CA Online

Branded mid market and luxury hotels have a reason to cheer because the GST Council on Sunday relaxed the criteria for imposing the goods and services tax (GST) on hotel rooms. The Council decided that the 28 per cent GST would be imposed on hotel rooms with a tariff of Rs 7,500 above against the previous proposal of Rs 5,000 and above. Rooms with tariffs between Rs 2,500 and Rs 7,500 will attract 18 per cent.   The GST on restaurants in fivestar and luxury hotels has been reduced from 28 to 18 per cent, bringing it at par with standalone air-conditioned restaurants.   Food & beverages form 30-40 per cent revenue for fivestar hotels. Restaurants and bars at a number of hotels (located within 500 metres of highways) have been hit due to a Supreme Court ban on serving liquor.   “The revised GST on rooms and restaurants inside hotels is a favourable move as it reflects the ground realities better. Other than metro cities, most hotels in T...

Regulator Sebi plans to relax its norms for direct registration of foreign investors and also fasttrack the listing process for companies, including startups, as part of efforts to make the Indian stock market more attractive for domestic and overseas investments.The regulator is also looking to make the corporate governance norms more robust, including by encouraging greater say for independent directors and by making their removal from boards more inclusive in terms of shareholders´ approval.Another area of concern is “favouritism” and family connections in appointment of independent and non-executive directors.   Business Standard New Delhi, 19th june 2017

Amid doubts in some quarters over the tech preparedness for the goods and services tax (GST), the high-powered GST Council on Sunday decided to introduce the new  indirect tax system from the midnight of June 30-July 1, but gave a relaxed timetable and exemption from penalties and late fees to industry while filing returns in the first two months. However, some states expressed fears that the relaxation given on filing returns would lead to a revenue loss for them.   “We don’t have the luxury of time to defer the implementation of the GST... The official launch of the GST would take place on the midnight of June 30 and July 1,” Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters after a five-and-a-half-hour meeting of the Council, whose chairman he is.   Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said the Centre was ready, but it was companies that wanted time to plug in. “GST Suvidha Providers and other software providers wanted 10-15 days’ time to test ...

The Securities and Exchange Board of India or Sebi is likely to relax rules to make it easier for a public shareholder to become the promoter of a company, and vice versa, two people with direct knowledge of the development said.  Both the processes impose onerous terms but the one to become a public shareholder from a promoter is some what tougher, they said, requesting anonymity.   According to the existing norms, if a public shareholder wants to become the promoter of a listed company he needs to buy at least 25% stake and offer to buy more from public shareholders. On the other hand, if a promoter wants to become a public shareholder, he is required to cut his shareholding to 10% or lower if another entity comes and takes over as a promoter along with a subsequent open offer and a shareholder approval.   If there is no takeover but the promoter decides to reclassify himself as a public shareholder to turn the company into a professionally ...

Good Afternoon Everyone Have a Good Day to all of you🙏🏻🌹🌹🌹 Daily Update 15-June-2017 Economic Times • As Sikka bulks up on highly-paid talent, Infy braces for big cost blow • With equity market deals seen at record $20 bn, many records will be broken this year • It's raining pre-GST offers at branded cloth stores • TCS executive to head Atal Mission under NITI Aayog • SpiceJet may order Boeing 737 Max-10s at Paris launch • CCI slaps Rs 87 crore fine on Hyundai Motor India for anti-competitive conduct • Under pressure from Chinese companies, Panasonic to exit low-end phones segment Business Standard • IOC, BPCL, HPCL sign agreement to set up $30 bn refinery • 'NCLT, insolvency infra won't suffice to handle RBI's move to curb NPAs' • St Stephen's releases list, 98.5% cut-off for Economics, English • Aadhaar-based businesses catch the eye of impact investors • BoB, Canara may lead round 2 of bank mergers • RCom chairman Anil A...

