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3% GST rate for gold is low Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian batted for a higher goods and services tax (GST) rate for  gold and jewellery in the Survey, arguing these were consumed by the rich. The Survey also argued for inclusion of electricity, real estate, health and education in the GST  framework, rolled out from July 1. “There isaneed to simplify the GST tax structure in the medium  term,” Subramanian told journalists. The GST is expected to result in price reduction on account of lower taxation as compared to the  combined incidence of central and state taxes previously, the Survey noted. It added that deflationary tendencies, including transitional friction from GST implementation, weigh  on the economy, which was yet to gather full growth momentum. Gold, disproportionately consumed by the “very rich” is taxed at three per cent under GST, which the  Survey said was “still low”. The view comes atatime whenaflood of gold import...

Govt hikes import duty on crude, palm oil The government on Friday hiked the import duty on crude palm oil to 15 per cent from 7.5 per cent and  on refined to 25 per cent from 15 per cent to curb cheaper shipments and boost local prices for  supporting domestic farmers and refiners. The import duties on other crude edible oils like soya and sunflower have been raised to 17.5 per  cent from 12.5 per cent, according toanotification issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs. The hike in import duty of crude and refined palm oil will help restrict cheaper imports from  Malaysia and Indonesia and benefit farmers which are in distress due to fall in prices of oil seeds  below minimum support price because of bumper production. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 12th August 2017

Aadhaar card link to PAN card: No time-frame fixed to complete linkage, says Jaitley Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today informed the Lok Sabha that the government has not fixed any  time-frame to complete the linking of Aadhaar with PAN. He said this while replying to a query  whether the government has fixed any time-frame to complete the linking of the 12-digit biometric  Aadhaar number with the permanent account number (PAN), said a PTI report. It may be noted that in view of taxpayers’ problems and in a bid to ease out the panic situation, the  Income Tax Department had on July 31st extended the deadline for filing income tax return by 5 days  to August 5. It had also extended the last date for the linking of PAN with Aadhaar to August 31,  2017. The government had said that for the purpose of e-filing return, it would be sufficient as of now to  quote Aadhaar or acknowledgement No. for having applied for Aadhaar on the e-filing website. T...

Economic Survey: Renewable energy push may lead to increase in bad loans The Economic Survey says a shift to renewables may render a part of assets in conventional energy-generation plants idle or result in them being used at a much lower level India’s focus on increasing its renewable energy capacity may further exacerbate banks’ bad loan woes, according to the second volume of the Economic Survey 2016-17, released on Friday. The Survey said the social cost of producing renewable energy is around three times that of producing coal-fuelled electricity at Rs 11 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Although solar and wind power tariffs have dipped to Rs 2.44 per kWh and Rs 3.30 per kWh, respectively, making renewable energy cheaper than coal-fuelled electricity, these low tariffs do not reflect the costs of integration with the grid, and other costs such as those of stranded assets and land opportunity costs. “A shift to renewables is likely to render a part of the assets in conventional...

Economic Survey: Note ban hit informal economy, raised social insurance demand The impact was acute between December and March, but has since faded, thanks mainly to social safety  net programmes like MGNREGS, the Economic Survey said The Narendra Modi government’s demonetisation initiative impacted the informal economy, raising the  demand for social insurance, especially in less developed states, according to the second volume of  the Economic Survey 2016-17 tabled in Parliament on Friday. The impact was acute between December and March, but has since faded, thanks mainly to programmes like  the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), which performed its stated  role of providing a social safety net at times of need, the Survey said in the chapter titled “State  of the Economy: An Analytical Overview and Outlook for Policy”. In a surprise move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on 8 November that effective from ...

Govt has not written off corporate loans Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday asserted that not even a single rupee of the loans taken by  companies has been written off by the government and asked the Opposition to first get the facts  before talking about it. He told the Lok Sabha that writing off a loan was a commercial decision of banks  and added that there has been no scheme of farm loan waiver by the Centre since 2014. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 12th August 2017