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Industry and consumers would have to wait at least a fortnight to know the much-awaited goods and services tax (GST) rates, as the meeting of the Council to decide it ended abruptly on Wednesday, a day ahead of schedule. The Centre and the states failed to reach any consensus on it. Also, the issue of administrative control over tax assesses or dual control - claimed to have been settled earlier - cropped up again. It was decided the GST Council would meet again on November 3 and 4. The Centre and states, however, did manage to reach a broad agreement on the formula for compensation to loss-incurring states and a cess over the peak rate to fund the compensation. The details of these would be worked out at the next meeting, before tax rates can be fixed. The issue of tax rates, for which the Centre has suggested four slabs and a cess, would also be taken up in the November meeting. "On the issue of source of funds from which compensation to the states would be funded, t...

The Narendra Modi led government believes that “personal laws must comply with fundamental rights”, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said, defending the Centre's opposition to the practice of ‘triple talaq’ among Muslims. The government’s view is clear. Personal laws have to be constitutionally compliant, and the institution of triple talaq, therefore, will have to be judged on the yardstick of equality and the right to live with dignity,” Jaitley wrote in a signed article on Sunday. Uniform civil code debate can go on: Jaitley “Governments in the past have shied from taking a categorical stand that personal laws must comply with Fundamental Rights. The present government has taken a clear position,” he said. The finance minister also sought to differentiate triple talaq from the larger issue of Uniform Civil Code. “As of today, the issue before the Supreme Court is only with regard to the constitutional validity of triple talaq,” he wrote. Hearing petitions on the validity of tr...

The finance ministry has assured Central Board of Excise and Customs(CBEC) officers that there will be no reduction of manpower under the new goods and services tax(GST)regime and the HR policy will be drafted after taking their views on board. In a meeting with the ministry last week,central excise officers flagged their concerns about use of technology and transfer of any assessees of excise and service tax to states under the new framework, leading to surplus manpower. “We flagged our concerns regarding surplus manpower and HR policy in the new regime.The board has assured us that there will be no man power reduction. Also they have asked us to send our comments on human resource, which will be looked in to for framing of the policy, ”Ravi Malik, secretary general,All India Association of Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers, told PTI . The association had earlier planned to hold dharn as on October14, but following the assurance from the board, it decided to shelve the plan....

The government has been quick in strengthening the newly introduced Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 by framing draft regulations for insolvency process and liquidation of corporate entities, registration of insolvency professionals and insolvency agencies, rules for applications to the adjudicating authority and draft model by-laws for insolvency agencies.  Business Standard takesalookat thebriefbackgroundandprogressof theCode,aswellassomekeyfeatures oftherecentproposalswhichhave beenputupforpublicdiscussiontill October31. WhenwastheCodeintroduced,and withwhatobjective? TheCodecameintoforceonMay28, 2016.Theobjectivewastorevampthe scenarioofassetreconstructionand streamlinetheprocessofcorporate liquidation.Stillinitsnascentstages, thelegislationhasalreadybeenlaudedasapath-breakingdevelopment fromtheearlierframeworkofinsolvency,governedprimarilythoughthe erstwhilecolonialstatutes—The PresidencyTownsInsolvencyAct 1909andTheProvincialInsolvency Act 1920 — alongside the Sick Indust...

What is your first take of India’s accounting standard getting IFRS-compliant? We see this as a nenormous progress for India as the quality of accounting will improve. What is important for Indian business is that Indian accounting standards have come very close to international accounting standards. This will reduce the cost of doing business internationally. There are some carve-outs(under Indian accounting standards) from IFRS. But, we have been told that these differences will disappear overtime. We are an international organisation. We cannot impose our standards on anybody.All the 120 countries that follow our standard do so voluntarily.  Many companies that have adopted the new accounting standard have expressed reservation over giving away too much information to shareholders and the public. Those complaints are not typically Indian. We hear them everywhere. Accounting is not an exact science. It has alot to do with judgment and people have differences of opinion. Not even...