Working capital need for banks’ gold consignment business will rise to 13% from 10% Jewellers busy liquidating inventories before GST roll-out ; no fresh off take of gold in market A near-term supply bottle neck stares at the gold trade in its face till the government clarifies an issue faced by banks importing bullion on account of GST, says an official of India Bullion & Jewellers Association (IBJA). India on an average imports 600-800 tonnes of gold annually. This is imported on a consignment basis by nominated banks and agencies like MMTC, PEC, HHEC, which on-sell this to bullion dealers.Under the current tax regime,the bank pays (or recovers) 10% import duty on a consign- Kolkata: Gold is selling at a discount of $3-4 per troy ounce in the local market with jewellers holding back on restocking as they try to liquidate their inventories ahead of the rollout of goods and services tax next month. According to bullion dealers, with no fresh offtake of gold in the market, the m...

If you have not been able to register on the GST Network within the deadline ending tomorrow, do not panic! There’s one more chance coming your way as the registration for existing excise, service tax and VAT payers will reopen on June 25. There are about 80 lakh excise, service tax and VAT assessees at present, of which 64.35 lakh have already migrated to the portal of GST Network — the company readying the IT backbone for the GST regime. The window for migration to the GSTN, which opened on June 1, will close tomorrow and during the fortnight, 4.35 lakh taxpayers have enrolled taking the total to 64.35 lakh. However, this is 80 per cent of the existing assessees. GSTN Chairman Navin Kumar sought to allay concerns of businesses who have not registered so far saying that the tax department is “obligated” to provide them smooth transition into the GST regime but traders should also come forward and complete the registration process by filling up the application form. “Whosoever want...

They will travel across the country, address industry chambers and traders’ groups Worried that confusion might hit the roll-out of the goods and services tax (GST), members of the Union council of minister would travel across the country from July 2 to 7. The new indirect tax regime would be rolled out from July 1. The ministers would meet stakeholders — especially industry chambers and traders’ groups — to clear doubts.The three-week period starting International Yoga Day (June 21) is likely to be a stressful one for the ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to be in Lucknow to mark the day. Other ministers have been asked to visit state capitals or their constituencies to perform yoga. If you have not been able to register on the GST Network within the deadline ending on Thursday, do not panic! There's one more chance coming your way as the registration for existing excise, service tax and VAT payers will reopen on June 25. There are about 8 million excise, se...

The new tax regime will not allow retailers a full set-off on goods procured in the last six months If you have been bitten by the shopping bug, you can’t be blamed. Well, at least, not this year. After all, it is not often that retail stores offer steep discounts in the months of May–June. While monsoon sales by apparel stores usually start by end of June and electronic stores do have some clearance sales in June-July, this year with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) starting from July 1, discounts are bigger than before. For instance, electronic stores like Vijay Sales, Kohinoor and Digi1 are offering up to 50 per cent off on certain models or till stocks last. Snehanjali, another Mumbai-based electronic chain is advertising its offer as the pre-GST sale with a warning thrown in for good measure that “Prices for most electronic items are set to rise by 5 per cent’’. Electronic manufacturer Samsung is offering free DTH connection with televisions and extended warranty periods and f...

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has issued a comprehensive framework on margin trading facility (MTF) including disclosure norms and eligibility requirements for brokers to provide it to clients. The facility is executed with borrowed funds or securities that enable investors to take exposure in the market over and above their resources. The markets regulator said in a circular that only corporate brokers with networth of atleast Rs 3 crore are eligible for providing MTF to their clients. The brokers would have to submit to the exchange a half yearly certificate from an auditor confirming the net worth.For providing MTF,a broker may use his own funds or borrow from scheduled commercial banks or NBFCs regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. Business Standard New Delhi, 15th June 2017

A proposal to introduce a Bill in Parliament for setting up a Resolution Corporation to deal with bankruptcy in banks, insurance companies and financial entities received the Cabinet go ahead on Wednesday. The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017, which aims to instil discipline in financial service providers in the event of a financial crisis by limiting the use of public money to bail out distressed entities, was approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, an official statement said. The proposed Bill will provide for  a comprehensive resolution framework to handle any bankruptcy situation in banks, insurers and financial sector entities.According to the statement, the Bill—when enacted—will pave the way for setting up of a Resolution Corporation. It would also lead to repeal or amendment of resolution related provisions in sectoral Acts as listed in Schedules of the Bill. “It will also result in the repealing of the De...