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Tax departments across the country are keeping a close watch on prices following the July 1 rollout of the goods and services tax (GST).  Makers of consumer goods and handsets, as well as some restaurant chains, have all got calls from local tax authorities seeking details of invoices before and after  GST as part of the exercise.  “In order to study prices under the GST, you are requested to send selling price of your top commodity in the relevant format,” read a notice sent to a company by  local tax authorities in Tamil Nadu.  Similar messages have been sent to companies in states such as Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry. Some have even got phone calls seeking price information,  said a person aware of the development.  The government is keen to prevent any spike in inflation due to GST as happened in some countries that implemented the levy. India has opted for a two-pronged solution  to make sure this doesn’t happen — a ...

The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) on Tuesday allayed fears of mixing up of data of taxpayers or showing details of one tax payer to another on GST portal. GSTN, the company behind building information technology backbone of the portal, has clarified that its software has enough safeguards against any overlapping of data of taxpayers.The Central Board of Excise and Customs has issued several clarifications in this regard. Business Standard, New Delhi, 19th July 2017

The government on Tuesday ruled out cutting rates for the textiles sector, saying a zero per cent GST on fabrics will break the input tax credit chain for the domestic industry and make imported items cheaper. Amid protests in Gujarat by traders who are demanding rollback of 5 per cent GST on fabrics, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said it was not correct to say that the sector was never taxed in independent India. "In fact, during 2003-04, the sector was subjected to central excise duty,” he said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. Business Standard, New Delhi, 19th July 2017

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday asked listed banks to make disclosures if the provisioning and non-performing assets (NPAs) assessed by the RBI had exceeded 15 per cent of their published financials. “The banks shall disclose to the stock exchanges divergences in the asset classification and provisioning wherever: the additional provisioning requirements assessed by the RBI exceed 15 per cent of the published net profits after tax for the reference period; and/or the additional gross NPAs identified by the RBI exceed 15 per cent of the published incremental gross NPAs for the reference period,” Sebi said in a circular. The Sebi’s directive follows an RBI circular on April 18 that asked banks to disclose divergence in the asset classification and provisioning. Divergence in the provisioning came in light after the RBI observed the numbers declared by the banks were not tallying with its own estimates. “There have been instances of material divergences in...

NCDRC says that Consumer Protection Act prevails over laws related to arbitration The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has provided relief to home buyers who cannot pursue cases against developers due to a conflict in the law concerned. According to lawyers, many cases were pending in different consumer forums because developers had included a clause that disputes between two parties would be first settled though a private resolution mechanism, also known as arbitration.The Consumer Protection Act is an additional remedy available to individuals, and it is usually not affected by other Acts in force. But in 2015 the Arbitration and Conciliation Act was changed. The new changes said that a judicial authority has to refer for arbitration those cases where a provision for arbitration had been included in the agreement. “In cases where builders had included the arbitration clause, they appealed to consumer forums to not admit cases and refer them for arbitration,...

Over 3.6 million bank accounts have seen cash deposits of Rs 10 lakh or more in a financial year, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.Rule 114E of the Income Tax Rules says banks, including cooperative banks,have to report to tax men cash deposits aggregating to Rs 10 lakh or more in a financial year, in one or more accounts(other than a current account and time deposit) of a person.“According to there ports generated on July 14,2017, the total number of cash deposits aggregating to Rs 10 lakh or more in a financial year in one or more accounts (other than a current and time deposit account) by the reporting entities is 36,06,269,” Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. Business Standard, New Delhi, 19th July 2017

The income tax (I-T) department has asked all sub-registrars and tehsildars under its jurisdiction in Mumbai to send it details of property deals worth Rs 1 crore or more in the past 10 years. This is aimed at nabbing those who stash unaccounted money in benami property. The letters from the I-T department, seeking information of property registrations between April 2007 and June 2017, were issued under Section 21(1) of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988. The Central Board of Direct Taxes altered this law significantly through a notification on October 25 last year. According to estimates of experts dealing in property registrations in Mumbai, there would be at least 500,000 agreements worth Rs 1 crore or more from the past 10 years. “Without doubt one of the primary destinations for unaccounted money is real estate. Almost all of it is held in benami properties," said Dinesh Kanabar, chief executive officer, Dhruva Advisors LLP He added the efforts of...