CA Online

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the government to inform people that Aadhaar was not mandatory, but allowed its use in distribution of LPG, kerosene and PDS subsidy schemes for now, a move that may in effect deny these benefits to those who do not have a unique identification number. In an interim order, a three-judge Supreme Court bench on Tuesday partially allowed the government to use Aadhaar cards to weed out the unde serving and plug leakages in PDS subsidy schemes, rolling back a 2013 order that completely banned use of Aadhaar in dispensing social security benefits of any kind. The court, however, restrained the government from either sharing the personal information and biometrics collected under the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) with any other entity or using it for any other purpose. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi gave assurance to this effect. The interim order, issued by Justices Jasti Chelameswar, SA Bobde and C Nagappan, also said it would...

No Plan B to defer its introduction yet The finance ministry still hopes to implement goods and services tax (GST) from April 1, 2016 even if the constitution amendment Bill is not passed by the Rajya Sabha in the monsoon session, which is slated to end on Thursday. However, independent experts are not as sure. Sources in the finance ministry said there would be tremendous pressure on the ministry if the Bill is not cleared by the Rajya Sabha in the ongoing session, but it is not impossible to meet the deadline of introducing GST. “A window to pass the constitution amendment and GST Bills between December and March would be narrower. It would be difficult, but it is not impossible to clear them,” a key official said. Meanwhile, Empowered committeeofstate finance ministers Chairman K M Mani said implementation of GST from April 1, 2016 would be very difficult if the Bill is not cleared by Parliament in the current session, butallthoseconcernedwill trytoovercome themandintroduc...

1.  The income tax department has notified tax return forms for non-salaried class, including companies, partners in firms and individuals deriving their income from proprietary business or profession. 2.  CIT can revise order u/s 147 by invoking provision of section 263 on the issue of share at premium. [ITAT Kolkata: Subhalakshmi Vanijya Pvt. Ltd. vs. CIT]. 3.  Directorate General of Service Tax. (DGST) will henceforth be re-named as Directorate General of Goods and Service Tax (DGGST) w.e.f. 01.08.2015. And its headquarter be shifted from Mumbai to Delhi. 4.  DG- RBI has urged banks to be sensitive towards the lifecycle needs of their MSME clients and develop products that are suitable to their requirements for working capital and for capital expenditure purposes. 5.  DVAT authorities have released a list of existing dealers whose PAN is not verified through NSDL. 6.  NIRC of ICAI is organising sub regional conference of H.P. state on 14.08. 2...