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Corporation tax collections up just 4%; indirect tax kitty up 31% The Centres tax kitty swelled 28.4 per cent in the first quarter of the financial year, but corporation tax yielded only 4.4 per cent more than what was collected in the first three months of 2015- 16, indicating lukewarm growth in the profitability of India Inc. Much of the growth in indirect tax collections was due to an increase in excise duty on petroleum and other measures, showed official figures released on Friday. The 28 per cent growth in collection is significantly higher than the annual growth of 12 per cent budgeted for gross tax collections in the current year. The government collected Rs.3.24 lakh crore in April- June, 2016- 17 against Rs.2.52 lakh crore in the corresponding period of the last year. While indirect tax collections jumped 30.8 per cent to Rs.1.98 lakh crore against Rs.1.53 lakh crore earlier, direct taxes yielded Rs.1.24 lakh crore ( growth of 24.79 per cent), figures released by the financ...

New Minister of State for Finance Arjun Meghwal seems to be on the same page as his immediate boss, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, when it comes to the passage of the constitutional amendment to the goods and service tax (GST) Bill in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament. “If the Opposition has some suggestions or reservations (regarding GST), we are ready to discuss those, except putting the rate in the Constitution. That is not a practical suggestion. If in the future the government decides that the rates need to be changed, then we will have to amend the Constitution again,”  Meghwal told Business Standard on Friday, days after assuming his new post. “We want the passage of the constitutional amendment to GST in the monsoon session.” Meghwal is also the new minister of state for corporate affairs. Over the past many months, the differences between the government and the principal Opposition, the Congress, had reduced. The Congress has been demanding that the GST rate be m...

www.caonline.in News... 1. Result for the CA final and CPT will be Declared on 18th July 2016 . http:resource.cdn.icai.org/42624exam100716.pdf. 2. HC not to admit writ petition if assessee already participated in reassessment proceedings.[ M/s. Amaya Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. vs. Income Tax Officer (Bombay High Court)]. 3. Payment to Master & Visa without tax deduction is not disallowable.[DIT vs. Citibank N. A.(Bombay HC)]. 4. Mesne profits is a capital receipt and not chargeable to tax.[CIT vs. Goodwill Theatres Pvt. Ltd (Bombay HC)]. 5. Assessment without allowing assessing to cross examine deponent not valid.[H. R. Mehta vs. ACIT (Bombay HC)].

The release of the Model GST Law is a milestone in the unending journey of transformational reform of our indirect tax system. It reflects the determination of the government to implement the goods and services tax at the earliest. The Model Law has been several years in the making and is a product of intense debates and controversies in the drafting committee of Centre and state officials. The final outcome is a mixed bag of good, bad and ugly. It will please some, but displease many. Fortunately, it is still a draft, and provides an opportunity for our legislators to pause and reflect whether they should embrace it or send it back to the drawing board. In evaluating the Model Law, one has to be cognisant of the fact that GST in India will not be a single tax, but a set of 38 different taxes, 36 state taxes ( SGSTs, one each for the 29 states and seven Union Territories), the Centre GST (CGST), and the Integrated GST ( IGST) on inter- state supplies. To avoid the tax jungle of d...

The income tax (I-T) department has postponed the implementation of the new accounting standards for computation of business income by a year, a move that will give companies a breather. Now, the Income Computation and Disclosure Standards (ICDS) will be applicable on the income earned in the current financial year. Business Standard New Delhi, 07th July 2016-dated 

The government announced a committee to examine the feasibility of having ‘ a new financial year’. It will be headed by former chief economic advisor Shankar Acharya. The panel will also have former cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar, former Tamil Nadu finance secretary P V Rajaraman, and Rajiv Kumar from the Centre for Policy Research. The current financial year begins April 1. The panel will “examine the merits and demerits of various dates for the commencement of the financial year, including the existing date,” the finance ministry said. The report is to come by December 31. It is to examine the suitability from the point of view of correct estimation of receipts, and expenditure of central and state governments, the effect of different agricultural crop periods, relation of the financial year to the working season, impact on businesses, taxation system and procedures, statistics and budget work. It will also check any previous study in this regard and may consult with o...

