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Central Board of Excise and Customs pitches for an information exchange system between tax agencies With the roll-out of goods and services tax (GST) in the works, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) is pitching for an information exchange system between different tax agencies to curb evasion. GST is expected to create a trail of different transactions as at every level traders will have to register their invoices to claim input tax credits. In addition, the entire process will be online with the help of the information technology infrastructure. The integration of state and central indirect taxes will provide a comprehensive picture of a taxpayer. This will make it easier to check evasion of any tax—both direct and indirect—by a trader if the different agencies share information among themselves. For instance, it can detect cases where a company pays a certain amount of tax deducted at source (TDS) but does not pay the excise duty at all or pays a lower amount of ...

Brokerages will be told to strengthen audit systems; bourses to get larger role in monitoring health of such firms India’s capital market regulator is planning to step up supervision of stock brokers in a bid to check misuse or diversion of client funds and improve safety of the market. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) will ask brokerage firms to beef up their audit mechanism and also draw up a larger role for stock exchanges in monitoring the financial health of such firms. These are a few of the suggestions that are part of a Sebi report titled Enhanced supervision of stock brokers. Feedback on it has been sought from the Bombay Stock Exchange Brokers Forum and Association of National Exchanges Members of India (Anmi), after which the proposals will be placed before the Sebi board. Mint has reviewed a copy of the report. If approved, the recommendations will come into effect from April 2016. The report is part of Sebi’s effort to move towards a risk-based m...

The Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) on Tuesday amended its regulations that would allow the functioning of the commodities derivatives market and its brokers under the ambit of the capital market regulator. The move comes ahead of the merger of the commodities’ market regulator, the Forward Markets Commission, with Sebi, which would be effective September 28. The amended regulations included those relating to stock exchanges and clearing corporations. These norms would also come into force on September 28. Among others, aregional commodity derivatives exchange should pay Sebi an annual regulatory fee of Rs.50,000 within 30 days of the conclusion of the relevant financial year, said the amended norms. In the case of the national commodity derivatives exchanges, the net worth for a self- clearing member should be Rs.1 crore and for a clearing member it should be Rs.3 crore. The deposit amount in the case of a national commodity derivative exchange would be Rs.50 lakh...

Broadcasting sector regulator Trai on Tuesday notified two tariff amendment orders as per which it has allowed broadcasters to enter into tripartite agreements with distribution platform operators and " commercial" subscribers for supply of signals of TV channels. It has also made distinction between ordinary and commercial subscribers in these tariff amendment orders — one applicable for TV services being provided through analog cable TV systems and the other applicable for TV services being provided through digital addressable cable TV systems. Business Standard, New Delhi, 9th Sept. 2015

Taking tough stance against black money, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has directed the Income Tax department to mandatorily launch court cases against people found to be holding stash funds and tainted assets abroad and consider compounding of such offences only at a later stage. The apex policy-making body of the tax department has recently issued a directive in this regard to all I-T offices in the country after the later raised doubts over the applicability of the provisions of the compounding of offences under the Income Tax Act, 1961 in these cases. Business Standard, New Delhi, 9th Sept. 2015

In a move that could substantially reduce the financial burden of around 800,000 employers, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation ( EPFO) is considering afurther cut in the administrative fee it charges companies. The industry has called for a reduction in the administrative fees as this is a part of the employers’ contribution towards the EPFO. The EPFO is planning to reduce the administrative fee from 0.85 per cent to 0.65 per cent of the monthly basic salary. The Union labour ministry had already reduced the administrative charges from 1.10 per cent to 0.85 per cent with effect from January this year. “As the services of EPFO improve with changing technology, acase is made out to reduce the administrative fee. We are in discussion to reduce it to 0.65 per cent of the monthly salary,” said Central Provident Fund Commissioner K K Jalan. However, the move will need the approval of EPFO’s apex decision- making body, the Central Board of Trustees ( CBT). The CBT is scheduled t...

Assessees who have admitted to holding foreign accounts, paid taxes and cooperated with I-T dept to be considered for compounding The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued guidelines for compounding of offences under Income Tax Act, 1961Wealth Tax Act, 1957, in cases of persons holding undisclosed foreign bank accountsassets. The CBDT on Friday issued directions to all field formations, including principal chief commissioners, chief commissioners and principal DGs Income-Tax, to compound cases, where an assessee has cooperated fully or partially and paid taxes. The CBDT clarified that the matter was examined in consultation with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money . The ET, on Aug 12, reported that SIT had approved compounding of offences under the Income-Tax Act, for Indians holding accounts in foreign banks, many of whom are facing prosecution for tax evasion and concealment of income. According to the compounding guidelines, “The cases in which the ...

Move to help workers join regular workforce with better wages & benefits The government is considering fixing the proportion of contract workers that an organisation can hire, a move that may help it dilute opposition to labour reforms but is sure to trigger stiff opposition from industry . The first draft of the proposal will be finalised soon, after which the government will kick-start consultation with key stakeholders, including trade unions and employers, a senior labour ministry official told ET. While it is still in the concept stage, the plan being considered is to limit the portion of contract workers in companies to 40% to 50% of the total workforce, with a pay that is no less than the government-prescribed minimum wages. The proposed changes to the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act may also make it compulsory for companies to absorb contract workers to the regular fold whenever a permanent position opens up. The move could spell a bonanza for contrac...

Suggests ending STT on equity derivatives, stamp duty on index ones; also for rupee's internationalisation,other changes A government- appointed panel has recommended abolition of the securities transaction tax (STT) in equity derivatives. The standing council on international competitiveness of the Indian financial sector also suggested doing away with the stamp duty on cash- settled products such as index derivatives. After the Special Investigative Team ( SIT) on undisclosed money noted any investor wanting to invest through participatory notes could invest afresh as a foreign portfolio investor (FPI), the council said it wanted regulatory clarifications on these instruments, through which unregistered investors invest in Indian markets. Tackling GAAR It has also suggested the government take measures to internationalise the rupee on the lines of the Chinese renminbi and remove uncertainty about availing of treaty benefits under the proposed General Anti- Avoidance R...

Draft laws likely to be ready in 3 weeks; rules being readied to avoid scrutiny overlap by Centre, states Companies with an annual turnover up to Rs.25 lakh might be exempted from the proposed national goods and services tax ( GST). The Centre and states are likely to settle for this threshold as they finalise the GST laws. According to finance ministry officials, the draft of these laws is expected to be ready by the end of this month. The Centre and states are working on a mechanism to avoid dual scrutiny of companies by them. “The thinking now is that all legal entities with an annual turnover of up to Rs.25 lakh will be completely exempt. This will be applicable to one TIN ( Taxpayer Identification Number),” said aministry official. The government is looking to reconvene Parliament’s monsoon session to get the Constitutional amendment Bill on GST passed in the Rajya Sabha. Three Bills — on the Centre’s GST ( CGST), states’ GST and Integrated GST — would come up after the Co...

Visa applications from foreign businessmen, trade delegations will be approved or rejected within a week’s time Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, aiming to boost trade ties with countries such as China and Iran, has decided that visa applications from foreign businessmen and trade delegations will be approved or rejected within a week’s time. The commerce ministry has been complaining that delays by the home ministry—sometimes extensive—in clearing business visa applications were holding back attempts to improve ties with important trading partners. The home ministry has already taken Iran off a list of countries that draw special scrutiny from security agencies for providing visas after the Gulf nation reached a deal with Western countries in July, agreeing to limit its nuclear programme in exchange for removal of economic sanctions. “Both the home ministry and the Prime Minister’s office are on the same page that no visa application will be delayed for more than on...