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Govt rolls back budget decision to apply 1% TCS on cash purchase of gold jewellery of Rs 2 lakh and raises threshold to Rs 5 lakh from tomorrow In a move that may boost demand for gold jewellery, the government has rolled back its budget decision to apply 1% tax collection at source (TCS) on cash purchase of gold jewellery ofRs.. 2 lakh and above and raised the threshold to the earlier RS.5 lakh with effect from June 1. The decision comes at a time when jewellers are finding it difficult to offload their inventory that piled up following a 42-day strike -in protest against imposition of 1% excise duty on gold and diamond jewellery -that ended unsuccessfully in mid-April. Bachhraj Bamalwa, director at All India Gem & Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) , said the increase in TCS threshold limit is “a major relief to those who would purchase wedding jewellery“. “. Rs.2 lakh was a very small sum for wedding jewellery,“ he told ET. Gold demand in the country hit a Gold demand in the c...

The rule, to be effective from June 1, will be for taxation of payments for international digital services by Indian businesses The government on Monday announced rules for equalisation levy -or `Google tax' for taxation of payments for international digital services by Indian businesses -that was introduced in the budget. The specified services covered by the levy include online advertising, provision for digital advertising space and any other service to be notified by government. The rules come into effect from June 1. Finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced the equalisation levy, emanating out of OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Sharing project, on payments made by busines ses for specific digital services to a non-resident entity not having permanent establishment in India. The idea is to indirectly tax internet giants for money they make from Indian advertisers, by imposing a levy on the payments these advertisers make. The levy was structured based on rec...

India, till now was classified as `developing' country, will now be called `lower-middle income' For decades, `developed' and `developing' have served as agreeable economic nomenclatures to classify countries based on their prosperity and standards of living. That's about to change, with the World Bank switching to more precise, though unvarnished, descriptions of economies. And India -which till now found a place under the common umbrella with other `developing' countries -will now be called `lower-middle income countrySouth Asia'. The more specific definitions are aimed at categorising economies which though `developing' in character, differ dramatically from one another. For instance, India, Mexico and Malawi may be hardly comparable even if a few economic and social parameters overlap. With economies becoming less and less homogeneous, the multilateral agency will group countries based on geographical coverage and income levels to capture the...

Study likely to focus on bank deposits, cash, insurance, PF, shares, gold & realty What do you do with your savings? Do you let your funds grow in fixed deposits, invest in the stock market, accumulate gold, or salt some money away for your retirement? The government wants to know. And it is set to launch a national survey to find out. “We need to have a direct estimation of household savings and there is no data on this at present,“ a government official privy to the development said, requesting not to be identified.“We do get data from the Reserve Bank of India and financial instruments, but there has been a thinking in the government for quite some time to have its own savings-investment data,“ he said. The move comes at a time when the government plans to strengthen its financial inclusion drive through the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana. The proposed survey marks a departure from the current practice of estimating household savings indirectly by deducting the numbers...

www.caonline.in News... 1.Withdrawal of Delhi Sugam -1(DS-1) earlier notified on 19.5.2016 . DVAT Notification F.3(671)/Policy/VAT/2016/251-63 dated 27/5/16. 2.31.05.16 is the last date for issue of TDS certificate to employees (Form 16), for the F.Y. 2015-16 by all deductors. 3.Today 30/05/16 is the last day for Issue of TDS/TCS certificate (Form 16A/27D) for Q4 of 2015-16 by all deductors. 4.CBDT extends time limit for E-filing of appeals before CIT (Appeals) from 15.05.2016 to 15/06/2016. CBDT circular no. 20/2016. 5.E-assessment Scheme extended to Hyderabad & Kolkata from F.Y.2016-17; Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi & Mumbai covered earlier. CBDT press release of 25.05.16 For more News Like us on https://www.facebook.com/caonlineofficial Or Subscribe on mail visit : www.caonline.in

The income tax department is likely to increase the use of phone tapping in its crackdown on black money. The measure is currently used sparingly, but taxmen say call records can be used as proof for taking action against tax evaders. “Call records are legal proof which cannot be refuted. This is an exercise adopted on a case to case basis where the department is unable to catch enough proofs,” a senior tax official said. According to law, the tax department is required to take permission from the ministry of home affairs to tap phones, which the official said is usually forthcoming. Ending black money was one of the planks on which the Narendra Modi led-NDA had fought Parliamentary elections two years ago, and the government has initiated several measures to curb the so-called parallel economy. PMO EYES WINDOW The next initiative, a limitedperiod window for declaring hidden domestic income and wealth, and pay tax and penalty Undisclosed income from I-T search and seizures in 2...

