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Bill retains excise duty on gold jewellery, expands tax benefit for start- ups The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Union Budget for 2016-17, incorporating official amendments to the Finance Bill. It now goes to the Rajya Sabha for debate but that House has no power to reject it. One such is reducing the period of holding of shares of unlisted companies from the current 36 months to 24 months to qualify for long- term capital gains tax. The provision was absent despite Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announcing it in his Budget speech. Other amendments included extending the tax benefits for start- ups to limited liability partnerships, dropping a proposal to tax employer contributions to recognised provident funds in excess of Rs. 1.5 lakh a year and clearing an ambiguity on additional dividend tax. Penalty for concealing income has been changed from the existing 0300 per cent to 50- 200 per cent. Opposition parties raised the issue of not bringing non- taxation measures such ...

The government on Thursday said it intends to enter into cross- border treaties to confiscate foreign assets of wilful defaulters and recover dues of banks as the Lok Sabha passed a Bill that seeks to update existing laws in this regard. Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said the bankruptcy framework and normal procedure would continue in a parallel manner. Business Standard New Delhi,06 May 2016

The government relaxed norms for claiming duty benefits under the Merchandise Exports from India scheme ( MEIS) by exempting merchandise exporters from mandatory submission of landing bills. With an eye on boosting exports, which have declined for the 16th straight month in March, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade has notified that proof of landing, which exporters have long argued against, will not be required along the remaining 2,787 tariff lines. The MEIS scheme, introduced in April 2015 under the foreign trade policy, incentivises merchandise exports along a total of 5,012 items currently. Business Standard New Delhi,6th May 2016

Amid a surge in bad loans, the Lok Sabha on Thursday approved a Bill to overhaul century- old laws that regulate insolvency. The proposed Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code aims to slash the time it takes to wind up a company or recover dues from a defaulter. The Bill will become a law once the Rajya Sabha clears it. The proposed uniform law will streamline the existing insolvency process which depends on 11 separate laws. Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, while answering queries from fellow lawmakers, described the Code as “ transformational” and said it would help India improve its ranking in the World Bank survey on ‘ ease of doing business’. To a query on whether the new legislation would help in taking the overseas assets of wilful defaulters, Sinha said in this regard first cross- border treaties need to be put in place. “ We have to make crossborder treaties. We have to have an understanding with other nations that we are taking action on this defaulter. When we have...

RBI’sdraftguidelineswant60% ofagroup’sincomefromfinancialservices The Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) on Thursday proposed granting on- tap universal banking licences to individuals, groups or entities and companies. However, the criterion for corporates will effectively rule out entry for business houses like Reliance, Tata and Birla, which had ambitions of floating universal banks. According to the draft guidelines, at least 60 per cent of a group’s income should come from financial services, as a result of which many large industrial houses are automatically excluded. “Corporate- promoted non- banking financial companies ( NBFCs) won’t be allowed to apply for the banking licence,” said Abizer Diwanji, head of financial services at EY. Apart from this, RBI said, to be eligible to apply, the corporate entity should have a minimum asset size of ? 5,000 crore and a successful track record of 10 years. The corporate group has to float the bank through a nonoperative financial ho...

www.caonline.in News... 1.NIRC jointly with Vikas Marg CPE study circle is organizing seminar on taxation of real estate transactions and DVAT on 6th May 2016 from 5PM- 9PM at Crystal Banquets, near Nirman Vihar Metro Station, Delhi. Fees: Rs.500/- 2.Govt. notifies limit on sugar stock for dealers: [F. No. 1[6]/2016-SP-I] Dated: 29th April, 2016. 3.In absence of contumacious conduct, penalty u/s. 271C not leviable. [ITO (TDS), vs. Pushpanjali Hospital and Research Centre Pvt. Ltd. (ITAT Agra)]. 4.Tax on damages for breach of contract received by immovable property buyer. [Rajesh Mayor vs. ITO (ITAT Amritsar)]. 5.Transactions having contingent impact on profit/ losses are not international transactions. [Siro Clinpharm Pvt. Ltd. vs. DCIT (ITAT Mumbai)]. 6.No local VAT on goods purchased inter-state or in the course of import in works contracts. [Commissioner, DVAT vs. ABB Ltd. (SC)]. For more News Like us onhttps://www.facebook.com/caonlineofficial Or Subscribe on mail visit :...

