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Showing posts from September 10, 2015

Updates of the Day

1. SEBI issues a circular under regulation 101(2) of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 in relation to regulation 30 which deals with "Continuous Disclosure Requirements for Listed Entities" - http://www.sebi.gov.in/…/sebi_…/attachdocs/1441799529193.pdf Annexure-I of this circular indicates the details that need to be provided while disclosing events given in Para A and Para B of Schedule III. The guidance on when an event / information can be said to have occurred is placed at Annexure II. 2.  I-T dept to file court case if illegal foreign assets detected Delhi : Taking a tough stance against black money, the CBDT has directed the Income Tax department to mandatorily launch court cases against people found to be holding stash funds and tainted assets abroad and consider "compounding" of such offences only at a later stage.The apex policy-making body of the tax department has recently issued a directive in this regard to ...

Capital Gains Tax Relief on Gold Bonds Likely

Scheme will allow govt to tap into 20,000 tonnes of yellow metal lying in Indian households Indians looking to INVEST IN GOLD  bonds may be able to enjoy exemption from capital gains tax as the proposal is expected to be taken up in the next budget, the government said after it unveiled the details of the proposed gold bond and gold monetisation schemes. “The department of revenue has said that they will consider indexation benefit if bond is transferred before maturity and complete capital gains tax exemption at the time of redemption,“ Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters, after the Cabinet approved the twin schemes that seek to reduce the country's massive GOLD IMPORTS . Indexation benefit refers to paying tax only on real gains after adjusting for inflation. The gold monetisation scheme will allow the government to tap into an estimated 20,000 tonnes of yellow metal lying in Indian households and bring into the banking system, boosting domestic supply...

ITR Filing No Extra Time for Proprietary Biz Owners

The government on Wednesday said the last date for filing Income-tax returns for cer tain categories of assessees viz companies, firms and individuals engaged in proprietary business due by September 30, 2015 will not be extended. “After consideration of all facts, it has been decided that the last date for filing of returns due by September 30, 2015 will not be extended. Taxpayers are advised to file their returns well in time to avoid last minute rush,“ the finance ministry said . The government has received representations seeking extension of date for filing of returns and tax audit reports beyond September 30. The Economic Times, New Delhi, 10th Sept. 2015

No FPI in Commodities Till Review says RBI

Hopes of commodities market for FPI investment after coming under Sebi's ambit later this month has been dashed by RBI, which has told the markets regulator to keep any such decision on hold till a policy review is done by the government in this regard. While the government has issued notifications for merger of commodities markets regulator FMC with capital markets watchdog Sebi with effect from September 28, the revised norms for exchanges and various market participants were notified last month to pave way for the combined regulatory regime. The Economic Times, New Delhi, 10th Sept. 2015

20 per import duty recommended on steel products for 200 days

Temporary step, which is WTO-compatible, a bid to protect domestic industry from the sudden rise in imports The Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) under the finance ministry has suggested imposing a 20% safeguard duty on select steel products for a period of 200 days to curb cheap imports. Such a duty is a temporary step and is imposed for a timeframe to protect the domestic industry from the sudden rise in imports. The duty is WTO-compatible, too. “There exist critical circumstances, where any delay in application for provisional safeguard measures would cause damage which it would be difficult to repair, necessitating immediate application of provisional safeguard duty,” the directorate said in a notification on Wednesday. The duty has been recommended for hot-rolled flat products which has seen a significant rise in imports from countries like China, Korea and Japan. Domestic steel companies have been struggling to stay profitable due to a pricing pressure from the ch...

No compounding of cases falling under new Act

Indians holding funds stashed abroad and falling under the purview of the new anti- black money law cannot enjoy the facility of compounding of the offence provided under the Income Tax Act, the Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT) has said. This follows the enactment of a new tough law to unearth black money abroad which does not have such a provision. Compounding of offences, under section 279( 2) of the I- T Act allows easing of the case keeping in view factors such as the conduct of the person, nature and magnitude of the offence, cooperation extended by the assessee to the department during probe and facts and merits of each case. Once a tax evasion offence is compounded, the accused is given relief by way of exempting him or her from paying penalty or reduction or abolishing of a jail term. "The CBDT has made it clear in a recent directive to all the assessment and investigation ranges of the I- T department that the provision of compounding or to say settlement o...

Centre clears 6per DA hike for employees pensioners

The Centre on Wednesday increased dearness allowance ( DA) for its employees by six per cent of their basic pay with effect from July, a move that will hit the exchequer by Rs.4,436.76 crore in the remaining months of the current financial year and Rs.6,655.14 in a year. The Cabinet decision to increase dearness allowance for central government to 119 per cent from 113 per cent is amove that will benefit five million employees and 5.6 million pensioners. “Every six months, the government reviews dearness allowance. This time, we have decided to increase DA by six per cent over existing 113 per cent rate,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters after Union Cabinet meeting here. The DA rate increase is based on an average of 12- month consumer price index- industrial workers ( CPI- IW) from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015. This is in line with the 6th Pay Commission. In April, the government had hiked DA by six per cent to 113 per cent of their basic pay with effect from Ja...

Govt stays on labour reforms path

Panel to discuss industrial relations Bill today ministry officials’ presentation to PMO on reforms The Centre, it seems, is determined to push ahead with its labour reforms, despite massive protests from central trade unions last week. A sub- committee of ministry officials and trade unions would meet on Thursday to discuss the proposed industrial relations Bill, aimed at easing retrenchment norms for employers and toughen the setting up of trade unions. Sources said senior labour ministry officials would give a presentation to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Friday on its proposed labour law reforms and its status. Most such proposals initiated by the National Democratic Alliance ( NDA) government were stuck at various levels of discussion within the government. One of the major factors delaying the reform process was the staunch opposition of the trade unions. To look into the trade unions’ demands, the government had formed a sub- committee to examine the draft Bil...

Tax exemptions for India Inc to be phased out says FM

Politics threatens GST schedule While the implementation of agoods and services tax (GST) faced uncertainty on Wednesday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reaffirmed the government’s commitment to economic reforms, saying corporation tax exemptions would be phased out and weaker banks consolidated with strong ones. In line with the Budget announcement of reducing corporation tax by five percentage points to 25 per cent in four years, Jaitley said the government would release a list of tax exemptions to be withdrawn in a phased manner. The aim is to align taxation levels in India with global standards and with those in competing countries. “Over the next few days, we will come out with a list of exemptions, which we intend to phase out in the first place. In the next four years, corporation tax will come down by five per cent and a lot of exemptions will be phased out,” Jaitley said at a summit organised by The Economist. While corporation tax stands at 30 per cent, the effective r...