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Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today indicated that start-ups may get additional tax benefits in the forthcoming budget, to be unveiled on February 1. The ministry has already suggested the finance ministry to consider raising tax holiday for start-ups to 7 years from the current 3 years to encourage budding entrepreneurs. Business Standard New Delhi,17th January 2017

Days after government ordered seeking PAN details of all account holders, banks have started asking their customers, including KYC-compliant ones, to update their PAN details by February 28. Business Standard New Delhi,17th January 2017

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Monday broke a deadlock over issues of administrative control over assessees and broadly agreed to roll out the GST from July 1, instead of the earlier deadline of April 1. Whether a state or the Centre will assess an entity would be decided by a computer programme. The Council also resolved a logjam over the right to tax economic activities within 12 nautical miles from India’s coasts. Against the earlier proposals of reserving administration of assessees up to Rs 1.5 crore in annual turnover for states, or of allowing both the Centre and states to jointly administer these, the Council decided to blend the two suggestions. The entire tax base would be shared between the Centre and states in a predetermined ratio, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the chairman of the Council, said at a press conference after the meeting. The Centre agreed the states would have the powers to administer 90 per cent of assessees with an annual turn...

A fortnight ahead of the start of the Budget session of Parliament, the goods and services tax (GST) Council will on Monday try to find the resolution to issue of administrative turf between the Centre and states, as well as definition of coastal states. Sources said shortage of time due to the coming elections in five states could come in the way of finding an early solution. Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu hoped a solution to both issues might be found out at the meeting. He will not attend the meeting but will send an officer to represent the state as he is going to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos. Uttarakhand’s Indira Hridayesh told Business Standard some solution to the administrative turf issue has to be found in consensus to implement the GST. But the Centre is not agreeing to states’ demand to give them sole control over assessees up to Rs.1.5 crore of annual turnover. It is almost clear that GST would not be introduced from April 1. Indust...

From April 2016, companies with a net worth of Rs.500 crore and above began re-stating their accounting numbers in IFRS-compliant Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS). This will be mandatorily extended to companies with a net worth greater than Rs.250 crore from April 2017. Ind-AS is largely based on fair-value accounting. This involves accounting for various benefits or costs that are unrealised or notional, leading to taxation on a notional basis. “Based on the Ind-AS conversion guidelines, companies will need to undertake a one-time adjustment of various accounting treatments in opening retained earnings,” says Nabin Ballodia, partner, tax, KPMG in India. The transition to Ind-AS provides certain options to corporates that could increase or decrease the retained earnings based on the choices made. “In general, this will increase the retained earnings of corporates because Ind-AS relies on the fair valuation concept whereas corporates have traditionally followed the historical ...

Your organisation might reject the Leave Travel Allowance (LTA) claim, if you had travelled on official holidays, like on a weekend, from this year. The Income-Tax (I-T) Act says the employee needs to be “on leave to be in any other place in India”. “Organisations which go strictly by the wordings of the I-T Act, allow employees to claim LTA only if they had applied for leaves,” says Alok Agrawal, senior director, Deloitte Haskins & Sells. The salaried class are likely to come under more scrutiny from employers this year. And, all perks like LTA, house rent allowance and interest paid on home loans will come under this heightened scrutiny. The government has made employers responsible for verifying whether the claims filed are according to the law. Earlier, companies went only by self-declaration of employees. The regulations were changed to counter the Supreme Court’s ruling that employers are under no statutory obligation to collect bills and details to prove the employees ha...

Individuals may see take-home rise while lower corporate tax rate could cheer cos The upcoming budget may bring cheer to both individuals and corporate taxpayers as the government looks to lift sentiment in the wake of demonetisation. The measures will be aimed at reviving demand and stimulating private investment to boost overall growth On the cards is a revamp of the income-tax framework for individuals to increase their takehome pay, thus persuading them to start buying more goods and services, and a reduction in the corporate tax rate to encourage companies to invest. “There are multiple proposals on the table,“ said a government official. “The government is keen on enhancing the purchasing power of people to boost demand.“ The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has estimated that the economy will grow 7.1% in the current financial year, slower than 7.6% last year, but this forecast didn't include the impact of demonetisation. Private estimates suggest the economy co...

An American law could limit the universe of institutional investors that may invest in the coming Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of India’s two major bourses, the BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE). The law in question is called the ‘Volcker Rule’, as it was enacted on the recommendation of Paul Volcker, a respected central banker. This US federal regulation prohibits banks from conducting certain investment activities with their own accounts, and limits their ownership of and relationship with hedge funds and private equity funds, also called ‘covered funds’. And, it appears both BSE and NSE could be deemed ‘covered funds’ as defined in the Volcker Rule for the coming IPOs. Both exchanges are relying on an analysis that they do not come under the definition of an ‘investment company’ under the US Investment Company Act because of an exception provided under it. However, this means they may be considered a covered fund as defined in the Volcker Rule. A covered fund faces gr...

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has penalised seven former officials of Saradha Realty in an illicit money pooling case, in addition to three individuals and the company that have to pay a total fine of Rs.1 crore. The penalty has been slapped on the 11 entities for running collective investment activities without approval of Sebi. In October 2016, Sebi had directed Saradha Realty, Managing Director Sudipta Sen and two other officials, Hemanta Pradhan and Monoj Kumar Nagel, to pay a total fine of Rs.2 crore under two sections. The penalties were for illegal money pooling activities and for failure to wind up such schemes as instructed by Sebi in April 2013. Business Standard New Delhi,13th January 2017

Them in is try of labour & employment has extended the deadline by three months for companies and other commercial establishments to get registered with the Employees’ProvidentFund Organisation(EPFO).“We are asking those companiesor commercial establishments to come forwardand get registered(withEPFO).Now, we have given the deadline to March31,2017(from earlier December 31,2016),”said Ministry of Labour& Employment Secretary MS athiyavathy. ’ Business Standard New Delhi,13th January 2017

The ministry of labour & employment has extended the deadline by three months for companies and other commercial establishments to get registered with the Employees’Provident Fund Organisation(EPFO).“We are asking those companiesor commercial establishments to come forward and get registered (with EPFO).Now, we have given the deadline to March 31,2017(from earlier December31,2016),”said Ministry of Labour & Employment Secretary MS athiyavathy. Business Standard New Delhi,13th January 2017