To check falsity by salaried taxpayers in claiming deductions, the income tax ( I- T) department has introduced a new form that all employees will need to give their employers this financial year onwards. Along with the new declaration (From 12BB), employees will also need to furnish evidence and information related to the deductions they claim. According to the government notification, if an individual claims housing rent allowance (HRA) of over ? 1 lakh, he or she will need to furnish name, address and permanent account number ( PAN) of the house owner. Those claiming leave travel allowance/ concession ( LTA or LTC) will need to give ‘ evidence of expenditure’. And, if you have a housing loan and claim deduction on the interest, you will need to provide PAN of the lender, along with its name and address. Similarly, relevant proof is needed for claiming deductions under Chapters VI- A ( A) and VI- A, which cover Sections 80C, 80CCC, 80CCD, 80E, 80G, 80TTA, et al. These rules tak...

Currency consultants are seeing some discipline in India’s companies when it comes to hedging, even as the rupee continues to remain stable and might remain so in the coming months. While larger ones are well- hedged, smaller firms are preferring to enter into short- term hedging and rolling it over. Importers are willing to hedge in the one- month basket, and exporters, too, are selling dollars for the near future, say currency dealers. This is a departure from the earlier practice of keeping foreign currency exposures largely un- hedged, inviting criticism from the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) stating that the central bank wouldn’t be available to protect these firms if currency volatility tosses the currency bets upside down. Unsure of whether the repeated warnings would work, the central bank directed banks that the lenders have to set aside more money for their clients un- hedged exposures. This indirect pressure tactics worked, as capital- deficient banks tightened their pu...

People with annual income of over Rs. 50 lakh will have to disclose the acquisition cost of all assets like land, building and ewellery in the Income-Tax return forms for assessment year 2016-17. The luxury items to be disclosed will also include utensils, apparels and furnitures studded with precious stones and ornaments made of gold, silver, platinum or any other precious metal or alloy. “The amount in respect of assets to be reported will be the cost price of such assets to the assessee,“ the CBDT has said while issuing instructions on the new ITR forms. The Economic Times New Delhi,05th May 2016

To ensure the “highest degree of safety“, Sebi on Wednesday asked clearing corporations to invest their money broadly in fixed deposits, government securities and liquid schemes of debt mutual funds. The market regulator has issued the circular in this regard after taking into consideration the recommendations made by an expert panel on issues pertaining to investment policy of clearing corporation. Clearing houses are associated with an exchange to handle the confirmation, settlement and delivery of transactions, fulfilling the main obligation of ensuring transactions in a prompt and efficient manner. While framing the `investment policy', the clearing corporations will have to consider highest degree of safety and least market risk, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said. The investments need to be broadly in fixed deposits, central government securities and liquid schemes of debt mutual funds. These fixed deposits should be made with banks having a net wo...

Must for Builders and Developers: After section 80-IB of the Income-tax Act, section 80-IBA shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of April, 2017. The section was inserted by Finance Act, 2016. Where the gross total income of an assessee includes any profits and gains derived from the business of developing and building housing projects, there shall, subject to the provisions of this section, be allowed, a deduction of an amount equal to hundred per cent of the profits and gains derived from such business. Approval of Project between : 01/06/2016 to 31/03/2019 Project Should be Completed within 3 Year of Approval. If approval for more than 1 time than 3 year from first approval.Project was deemed to be Completed when a certificate of completion of project as a whole is obtained in writing from the competent authority. Where a residential unit in the housing project is allotted to an individual, no other residential unit in the housing project shall be allotted to the i...