HOLDING PURSE STRINGS Newly-appointed ministers of state for finance Santosh Gangwar and Arjun Ram Meghwal assume charge of office, replacing Jayant Sinha Newly appointed ministers of state for finance Santosh Gangwar and Arjun Ram Meghwal said the government is confident of getting the Goods & Services Tax (GST) bill passed in the upcoming monsoon session. Gangwar, who assumed charge on Wednesday after he was shifted out from textile ministry to the finance ministry in the cabinet expansion and reshuffle announced on Tuesday , said there was no real opposition by any political party to the GST Bill outside Parlia ment. The monsoon session of Parliament begins on July 18. “The entire world... is looking at how India will act. I feel GST will certainly be passed by Parliament in the Monsoon session,“ said Gangwar, who had also served in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government. “No party opposes GST outside Parliament. All parties are for GST, but they put some hurdle or th...

Cites fall in global and domestic demand that impacted Indian manufacturers The labour ministry has put on hold a proposal to increase minimum wages for all by up to 25% for the time being because of a fall in both global and domestic demand that impacted Indian manufacturers. A senior labour ministry official told ET that the time is not ripe to enhance wages and make it binding on all states as this would raise the input cost for manufacturers and make them uncompetitive. “We are holding back the increase in minimum wages for a while now and may reconsider this at a later stage when demand picks up so that the additional burden incurred by manufacturers through higher wages is compensated by increase in order inflow,“ the official said on condition of anonymity. The central government is projecting lower cost of labour in India vis-à-vis China, where wages are on the rise, as a major attraction for manu facturers to set up shops in the country along with its focus on the ea...

Cos with women CEOs find it easier to comply with regulatory requirement aimed at promoting diversity Companies struggling to find a woman director should take heed. Those with female CEOs typically find it easier to comply with the regulatory requirement, which is aimed at redressing the gender imbalance and promoting diversity in the boardroom. Of the 17 companies with woman CEOs on the BSE 500, about two-thirds have women directors, according to ETIG data. These include companies such as Apollo Hospitals, Axis Bank, Jindal Saw and Biocon. Against this, only 25% of BSE 500 companies with male CEOs have more than one woman on the board. In the case of Nifty 50 companies run by male CEOs, only 22% have more than one woman on the board. Companies such as UltraTech Cement and Cipla, which have male CEOs, are exceptions, having four and three women directors, respectively. “Women CEOs show an enlightened attitude to boards and promoters. A greater gender diversity at board level i...

Dodgers to be told to come clean via black money scheme The government is set to use the information collected under various international tax agreements to identify suspected tax dodgers and urge them to come clean through the ongoing black money scheme that expires on September 30. The income-tax department will soon write to such individuals that they have been identified on the basis of in formation received under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) from the US, various tax information exchange agreements as well as other sources. It will also give these individuals the option of declaring their unaccounted income. “Tax authorities are getting information from various sources, including foreign countries...Letters would be sent out. The idea is to let people know that information is available with the department and if the sources of income are unaccounted, it is time to declare them now,“ said a tax department official. These letters will not make people ineligibl...

www.caonline.in News... 1. Interest on compensation for personal disability cannot be taxed. [Urvi Chirag Sheth vs. ITO (ITAT Ahmedabad)]. 2. Pre-School falls in the term ‘education’ as envisaged u/s 2(15). [Green Acres Educational Trust vs. DCIT (ITAT Mumbai)]. 3. Income Computation and Disclosure Standards (ICDS) are to be applicable from 1.4.2016 i.e. previous year 2016-17 (AY 2017-18), postponed by one year. 4. Refund form (application for requesting refund of fees paid) available with effect from 05.07.2016, on MCA portal. 5. Today (07.07.2016) is the last date for payment of TDS/TCS deducted/collected in June month of 2016.