CA Online

I-T Dept may Go into Overdrive This Quarter The income-tax department will in all likelihood go into overdrive in the next three months with the Central Board of Direct Taxes — the apex body — alerting all senior tax officials that their performance is being “monitored at the highest level.” It will also give a renewed push towards imposing and recovering tax on .Rs  3 lakh crore deposit, which is suspected to be the quantum of unexplained cash parked with banks post demonetisation. “There will be searches, surveys, information verification, and follow-ups. Explanations on ‘cash in hand’ amounts are being sought from different kinds of assessees, and not just from large establishments and jewellers. We will be knocking on many doors even if our respective targets are met,” a senior tax officer told ET. This was broadly the message conveyed by the CBDT chief during a recent video-conference with tax officials.According to another person in the department, direct tax offices ...

Commerce Ministry panel's proposal to end MAT on SEZs under review The minimum alternate tax levied on special economic zones (SEZs) that hit fresh investments in the scheme is under review. A panel appointed by the commerce department had recommended removal of MAT for manufacturing units and zones to boost exports as well as job creation in the country. "The recommendations of the report are being examined," said a government official, who did not wish to be identified. A final call on the proposal will be taken in the budget keeping in view revenue implications and benefit that may accrue to the country in terms of manufacturing boost and jobs, the official said. Finance minister Arun Jaitley will present his fifth budget and the last full one of this NDA government on February 1. ET had earlier reported on the recommendations of the panel set up to review the SEZ norms. Tax experts said removal of MAT would boost business sentiment. "Ideally, MAT should n...

Govt sitting still on GST refunds Last week, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) brought to the government’s attention several issues in filing of GSTR-1 returns and enabling of transitional credit to assessees which could not file TRAN-1 returns due to system glitches. A follow-up to its representation of two weeks earlier ICAI said the GST Network system was not generating a summary within five minutes. Sometimes, it takes around 12 hours, due to which assessees are not able to proceed further. Though the latter are generating ‘a json’ file in the latest version of the offline tool, on uploading such a file, the system shows it as generated in the old version. In the B2B sheet, assessees round off the tax dues billwise but the system is finalising without rounding it off to rupees. Due to such system errors, assessees are finding it difficult to file before the due date. So, ICAI requested that assesses get relief by having the last date for filing of GSTR-...

FDI norms tweak: Joint audits to boost Indian entities Companies will now have to go for joint audits in caseaforeign investor insists on having an international auditor,amove that will provide a fillip to Indian audit entities. The government´s decision is seen as a significant step towards boosting the prospects of local auditing firms amid the back drop of Big 4 audit firms holding sway, especially when it comes to companies where there is overseas investment. Following extensive deliberations and an expert panel report related to audit firms, the government decided to tweak the auditing requirements with respect to companies having foreign investments.While relaxing the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy last week, the government said that there were no provisions in respect of specification of auditors that can be appointed by the Indian companies receiving foreign investments. Hence, it has been decided to provide in the FDI policy that wherever the foreign investor...

Sebi knocks at PMO door on NPA disclosure rules Regulator keen on implementing a revised proposal The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has approached the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) to look into its proposal mandating listed companies to make public disclosures within a day of loan defaults. According to sources, the market regulator is keen on implementing its initial proposal with certain changes. The new rule was to come into effect in October 2017 but got deferred due to hurdles in its implementation. A revised proposal was discussed on December 28 at Sebi’s board meeting, which decided to hold it further, saying it required more discussion. Sources said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Ministry of Finance were not keen on the proposal as the move would require banks to make an additional provisioning of Rs 260 billion. Sebi, on the other hand, is pushing the proposal as it will benefit investors and lead...