Startups want tax exemption to be extended to up to seven years To make Startup India more lucrative, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry has approached the Ministry of Finance with an industry proposal to widen the income tax exemption period from the current three years. “I have been interacting with the startups and a lot of them are in touch with us directly.The decisions which have to be taken by finance we are forwarding it. Finance is also favourably inclined to help them out because this is a major initiative,“ Minister of State for Commerce & Industry Nirmala Sitharaman told ET. Startups want the tax holiday to be extended to up to seven years because no company breaks even in three years. They say a longer-duration tax concession would not only encourage entrepreneurship but also enable companies to expand operations, generate employment and hire quality talent. The government's Startup Action Plan of January 2016 had stated that with cash constraints an...

India keen to restart talks to amend Dutch tax treaty to stop its misuse by companies India has asked the Netherlands to resume negotiations on amending their bilateral tax treaty as the government extends its efforts to plug loopholes in such accords to curb misuse. The Dutch tax treaty , which allows exemption from capital gains and a lower rate of tax on dividends, has led to the proliferation of holding company structures. The move follows the amendment of the tax treaty with Mauritius earlier this month, restoring India's right to tax capital gains on entities based in that jurisdiction. “The idea is to start talks again (with the Dutch),“ said a government official aware of the development. For India, it's one of the four treaties along with the Mauritius accord that offers capital gains tax exemption to investors, the others being pacts with Singapore and Cyprus. After plugging gaps in the Mauritius tax treaty, the government is keen on doing the same with the rest...

If the Narendra Modi government is successful in steering the goods and services tax (GST) Constitution amendment Bill through the Rajya Sabha in the monsoon session, what happens next? Can the government keep to the time-line of a rollout on April 1, 2017? There are three parties now in the Rajya Sabha opposed to GST passage, the Congress with 60 members and the Tamil Nadu parties, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Tamil Nadu sends 18 members to the Rajya Sabha and 16 oppose GST. A tacit agreement has been reached, say top government sources, that AIADMK (12 members) will either abstain or walk out during voting. The other elements of the agreement are yet to become public, on what will be the quid for the pro. With Congress's apparently inflexible objection, it is likely to be isolated on the floor of the House. Its loneliness is all the more stark after the drumbeats on the Modi government completing two years in office and ...

On completion of its two years in office, a euphoric Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has asserted that the goods and services tax (GST) Bill will be taken up in the monsoon session of Parliament and passed even without the help of the Congress. The government is banking on help from regional parties and rejigged numbers in the Rajya Sabha. Also bolstering the government's hopes was the support announced by the Trinamool Congress for the GST Bill, soon after its victory in the Assembly polls. With 55 members set to retire from the Rajya Sabha, 15 states will be electing Members of Parliament (MPs) to the Upper House. Incidentally, this does not include Assam, Kerala and West Bengal where Assembly polls were recently held. Uttar Pradesh (11 seats), Tamil Nadu (six) and Maharashtra (six), Bihar (five), Andhra Pradesh (four), Karnataka (four), and Rajasthan (four) are among the states that will conduct elections to the Upper House. The BJP has 15 MPs retiring and stands t...

To safeguard investors' interest, capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) might soon ask credit rating agencies (CRAs) to make greater disclosure about suspension and subsequent withdrawal of ratings, and periodic review of the criteria used for ratings. The move follows Amtek Auto's default on its loan repayment to JP Morgan Asset Management and the increasing number of defaults triggered by some recent, drastic downgrades by rating agencies. CRISIL, ICRA and CARE are some of the major CRAs that assign credit ratings for issuers of debt instruments. "Sebi is in the final stages of formulating new disclosure regulations on credit rating agencies, and might soon come out with revised rules," said a Sebi official, on condition of anonymity. "Rating agencies should be made more responsible and accountable. It is noticed that there is a lack of proper disclosures and conflict of interest between rating agencies and issuer com...