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HELPFUL MODE Move may translate into double-digit returns for subscribers; earlier the ministry was planning to hike interest rate to 8.95% The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation is considering doling out a Rs 750 crore bonus to its subscribers for 2015-16 instead of raising the interest rate, a first of its kind move that could translate into double-digit returns for crores of workers on their retirement funds. EPFO had earlier proposed raising the interest rate to 8.95% in the current fiscal year, compared with 8.75% in 2013-15 and 2014-15, based on its earnings estimate for the year. The proposal had met with some resistance from the finance ministry as it would put pressure on it to raise interest rates on small savings schemes and would not be sustainable go ing forward. Therefore, the retirement fund body that manages the savings of more than 5 crore organized sector workers is considering a onetime bonus payment. “We are considering the option of bonus for the first tim...

FALL YEAR Indian unit has given a negative return of 1.71% since Jan 1, analysts don't rule out further weakness The rupee seems to have lost some steam, that is, if you go by data on total investment returns, or even on the basis of pure fundamentals. Unlike the previous year, the Indian currency has clearly lost the top slot among emerging markets so far in 2016, as concerns over growth push investors to park their money in safer places, like the US. The local unit is now one of the three worst performing EM currencies, yielding a negative return of 1.71% against 2-5% positive returns by the Malaysian Ringgit, Indonesian Rupiah, Thai Bhat and the Brazilian Real, show data from Bloomberg. “The rupee has underperformed some of its emerging markets peers in 2016, but over a longer horizon (2014 or 2015), it had remained comparatively much stronger,“ said Saugata Bhattacharya, chief economist at Axis Bank. “This needs to be balanced with incentivising capital inflows, since the curr...

Updates Of the Day 1.MCA invite comments on Revised schedule III for a co. whose financial statements are drawn up as per IND AS Rules,2015 & Draft CARO,2016 latest by 23.02.16. 2.Sec 80P: Principle of mutuality applies to transfer fees, non- occupancy / car parking charges. [Lands End Co-operavtive Housing Society Limited vs ITO (ITAT Mumbai), ITA NO. 3566/Mum/2014] 3.Interest on TDS deduction default is not sustainable, where tax liability of deductor is NIL. [M/s Anusha Investment Ltd. Vs. ITO ( Madras High Court), TCA No. 398 of 2007, A.Y. 2002-2003]. 4.Brokerage expenses not allowed against income from House Property. [M/s Radiant Premises Pvt. Ltd. vs. ACIT (ITAT Mumbai), ITA No. 5494/MUM/2013, A.Y. 2010-2011]. 5.Computation of income u/s 115JB : unabsorbed depreciation and book loss furnished by the assessee for computation of Book Profit u/s 115JB , adjudicating authorities can always consider and decide on merits, any claim which the taxpayer has raised before the A...

Updates Of the Day 1.Deduction on cess paid on green tea leaves has to be allowed on 100 per cent of the composite income under the Income-tax Act, 1961, and not on 60 per cent of the agricultural income. [Commissioner of Income Tax, Kol-II vs M/s Moran Tea Co. Ltd. - 2016 (2) TMI 278 - CALCUTTA HIGH COURT] 2.So long as the documents (debit notes) reveal the essential details like registration number, service provided, service recipient, value of taxable service, refund cannot be rejected merely because the documents are debit notes. – Tribunal. [M/s.Shivam Exports, M/s. Mecshot Blasting Equipment (P) Ltd. And M/s. Shree Ram Industries vs CCE Jaipur - 2016 (2) TMI 259 - CESTAT NEW DELHI] 3.Refund cannot be denied merely for procedural lapse i.e. if assessee is eligible to get refund, it should be allowed even if there is a delay of 2 days because of the intervening saturday and sunday and the claim was filed on Monday.[Markers Mart And Prince Exports vs C.C.E & S. Tax., Jaipur...

