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Corp Affairs Ministry Objects to Some Suggestions of Sebi Panel Says Companies Act already covers matters related to committee's recommendations The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has opposed some of the recommendations made by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) committee on corporate governance on the grounds that they concern matters already covered by the Companies Act. The committee, which was set up by Sebi to suggest ways in which to enhance corporate governance standards, has called for an increase in the minimum number of directors and the inclusion of at least one independent woman board member -areas under the ambit of the Companies Act and therefore not under the remit of the market regulator. “Committee proposes to make recommendations which seek to empower Sebi to prescribe a number of additional requirements on matters which have been core company law principles and find place, rightly so, under Companies Act,“ MCA joint secretary AK Bhat...

GST Council Adopts Concept Paper Discouraging Tinkering with Rates Paper says no manufactured goods should be given outright exemption as it would hit Make in India The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will actively discourage any further tweaks in rates, following a major revamp of the indirect tax regime on Friday to help small industries and exporters. A concept paper adopted by the council says no manufactured goods should be given outright exemption as this would hinder the Make in India initiative. States should opt for direct subsidy transfers if they want to reduce tax incidence on any item. This suggests that companies looking for such breaks like Apple would not be able to get any outright tax exemptions. “The whole idea is to look at the issue of rate revision afresh... There should be no ad hocism in rate revision,“ said a government official familiar with the thinking behind the concept paper that will guide changes to tax rates from now on.The key principles i...

GST Council sets up panel to rework GST rate for restaurants GST Council has set up a five-member panel of state ministers to rework the GST rate on restaurants and implement the composition scheme for SMEs Federal tax body the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has set up a five-member panel of state ministers to make the quarterly tax filing and payment scheme for small businesses more attractive and to rework the tax rate on restaurants.The panel comprises Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Jammu & Kashmir finance minister Haseeb Drabu, Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Chhattisgarh commercial taxes minister Amar Agrawal, a person privy to the development said on the condition of anonymity. At present, services of non-air-conditioned restaurants are taxed at 12% and that of air-conditioned ones including those in five star and above rated hotels are taxed at 18%.The Council has noticed that restaura...

Composition scheme window open for six more months Bid to bring more small taxpayers into easier compliance plan The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has decided to keep open the composition scheme, an easier compliance and tax option, till March 31. The second window of the scheme closed on September 30. It allows small taxpayers to pay a fixed rate of turnover as tax and eases GST formalities.“The opportunity to opt for composition scheme will be available till March 31, 2018,” Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia told Business Standard. The move will give entities more time to evaluate their business models to comply with the scheme requirements, enabling more assessees to avail of it.A notification moving the deadline to March is expected by early this week.The Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, had on Friday raised the eligibility threshold of annual turnover to Rs 1 crore from Rs 75 lakh for the composition scheme. The scheme offers a flat rate of tax and...

New limit for reporting gold transactions soon Govt The government will soon notify a new threshold for reporting to authorities about transactions in gold and other precious metals and stones, with a view to curb parking of black money in bullion, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said. On Friday, it had reversed its August order of bringing gems and jewellery dealers under the purview of the reporting requirement of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In an interview to PTI, Adhia said the August 23 order had to be rescinded because it created “confusion andalot of negative sentiment” because no threshold for transactions to be reported was set.  The Business Standard, New Delhi, 09th October 2017

Govt open to amending IBC to address difficulties The government is open to amending the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to resolve practical difficulties and redress grievances, Union Minister PP Chaudhary has said. Assuring that the challenges thrown up by some cases would get resolved, the minister said that the government is monitoring the implementation of the Code. The Code became operational in December past year. “When we see it is not practically possible to implement certain provisions or practically on some count the Code is silent, then we can fill the gap by way of bringing some new amendment. If we think some amendment is required, then we will consider it,” Chaudhary said The Business Standard, New Delhi, 09th October 2017

Govt will clear refunds for exporters in 2 months: Adhia The government will clear pending goods and services tax (GST) refunds of exporters by November end. Over the next six months no tax will be levied on exports, the GST Council has decided, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said. Over July-August, an estimated Rs 67,000 crore was accumulated as the Integrated GST (IGST), of which only Rs 5,00010,000 crore will be due as refunds to exporters, he told PTI. While no tax has to be paid on goods to be exported in the remaining months of current financial year, an e-wallet service will be launched from April 1 that will give exporters notional credits that can be used to pay GST, he said. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 09th October 2017