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GST Network today said it has started the facility for registration of casual  taxpayers -- those who conduct businesses occasionally. A casual taxpayer is a person who occasionally undertakes business transactions in a state/Union  Territory where he/she has no place of business. Goods & Services Tax Network (GSTN) Chairman Navin Kumar said that the registration as 'casual  taxpayer' will be valid for 90 days. A tax payer will also have the option to extend the registration duration once for a maximum of 90  days before the expiry of the initial period for which registration was granted.   "A taxpayer must go for registration as casual taxpayer at least 5 working days prior to the  commencement of business," Kumar said.   Rather than registering as regular taxpayer and being required to file 'nil' returns during off- business months, casual taxpayers can enrol for a limited period of time, GSTN said in a statement.   Aft...

The government expects the goods and services tax (GST) and increased surveillance to boost tax  revenues over the next two years, taking India’s tax-to-GDP ratio close to 12% by FY 20.  The higher revenues are projected to push up capital spend of the government, bring down fiscal  deficit to sustainable 3% of GDP and lower the revenue deficit to 1.4% of GDP by FY 20. The medium- term expenditure framework released by the government on Thursday shows tax-to-GDP ratio rising 30  basis points each in FY19 and FY20 to 11.6% and 11.9% respectively.  The government expects any shocks to tax collections due to the introduction of GST to be absorbed in  the current fiscal. It said “going forward in the years 2018-19 and 2019-20, the gains from expansion  of the tax base due to the introduction of GST and the increased surveillance post demonetisation  will ensure that tax-GDP ratio will increase by 30 basis points in each of the above FYs in...

A Bill, which seeks to deal with insolvency of financial service providers, was on Thursday referred  to a Joint Committee of Parliament. ´The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017´, was introduced in the Lok Sabha by  Minister of State for Finance Arun Ram Meghwal. Soon after, it was referred to the 30member committee comprising members of both the Lok Sabha and the  Rajya Sabha. The committee is expected to submit its report during the next session. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 11th August 2017 

The Centre on Thursday introduced in the Lok Sabha The Code on Wages Bill which seeks to fix  “universal minimum wage” aimed at benefiting over 400 million unorganised sector workers. The Bill to amend the laws on wages and bonus was introduced by Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya. It seeks to amalgamate four laws —Payment of Wages Act, 1936, Minimum Wages Act, 1948, Payment of  Bonus Act, 1965, and Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 11th August 2017

The EPF Act needs to be changed to allow movement between these two schemes; rules of NPS are also  more restrictive. Despite the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority’s (PFRDA’s) attempts to make the  National Pension System (NPS) more attractive, things haven’t worked too well, in terms of transfer  of Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) subscribers to NPS. More than 90 per cent of the subscribers are  either government employees (who don’t have a choice) or lower income groups who were given a one- time subsidy to enrol. Only five-six per cent of subscribers are from the corporate sector. And this  development happened after the amendment that allowed deductibility of employers’ contribution of the  salary over and above the Rs 1.5 lakh under Section 80C. The rest, a small percentage of people, invest  in NPS for the Rs 50,000 tax benefit announced in the Finance Bill, 2015. So, what stops an EPF subscriber to get better returns thro...