The government is considering permitting 100 per cent FDI in the market place format of e-commerce retailing with a view to attract more foreign investments.  The norms on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sectors of e-commerce, and IT and ITeS are expected to be part of detailed guidelines, which would be rolled out soon by the government, sources said.  Last week, a group of senior officials from departments of DIPP, Corporate Affairs and Economic Affairs, among others, discussed these matters in great detail.  According to sources, the DIPP has suggested that 100 per cent FDI should be allowed in "market place model e-commerce" activities.  In such a model, the e-commerce company provides an online platform for buyers and a sellers.  At present, global e-tailer giants like Amazon and Ebay are operating online marketplaces in India while homegrown players like Flipkart and Snapdeal have foreign investments even as there are no clear FDI guidelines on var...

Labour bureau to visit over 10,000 firms every quarter, more than four times present number, to track employment The Union labour ministry will revamp its quarterly job survey to reflect the latest employment data from both the manufacturing and service sectors in a bid to make it more structured and sync it with policymaking. So far, employment data collection in India has been ad hoc, patchy and irregular. For instance, employment data from many manufacturing and export-oriented firms is available only up to June 2015, unlike export data, which comes in every month. “The quarterly survey will be revamped soon. We are looking to expand the base of the survey as well. The aim is to have regular up-to-date jobs data for both policymaking and public consumption,” said Daljeet Singh, deputy director general of the labour bureau, which functions under the labour ministry. “The quarterly survey which has been carried out since 2008-09 (but only for a small segment of companies) will be exp...

Budget may kill excise exemptions for some grocery items in preparation for GST Your monthly grocery bill could rise after the Budget as the government is considering the elimination of excise duty exemptions for some items and moving up the lowest rate currently applied on many goods to set the stage for the goods & services tax (GST). Green tea, dairy spreads, yoghurt, cheese, ice-cream, frozen food products, pasta, ready-to eat foods, packaged fruit juices and soya milk could see excise duty kicking in or going up to the standard rate of 12.5%. Many of these products currently attract nil to 6% excise. “A number of exemptions in the excise duty have been sit ting for years,“ said a government official. “With GST round the corner, it makes sense to take a relook at the existing structure.“ He pointed out that a number of exempted items already attract value ad ded tax (VAT) in some states. The government is expected to give a renewed push to GST in the Budget session by at tempt...

Govt considers entity level taxes for infrastructure firms instead of SPV level taxes In what could boost the growth of the infrastructure companies, which are currently reeling under the burden of massive debt, the government is looking to allow them to file a consolidated group tax return, a person familiar with the development said. This means, infrastructure companies would be able to consolidate profits and losses in all their subsidiaries and pay taxes as a single entity. Currently, these firms treat each project as a separate entity and the performance of one such operation--mostly registered as a special purpose vehicle (SPV)--is independent from another such operation. The government is conducting a feasibility research to find out if a model of allowing companies to consolidate the SPVs would lead to any loss in their tax revenue, the person told ET. “Currently, the government doesn't know if allowing such a leeway would lead to increase or decrease in taxes.“ The govern...

With the current financial year coming to a close soon, the Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT) has asked the Income Tax department to speed up select black money and tax evasion probe cases which require cooperation from foreign agencies under the existing bilateral treaties. Officials said the CBDT has asked taxman to send it all such cases for exchange of information which are getting " time barred" by March 31. Business Standard, New Delhi, 9th Feb. 2016

Plans longer term measures to check cheaper import While there are some obvious benefits for domestic steel producers following the imposition of a minimum import price (MIP) on steel, the industry seems to have abigger plan as it prepares to file for longer- duration duties to counter cheaper imports. On Friday, the government imposed MIPs on 173 steel products to protect domestic players. This duty is going to remain valid for a period of six months. With the MIP, imports would become costlier by 26- 70 per cent, said a report by Prabhudas Lilladher. “We are looking at anti- dumping and countervailing duties as the next measures to fix the steel import issue since these duties are typically placed for threefour years,” Sanak Mishra, secretary- general at the Indian Steel Association, told Business Standard on Monday. Integrated primary steel producers like the Sajjan Jindal- led JSW Steel, Jindal Steel & Power, state- owned Steel Authority of India and Tata Steel will b...

A central bank panel has issued recommendations for introducing bond options in India, including simple-structured contracts and allowing companies to trade up to Rs.5 crore without documented underlying exposures. Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 9th Feb. 2016