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Rs 57-mn GST evasion unearthed in 16 cases in five months of FY18 The minister further said tax department takes appropriate action in suitable cases for evading taxesThe government has unearthed goods and services tax (GST) evasion to the tune of Rs 57 million in 16 cases in just five months of the ongoing financial year. GST was introduced on July 1, 2017. It subsumed over a dozen central as well as local taxes, including excise and service tax, taking the country to one-nation, one-tax regime. As per the inputs provided by the finance ministry, the government has detected GST evasion to the tune of Rs 57 million in 16 cases during July-November 2017-18, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs P P Chaudhary said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. In addition, it has found service tax evasion of Rs 96.6 billion in a total of 2,938 cases during April-December of 2017 -18. Further, the government has discovered evasion of central excise to the tune of Rs 72.4 billion in 614 case...

Centre looks at phased roll out of e way bill The central government is looking at backup options to introduce the electronic way (eway) bill inaphased manner.It was to be implemented from February 1, but the Centre had to defer it indefinitely as businesses faced disruptions after the portal crashed.The bill, said sources, can now be introduced after safeguard options are installed for the portal´s smooth working. In January, the Goods and Services Tax Council decided to advance the introduction of the bill from February 1 for interstate movement of goods valued above Rs 50,000 from the earlier April 1. It gave freedom to states to introduce the bill for intrastate movement of goods beyond 10 km by July 1. However, 13 states had volunteered to implement the bill for intrastate movement of goods from February 1 itself.Given the wide applicability of the eway bill system, ClearTax Chief Executive Officer Archit Gupta said its stability and performance are critical to its complia...

CBDT No notice to taxpayers in case of minor I-T return filing mismatch The tax man will no tissue demand notice to tax payers incase there is a minor  mismatch between their income tax return and the corresponding tax credit data. The measure, introduced in  the Financial Bill, is aimed at providing relief to salaried tax payers and ease issues of discrepancies that crop up between the information on Form 16(provided by the employer) andForm26AS (taxcredit statement received by the tax department). The Business Standard, New Delhi, 07th February 2018

Centre´s GST relief to states at Rs  900 billion The Narendra Modi government has budgeted for Rs 900 billion to be paid as compensation to states to make good their losses on account of the goods and services tax (GST) in 201819.This represents a 47 percent increase over the Rs 613 billion it plans to distribute in 2017-18. The compensation comes to 3.6 per cent of the 201819 Budget size of Rs 24.4 trillion. According to the mediumterm fiscal policy statement (part of the Budget documents), the Centre has also projected a compensation cess outlay of Rs 900 billion each for 2019-20 and 2020-21. These however, are provisional projections and will be subject to change in future Budget The compensation cess is levied on high value items like luxury cars and demerit goods such as tobacco.By law, the Centre has to provide compensation to states for their revenue losses on account of the GST for five years.The Budget documents also make it clear that the amount earmarked for the ...

IRFC tax issue resolved Giving a major relief to the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), the dedicated market borrowing arm of the railways, the ministry of corporate affairs has exempted it from an accumulated deferred tax liability of Rs 63.92 billion.This will increase the company´s net worth and help IRFC raise additional debt of over Rs 630 billion, Indian Railways said in a statement issued on Tuesday. It will also improve the valuation of the company for its maiden IPO. According to the government, post its exemption from the tax liability, IRFC will not require any equity infusion.IRFC faced a deferred tax liability as its depreciation was greater than its profit. The company did not pay tax under normal assessment and is subject to a minimum alternate tax of 21 per cent.Besides, it had to make a provision for the deferred tax liability at 35 per cent. Thus the company´s books were bearing a total tax provision of 56 per cent. This will now come down to 21 per ce...

Sebi, bourses step up guard Market regulator Sebi and stock exchanges beefed up their surveillance mechanism amid a spike in volatility in the market following a rout in the global markets. According to sources, they are also keeping a close tab on market manipulators who might take advantage of the volatile trends expected in the equity and the derivatives segments. Sebi and the exchanges had a discussion on the ongoing sell-off. “As a proactive measure, regulators and exchanges have been monitoring positions across the market and calling for additional margins where required,” said Vikram Limaye, MD & CEO, National Stock Exchange. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 07th February 2018