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Agri minister says under the new tax regime, food inflation is likely to dip by 2% India has said that the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will benefit farmers and reduce food inflation, as grain and milk would remain exempted under the new regime that would put in place a single levy instead of multiple taxes. “With the GST coming, inflation will come down by 2%,“ federal farm minister Radhamohan Singh said in New Delhi. There has been no major increase in tax slabs for agriculture produce, and it was beneficial for both farmers and consumers, Singh said. Currently, both the tax-payer and the consumer were paying levies to both the state and the Centre on the sale of produce, leading to increase in the prices of commodities, Singh said. Under the GST, agriculture produce from foodgrains, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables, milk, spices, fish, meat, and sugarcane will attract zero duty. “In some commodities such as cream and flavoured yogurt, the tax has come down t...

Filings under new tax system set to reduce risk, cut cost While small and medium businesses are expected to face teething trouble in complying with the Goods and Services Tax regime, the new tax system will also open an opportunity for them to access credit as GST filings are set to become a significant data source for flow-based lending. Both banks and digital lending players say GST filings can be the best trove of information to lend to small businesses and will also reduce risks and cut costs while scoring these businesses for credit worthiness. “GST will help make invoicing and data analytics around businesses more credible.In the long term, it will be beneficial for both SMEs and lenders,“ said Rajeev Ahuja, head of strategy , retail and financial inclusion at RBL Bank. “For banks like us, it will help reduce costs of doing business. Today , assessing small business involves feet on street and operational work. With GST, there will be a significant opportunity for many servic...

Attaches properties worth Rs 600 crore The income tax department on Wednesday said it had identified over 400 benami transactions and attached properties worth Rs 600 crore in about 240 cases.Keen to implement the new Benami Act to ensure “visible outcomes on the ground”, the department last week set 24 dedicated benami prohibition units across the country. The department started initiating actions under the new Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016, from November 1 last year.The law provides for a maximum punishment of seven years in andafine. Benami property includes movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, corporeal or incorporeal property, in name of someone other than the beneficial owner. “Income tax directorates of investigation have identified around 400 benami transactions up to May 23, 2017. These include bank deposits, plots of land, flat and jewellery,” an official release said. Provisional attachment of properties under the law has been done in a...

The GST Council may reconsider the proposed 43 per cent tax on hybrid cars at its meeting next week after the auto industry voiced disappointment over the steep rate hike. According to the tax slabs decided by the Council, the mid and largesized hybrid cars have been kept at the same level as passenger vehicles.Under the GST, the tax incidence on hybrid vehicles will go up to 43 per cent from the current level of effective tax rate of 30.3 per cent. Business Standard New Delhi, 25th May 2017

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approvedapolicy providing preference to domestically manufactured goods for government procurements, inamajor step to boost the government´s Make in India initiative. It also approved the abolition of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which has, for 25 years, been the singlepoint window for clearing foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals requiring government nod. The Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also gave its nod toa “strategic partnership” model under which select private firms would be engaged to build military platforms like fighter jets, submarines and battle tanks. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), which met before the Cabinet, approved the closure of Janpath hotel in the national capital.The property will be used for setting up government offices.It also cleared the hike in fair price for sugarcane by Rs 25 a quintal,amove that will benefit about five crore farmers across cane-producing states....