncome-tax notice after big credit card spends: how to respond
A notice from the income-tax department referencing your credit card spending is alarming, but it is also routine. The department's data systems flag gaps between declared income and visible financial activity, and large
How-To GuidesReward point redemptions and income tax: the real position
Every year, Indian cardholders redeem crores of reward points for flights, hotel stays, vouchers, and statement credits. A persistent worry follows this activity: does redeeming points create taxable income? For personal
How-To GuidesCashback taxation in India: what is taxable and what is not
Cashback is one of the most popular credit card rewards in India, and one of the most misunderstood from a tax perspective. The good news for most cardholders is straightforward: cashback earned on your personal spending
How-To GuidesAIS and SFT: how your large credit card spends reach the tax department
Your credit card company does not send your monthly statement to the income-tax department. But under the Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT) framework, banks and financial institutions do report certain high-value
How-To GuidesLRS basics: what every cardholder should know before spending abroad
The Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) is the framework that governs how much money an Indian resident can send — or spend — abroad in a year. Since international credit card transactions were brought under LRS in Octob
How-To GuidesTCS on international credit card spends: how the 20% levy above the ₹7 lakh threshold works
Since 1 October 2023, money you spend abroad on your credit card counts as a foreign remittance under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), and Tax Collected at Source (TCS) applies to it just as it does to a wire tra
How-To GuidesBuilding a dispute evidence kit: what to keep before you complain
Every successful card dispute has the same foundation: a small folder of documents that proves what happened. Issuers and card networks decide disputes on evidence, not on how strongly you feel about the charge. Build th
How-To GuidesInternational transaction fraud disputes: the cross-border chargeback process
A charge from a merchant in another country, in a currency you never spent, for something you never bought. Cross-border card fraud follows the same dispute logic as domestic fraud, with a few extra complications — curre
How-To GuidesMerchant went bust: can you still charge back?
The airline stopped flying, the coaching institute shut its doors, the travel portal's website went dark — and you paid for a service that will never be delivered. When a merchant goes insolvent, a chargeback is often th
How-To GuidesRefund not received: timelines and escalation when the merchant stalls
The merchant agreed to the refund — "3 to 5 working days," they said — and then nothing arrived. Weeks pass, support repeats the same script, and your money sits somewhere between the merchant and your card. This guide m
How-To GuidesATM cash not dispensed but debited: the complaint path that works
The ATM whirred, showed an error, gave you nothing — and your account was still debited. This is one of the most common ATM complaints in India, and it has a well-defined resolution path under RBI norms. Follow it in ord