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www.caonline.in News... 1. No Service tax on sale of under construction flats if contract price includes land value. [ Suresh Kumar Bansal vs UOI (Delhi High Court)]. 2.SEBI cautions investors not to invest in Schemes offered by entities barred by SEBI from raising money or entities not registered with SEBI. 3.Trading in cash and derivative segment cannot be splitted as speculative and non-speculative. [ J.G.A Shah Share Brokers P. Ltd. vs. DCIT (ITAT Mumbai)]. 4.Record Maintenance of warehoused goods in electronic form. [Circular No 25/2016-Customs]. 5.Under DVAT Commodity code to become mandatory from Q1 2016-17.

Tax will be imposed if payment exceeds Rs.10L or there is a cash payment of over Rs.2L Buyers of cars and premium two-wheelers who pay more than Rs.2 lakh of purchase price in cash will be levied 1% tax as part of the government's drive to  stifle the black economy. Finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced 1% tax collected at source (TCS) on cars costing more than Rs.10 lakh in his budget speech. Now, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has clarified that car dealers have to collect this tax on every motor vehicle sale to individuals where payment exceeds Rs.10 lakh or there is a cash payment of over Rs.2 lakh. The apex direct taxes body has issued detailed clarification in form of frequently asked questions on the applicability and scope of TCS on sale of motor vehicles following an amendment in this regard in the Finance Act, 2016. The Finance Act has expanded the scope of Section 206 C of the Income Tax Act to include in its ambit sale of goods and service

HC says buyers can't be charged service tax on payments for such flats if its total value includes land as well The Delhi High Court has said that home buyers cannot be charged service tax on payments made towards purchase of under construction apartments from builders if the total value of the apartment includes the land value. However, service tax can still be levied on preferential location charges (PLC) that builders charge from buyers. The court also said that if the developer has already collected service tax, buyers would be refunded the amount with 6% rate of interest by the revenue department of the government of India. Since the amendment introduced by the Finance Act of 2010, the government charges service tax on buyers of apartments in under construction projects.Service tax is levied only on 25% of the total value of the apartment due to a 75% abatement that is allowed. So at 15% service tax applicable from June 1 this year, the buyer pays service tax

To help expedite cases related to securities markets, the government is planning to amend the Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) Act with an aim  to increase members and Benches in the Securities Appellate Tribunal ( SAT). A proposal to amend the Act will soon be placed before the Cabinet for its approval, sources said. This will pave the way for more benches and members for SAT. Currently, SAT has only one bench, which sits in Mumbai with one presiding officer and two members. All the orders passed by Sebi can be appealed in SAT. The move to have benches in more cities will help in expeditious. Business Standard, New Delhi, 09 June 2016  

Seeking to make foreign direct investment (FDI) policy simpler, the government on Wednesday released an updated compendium by incorporating all policy changes and eliminating unnecessary explanations, but retains the United Progressive Alliance ( UPA) regime’s policy on opening of multibrand retail for foreign investment. Besides other things, the compendium includes provisions for issue of “sweat equity” to non- resident employees and directors and defined the terms private security agencies, private security and armoured car service. “The FDI policy has been made simpler and investor friendly; facilitating ‘Make In India’ and ease of doing business. The circular will serve as a ready reference for foreign investors on various provisions of the FDI policy," the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion ( DIPP) said. It said the 109 page policy has also clarified on private security agencies by borrowing definition of few terms from the Private Security Agencies

Ahead of India’s rolling out of anti- tax avoidance regulations, Cyprus has shown eagerness to amend the bilateral tax treaty allowing New Delhi to tax capital gains. In turn, has pitched to be taken off the blacklist or being considered a “ notified jurisdiction” for not sharing tax information, which implies increased scrutiny for investments coming from Mediterranean island nation, which is the seventh largest foreign direct investment source for India. Cyprus is learnt to have approved, inprinciple, the proposals made by the Indian side on taxing capital gains. “Cyprus has sought removal from the blacklist and is ready to amend the double taxation avoidance agreement ( DTAA) with India. It is very keen for that now since the general anti- avoidance rule ( GAAR) is coming into play April 2017 onwards and the Mauritius treaty has already been amended,” said a source. The move would plug loopholes in capital gains tax exemption for investments from Cyprus. India and Cypr

The Centre has released a new set of guidelines on capital restructuring of state- owned companies, which will make them more accountable on matters of  dividends, buybacks and bonuses, and will help the government meet its non- tax revenue and capital receipts target for the year.   The guidelines, applicable from April 1, make it mandatory for all central public sector enterprises ( CPSEs) to pay a minimum annual dividend of 30 per cent  of profit after tax, or five per cent of net worth, whichever is higher. If they cannot, they will have to explain to the ministry concerned if they are constrained by capacity to borrow or if the free cash is being put into capital spending and infrastructure. The guidelines also state that every CPSE with a net worth of at least Rs.2,000 crore, and cash and bank balance of Rs.1,000 crore will exercise the option of buyback of shares. “It has been observed that CPSEs are not looking into meritbased capital restructuring, including the

Fear these might be used to harass honest taxpayers   Ahead of the general antiavoidance rules ( GAAR) on tax kicking in from the next financial year, many feel the government should remove the retrospective  provisions in the rules.   A proposed panel of officials that would be set up to decide applicability of GAAR might be used to harass honest taxpayers, said experts.   Although GAAR would be applicable prospectively from April 1, 2017, continued benefits arising out of transactions entered into prior to that would be denied  the benefits, they said. GAAR is a set of rules designed to give Indian authorities the right to scrutinise and tax transactions they find are structured  solely to avoid taxes. It also gives the tax department the power to override tax treaties. “ As GAAR stands, continued benefits such as those of  depreciation, interest claims arising out of transactions such as securitisation or sale/ sale back, lease in/ lease out entered into prior to the R