Insurance companies will not be asked to compulsorily list themselves on the stock market, as the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) is having second thoughts about it after a nudge from the finance ministry. “We had never insisted on it (listing).It is only a discussion paper and should be seen in that perspective,” Irdai Chairman T S Vijayan told Business Standard . He also said he had received comments on the paper from many companies asking for a reconsideration of the proposal.“We are willing to wait", he added. In August,Irdai surprised the 55 life and non-life insurance companies in India, when it issued the discussion paper on the need for them to get listed. The regulator gave the companies a short time frame of less than a month to respond. “The hurry created an impression among firms that the final regulations would be in place soon”,said the CEO of an  insurance company. Several companies have since approached the finance ministry,asking t...

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have petitioned the Union home ministry to extend the deadline for renewing their licence under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA). NGOs require an FCRA licence to receive money from foreign donors and they have to submit annual account statements to the Foreigners Division in the ministry of home affairs. The renewal process started in April this year and FCRAregistered NGOs were asked to apply for renewal of their licences by June 30. “While many NGOs have been able to secure their renewals, a sizeable number of FCRA-registered organisations still await an inkling of communication from the FCRA department,” said Voluntary Action India (VANI), which works as an umbrella organisation for other non-profits, in apress release. Earlier, the ministry had extended the validity of licences expiring on September 30 to October 31. In their petition, the NGOs have asked the government to extend the validity to December 31. “Non-disbu...

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is likely to ask credit rating agencies (CRAs) to disclose the general nature of compensation arrangements with the rated entities, including exchange of gifts. This is to address the conflict of interest arising from agencies charging companies for rating their securities. Agencies will have to include a note in their operations manual on how they manage this conflict. Further, any conflict of interest owing to the composition of members in the ratings committee has to be reported during an internal audit of the agencies. “Investors relying on rating agencies should be aware of the monetary compensation given to the agencies. This will help them decide whether the rating, especially a positive one, is fair or not, and if there is an arm’s length distance between the issuer and the agency,” said Tejesh Chitlangi, partner, IC Legal. The guidelines might also mandate publishing of guidelines on what constitutes non-cooperation fro...

The crackdown on black money is not over. With the scheme for voluntary disclosure of unaccounted for wealth now closed, tax officials have launched a drive to unearth hidden incomes and are looking at transactions carried out beyond a six-year ceiling under existing rules, sources said. “The tax department can scan transactions older than six years by invoking clause 197C of the finance act, 2016. This clause was introduced to crack down on black money,” said a finance ministry official, who did not wish to be named. An offender, depending on the amount or assets seized, could end up paying a tax as high as 75% and could also be jailed, sources said. Officials are scrutinising the records of those who they believe did not come clean and are hiding undisclosed wealth. While the I-T law allows a check of income of the last six years, the finance act, under which the disclosure scheme was brought in, and foreign undisclosed assets act allow authorities to inspect records olde...

The finance ministry will issue rules and guidance to address some concerns and ambiguity over mandatory reporting norms with respect to transfer pricing formultinational companies whose consolidated annual revenue is over Rs.5,000crore. The government is also steppingup administrative systems to plug possible data leakage,said a senior tax office rata conference on Friday. These rules and guidance will aimat clarity on the extensive data reporting and document ation required under the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)measures unveiled by the Paris-based OECD grouping in October last year,to address tax avoidance by MNCs.OECD is Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The concerns are on confidentiality of the data shared by companies with the tax author ities of various jurisdictions, beside the difference in accounting years and rules in differentcountries.The matter was discussed at the conference on Friday. Akhilesh Ranjan,a senior income tax officer,...

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said tax on environment-unfriendly products could be “distinct” from others in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime to be rolled out next year. India ratified the Paris Climate Change agreement on October 2. “The indirect tax regime that we are planning, the rate of taxation on such products which are going to be environmentally unfriendly would be distinct from the normal rate of taxation. This is one of the proposals being discussed,” Jaitley said on the eve of the BRICS Summit that begins on Saturday. The GST rates are in the process of being finalised. The FM, who will attend the BRICS Economic Forum meeting, said the country has taxed coal and petroleum products in the past as well. “Resources have to be mobilised from all sources for climate financing so that sustainable development goals can be achieved in a much more concrete manner,” he said. Jaitley said the commitment from developed countries to fund climate change financing...