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Aadhaar helped Indian govt check fraud save Rs 9 bn Nilekani The Indian government's Aadhaar card scheme, which has enrolled more than 1 billion people, has helped the exchequer save about Rs 9 billion by eliminating fraud in beneficiary lists, its architect Nandan Nilekani has said here.The system, launched by the previous UPA government, has been "enthusiastically" supported by the current government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, said the 62-year-old non-executive chairman of Infosys- India's second largest software services firm. It has really been a bipartisan thing, Nilekani said while participating in a World Bank panel discussion on Digital Economy for Development yesterday.He said that it is easier for the developing countries to leapfrog by building a right digital infrastructure.Aadhaar now has more than a billion people registered on its system, he said. "It has also saved the government about Rs 9 bill...

Leased vehicles: Govt provides clarity on tax rate Leasing of vehicles purchased priorto July 1 will attract a tax equivalent to 65 percent of the current applicable GST (goods and services tax) rate for a period of thre eyears, the government said on Thursday.The GST Council, comprising Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and state finance ministers, in its last meeting on October 6 had  decided to levy concessional rate for leased vehicles. Also, such vehicles when sold will attract a GST of 65 percent of the  applicable GST rate, including compensation cess. Sale of vehicles by a registered person who had procured the vehicle priorto July1,2017 and has not availed any input tax credits of central excise duty, VAT (value added tax) or any other taxes paid on such motor vehicles, will also be subject to 65 percent of applicable GST rate. These rates would apply for three years with effect fromJuly1,2017. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 13th October 2017

RBI proposes forex platform for retail customers The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday proposed retail customers  access to the currency trading platform, and that prices should be in line with the inter-bank market through an in built mechanism on the platform.In a discussion paper on its website, the central bank said the existing FXCLEAR platform should be extended to the retail customers through an internet based application. However, the retail market will be separate from the interbank market.While banks can access both the institutional and retail markets, retail customers would be limited to the retail market segment of the platform.Both the markets will have the same timings, 9 am to 5 pm, where orders can be placed anonymously.The minimum order size would Rs 1,000 and there after in multiples of Rs 500. The maximum order size would be Rs 500,000 for retail customers. “The system will have a functionality to aggregate customer orders at the same rate up to the mi...

HC Notice to Govt over Disqualification of Shell Cos' Directors The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Registrar of Companies (RoC) on a petition challenging the disqualification of more than one lakh directors of shell companies.The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, last month, identified 1,06,578 directors of shell companies for disqualification.While issuing notices to the ministry, the HC also stayed the disqualification of three such directors. Advocate Manish Jain, counsel for the petitioners, challenged the vires, Latin for powers, of Section 164 (2) of Companies Act, 2013 which was notified in the year 2014.Jain said that the section was wholly ambiguous, as it is unclear as to whether it is applicable only to existing directors or extends to all those who no longer are directors of the disputed shell companies. “The vires of the section in question has been challenged,“ Jain told ET. He argued that the ministry had violated the pri...

GST Council to take up real estate in November meeting Aadahaar could be made manadatory for buying internationl air tickets,car Realestate, a sector prone to tax evasion, might soon come under the goods and servicestax(GST) net.The GST Council would consider this at its next meeting on November10in Guwahati, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday— early Thursday morning in India— at Harvard University. While delivering a lecture on tax reforms in the country, he called the taxation system in India one of the least efficient in the world, with a very small tax base. He also hinted at making Aadhaar mandatory for buying a car or international air tickets in the future, taking a cue from the recent Supreme Court judgement. The GST was rolled out on July 1, replacing a large number of indirect taxes with one unified tax of five rates.Petroleum, real estate, and alcohol were kept out of its ambit.“The one sector in India where maximum amount of tax evasion and cash generat...

Press Release Ministry of Finance dated 12 Oct, 2017 Leasing of vehicles purchased and leased prior to 1st July, 2017 would attract GST at a rate equal to 65% of the applicable GST rate (including Compensation Cess). I n order to provide relief to old/existing leases of motor vehicles, GST Council in its 22nd Meeting held on the 6th October, 2017 in the national capital took several decisions in respect of motor vehicles purchased and leased prior to 1st July, 2017. These decisions are as given below:- a)Leasing of vehicles purchased and leased prior to 1st July, 2017 would attract GST at a rate equal to 65% of the applicable GST rate (including Compensation Cess). b)Such vehicles when sold shall attract GST of 65% of the applicable GST rate (including Compensation Cess). c) Sale of vehicles by a registered person who had procured the vehicle prior to 1st July, 2017 and has not availed any Input Tax Credits of Central Excise duty, VAT or any other taxes paid on such motor v...

