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If after March 31 next year, you still have a lot of the old series Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, you might have to pay a hefty fine. According to an Ordinance, cleared by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday, people possessing more than 10 old notes — irrespective of their value — would be committing an offence. But there was no clarity on when this would come into effect. If those depositing old notes between January 1 and March 31 with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) give wrong information, they would have to cough up a fine of Rs 5,000, or five times the amount with them. Those not submitting the banned currency even after March 31 would have to pay a fine of Rs 10,000 or five times the amount, whichever is higher. According to the Ordinance, citizens would be allowed to deposit their stash of old notes with RBI — but only at specific offices. Certain conditions, listed in the Ordinance, would also apply. Besides this, all notes not returned to the banking system by December 30 this...

Direct tax collections by both Mumbai and Delhi zones of the Income Tax department were in single digit until December 24, a department official said. It is inspite of the fact that the net revenue collections were in double digit during the period not only at the national level, but also at zonal level. The Mumbai zone, which is responsible for collection of more than one-third of total tax being collected from across the country, garnered revenue amounting to Rs 1.74 trillion during the reporting period from Rs 1.59 trillion a year ago, thus showing a growth of 9 per cent, an official told PTI here today. However, the growth was in double digit in all the other parts of the country during the period. Even small places like Pune and Thane have also shown a double-digit growth in direct tax collections during the period. The department collected Rs 5.54 trillion during the reported period from across the country from Rs 4.88 trillion a year ago, thus registering an average growth...

The union cabinet may consider an ordinance on Wednesday to settle all issues regarding demonetisation, clearly providing for the extinguishing of the Reserve Bank of India's liability in respect to cancelled Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes. The ordinance is likely to provide for a limited window to return the cancelled currency in special cases to the RBI.The old Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes can be deposited with banks and post offices until December 30. “The cabinet may consider an ordinance on Wednesday,“ a source told E While announcing demonetisation on ncing demonetisation on November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the cancelled currency can be deposited with RBI till March 31, but subsequent notifications did not mention the date. The ordinance may give time till March 31 for notes to be submitted to the central bank but with stiff conditions and only for people who were abroad, armed forced personnel posted in remote areas or others who can give valid reasons for...

UPI, USSD to be revamped; UPI transactions double to 70k, NPCI wants faster growth The Centre plans to breathe new life into two key initiatives that can help further its aim of transforming India into a digital economy . The United Payment Interface (UPI) and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) will soon be launched in new avatars that will make it easier for consumers to transact digitally either with or without an Internet connection. In a week's time, a new strippeddown, easier-to-use application for UPI will be launched, that among other things will feature a single app that users can downlo ad to transact across multiple banks. Also being launched is an upgraded, feature-rich version of USSD platform, which enables banking through feature phones. Since the demonetisation drive announced on November 8, the number of daily transactions on the UPI platform has “doubled to 70,000 with 4.2 million registered users“, according to AP Hota, MD of NPCI which hosts t...

With an aim to ease trading requirements, markets regulator Sebi today relaxed the combined futures and options position limit of stock brokers, FPIs and mutual funds in equity derivatives to 20 per cent of the applicable Market Wide Position Limit. The decision has been taken in consultation with Sebi's Secondary Market Advisory Committee. Mint New Delhi 28th December 2016

The Income-tax department has issued notices to over 50 car dealers, asking them to furnish details of customers who have bought cars after November 8, following the demonetisation of 500- and 1,000-rupee currency notes. The notices are being sent under Section 133(6) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which empowers the I-T authorities to seek information that could be useful in connection with any pending proceeding or enquiry. Confirming the development, a senior income-tax official said that the department has observed a significant increase in car sales during  the past two months. "This is part of an exercise in which we checking the use of junk old notes and also tax evasion through such buying," the official said. The I-T notices call upon car dealers to provide details of customers along with their addresses, make and model numbers of the four-wheelers they've bought, invoiced cost, booking dates, among other details. The department also has asked car dealers...

After doubling equity exposure to 10% of its incremental corpus, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) is now looking to take its equity investment strategy to the next level. It is planning to invest in blue-chip stocks outside of the Nifty 50 and Sensex 30 stocks, but within the top 100 stocks in terms of market capitalization and in quality mid caps With increase in equity exposure, the government believes that EPFO needs to diversify the investment basket, at least two government officials said on condition of anonymity. “A combination of blue chips and mid caps has the potential to give better returns and expanding the equity basket will be a logical next move,” one of the two officials said. The official, however, said that the investment vehicle will remain the same—exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and not direct stock investments. An ETF comprises a clutch of stocks that reflect the composition of an index, such as the Nifty or the Sensex, and are traded on st...

The government has formed a task force on enforcing business contracts as part of its efforts to improve India’s ease of doing business rankings. India ranked 130 of 190 countries in the World Bank’s 2017 rankings. Under the head of enforcing contracts, India stood at 172, up six points from 2016. Improving this rank is a priority for the government, which has taken steps to enable this. The government on 19 December finalized eight reforms (bit.ly/2h88aWK )to make it easier to do business. Improving its rank under ‘enforcing contracts’ was one, with commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman asking for e-courts to be expedited for electronic filing of complaints, summons and payments, especially in commercial courts. The nine-member task force, headed by secretary of the department of justice (DoJ) Snehlata Shrivastava, has a 12-point reform agenda to address concerns on enforcing contracts, as per a 23 December notice on the DoJ website. The World Bank’s rankings on contract en...

Putting in place the disclosure norms for real estate investment trusts (REITs), Sebi on Monday said the offer document will contain financial information, related-party transactions and past performances. The move came after Sebi, earlier this month, issued detailed norms for public issuance of REITs, including allocation of units to institutional investors. To facilitate the growth of REITs, Sebi last month notified revised and easier regulations for raising capital through this instrument. Sebi had notified the REIT regulations in 2014, allowing setting up and listing such trusts, which are very popular in some advanced markets. However, not a single trust has been set up in India as of now as investors await further measures, including tax breaks, to make these instruments more attractive. In a circular issued on Monday, Sebi said the offer document would contain financial information of last three financial years. These include balance sheet, statements of profit and loss, i...

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said a lower level of taxation that is globally compatible is necessary if the country has to have a broader base of economy. He said gone are the days of the philosophy that high taxation will bring greater revenues and that since 1991 the course of economy has altered itself. "... What you need is a broader base of economy for which you need a lower level of taxation. You need to manufacture products and provide services which are more competitive in character and therefore your taxes have to be globally compatible," Jaitley said while inaugurating the professional training of IRS officers. He said competition is not merely domestic but global and therefore in the last two-and-a-half decades, governments have been guided by these principles. Tracing the behaviour of people in the last 70 years, the Finance Minister said there has been an impression if avoidance could be done of government revenue, there is nothing "improper...

Higher levy on dividend searned by individualsal so on govt’sradar The government is mulling a hike in the short-term capital gains (STCG)tax rate,and also a higher levy on dividends earned by individuals. At present,the STCG (profits on sale of shares held for less than 12 months)tax rateis15 percent;the government is planning to increase it to 20 percent, according to sources in the know.The Centre has already started gathering feedback from key market participants. Also, although the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ruled out changes to the long-term capital gains(LTCG)—currently tax free—the government is toying with the idea of increasing the time frame for availing such benefits from 12 to 36 months. The government is taking securities market regulator Securities and ExchangeBoardof India’s(Sebi’s)and stock exchanges’ views on the proposals to change the tax structure in the capital markets.Announcement regarding this could be a part of the Union Budget on February1, 2017....