PM's Eco Council Lists 10 Areas to Push Growth Advisory body identifies priorities, not in favour of relaxing fiscal goals The recently reconstituted Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has identified 10 priority areas for reviving growth and employment in the next six months such as jobs, monetary policy, public spending and agriculture.“The entire thrust of the council will be on giving specific implementable recommendations to the PM after consulting all stakeholder ministries,“ Bibek Debroy , cha irman of the council, said after its first meeting on Wednesday . The 10 themes are economic growth; employment and job creation; informal sector and integration; fiscal framework; mone tary policy; public expenditure; institutions of economic governance; agriculture and animal husbandry; patterns of consumption; and production and social sector. From Page 1 Debroy said the council will draft suggestions on five of these at its next meeting in November, keeping...

Only 70% file detailed return under GST in July Deadline ends,after two exdtenions; govt assess reasons for low rate of compliance About 70 per cent of the assessees under the goods and services tax (GST) had filed detailed sales returns for July as on Tuesday, the official deadline.Low compliance, said officials.No further extension was given; the deadline had been extended twice earlier.About 4.59 million entities of the eligible 6.5 mn filed the GSTR1 return, for the first month of GST. “We will assess why many people have not filed. We have already sent reminders to those who filed GSTR3B, the summarised return form, but not GSTR1,” saidaGST Network GSTN) official. The deadline to file GSTR1 was extended by a month from September 10 at the GST Council meeting last month in Hyderabad.Earlier, the deadline was extended from September 5 on account of technical issues with GSTN.If a taxpayer fails to file GSTR1 by the deadline, the buyer of his products would face difficulty in...

Govt reduces GST on bunker fuels India has reduced the goods and service tax (GST) on marine fuel oil, known as bunker fuel, to 5 percent for all vessels, the government said on Wednesday, which should help the country’s fuel sellers compete with other lower-tax ports in Asia.India’s nation wide GST taxed bunker fuel sales at 18 percent when it was implemented on July 1. The GST replaced state value-added taxes that were typically between zero and 5 percent. India’s GST Council decided to reduce the tax on the bunker fuel sales after an Oct. 6 meeting where it recommended assessing GST rates for the bunker fuel sales, natural gas transportation and for offshore oil and gas field services, according to the statement the Council posted on Twitter.“This would provide limited relief to the bunker fuel sellers that had seen their market shifting to Colombo,” a trade source said. Like Asian bunkering hubs in Singapore and Fujairah, Sri Lanka levies no taxes on bunker fuel oil. For the of...

DeMo,GST Have Put Eco on Stronger Track: FM Defends govt's move to maintain secrecy over note recall, says transparency would have been "greatest instrument of fraud"Finance minister Arun Jaitley has defended the go vernment's decision to maintain secrecy over demonetisation, sa ying transparency in this case would have been the “greatest in strument of fraud“.Jaitley, on a week-long visit to the US to attend annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, said the series of reforms like demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) has put Indian economy on a “far more stronger track“. “These are institutional re forms. These are structural changes. And these structural changes, I think have put the Indian economy on a far more sound track so that we can look forward for a much cleaner much bigger India economy in the days and years to come,“ Jaitley said, addressing the students of Columbia University in New York.He said announcing the...

Import of Oil-Drilling Rigs Kept Out of GST Purview Move to boost local exploration and production; tax rate cut on bunker fuel to 5% from 12%Import of oil-drilling rigs has been exempted from the goods and services tax (GST) levy to give a boost to domestic exploration and production, the government has said. The GST Council has also cut tax rate on bunker fuel to 5% from 12%.Nearly all deep sea drilling rigs are imported, and a bulk of the ones used in shallow waters to drill wells to probe and produce oil and gas are also of foreign origin. Petrol, diesel, jet fuel, natural gas and crude oil have been kept out of the GST regime, resulting in continuation of cascading effect of tax-on-tax.The issue had figured during the meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi held on Monday with CEOs of top international and Indian energy firms. They demanded the inclusion of fuels, especially natural gas, in the GST regime.The council has also decided that offshore works contract services with a...