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Capital gains tax relief for foreign origin funds  Income from sale of securities in India by funds based abroad will be exempt from capital gains tax, the government announced.This exemption will be given only when the India focused fund is also charged to tax in India.The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said the tax provision on indirect transfer would not apply to this type of income at private equity and venture capital funds. This, say experts, ought to reassure those investing in India through a multilayered structure.The issue was a concern among foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).The Finance Act of 2012 had amended section 9 of the Income Tax Act to address the ruling given by the Supreme Court in favour of Vodafone. Accordingly, gains through indirect transfers were made subject to capital gains tax. The condition being that the Indian assets should exceed Rs 10 crore and represent at least half the value of all assets held by the foreign investor. Investors holdi...

Direct tax mop up rises 15 Percent to Rs 4.39 lakh cr in Apr to Oct The government has collected Rs 4.39 lakh crore in direct taxes, up 15.2 percent year-on-year, during the first seven months of the current fiscal year. The collection, which includes personal income tax and corporate tax, represents 44.8 per cent of the total Budget Estimates of Rs 9.8 lakh crore in direct taxes for 201718 “The provisional figures of direct tax collections up to October, 2017, show that net collections are at Rs 4.39 lakh crore, which is 15.2 per cent higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year,”a finance ministry statement said. Gross collections (before adjusting for refunds) have increased 10.7 per cent to Rs 5.28 lakh crore during AprilOctober, 2017.Refunds amounting to Rs 89,507 crore were issued during the seve-nmonth period The Business Standard, New Delhi, 08th November 2017

GST advisory panel receives 700 representations on industry woes The six member advisory panel formed by the government for simplifying and rationalising the goods and services tax (GST) has received more than 700 representations on problems faced by industry over return filing, the eway bill, input tax credit, and exports.The committee will now meet for the first time on Wednesday to take up these issues, ahead of the crucial GST Council meeting on Thursday in Guwahati. Some of its recommendations may be taken up by the Council.The panel includes representations from trade and industry.“The government is open to taking feedback from industry and rectifying the anomalies in the law. We are putting in efforts to make the GST industry friendly and will be open to incorporating suggestions by the advisory panel,” said a government official. The final report of the group will be submitted on November 30 and discussed in the subsequent meeting of the Council.“If the panel comes toac...

Wilful defaulters cannot bid for their cos State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Rajnish Kumar on Monday said that promoters of defaulting companies are within their rights to bid for their businesses which are on the block following insolvency proceedings. However, wilful defaulters or those borrowers who have diverted funds will not find any place in the bidding process, he said. Kumar’s remarks come at a time when the insolvency process has come under criticism as it allows existing borrowers to bid for the companies at steep discounts. For instance, in the case of Innoventive Industries — one of the first cases in the National Company’s Law Tribunal under the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code — the best bids that the lenders have received requires them to take a haircut of 75% of their loan amount, resulting in a stalemate. “Ethically, I don’t know, but legally they are within their rights to participate,” said Kumar, responding to queries on whether it was ethical to let a d...

IT scanner on 80000 cases for huge cash deposits A year since demonetisation of high value currency notes, the incometax (IT) department has identified 80,000 “actionable cases” (people) who deposited cash of over Rs 10 lakh each in bank accounts but have no tax profile This is the new addition to the tax data, which had identified over 600,000 people for scrutiny over huge inconsistencies in the cash deposits made during the period under the two phases of Operation Clean Money —an exercise to identify black money stashed in the form of cash deposits in banks.According to sources, the IT department has sought explanations from these 80,000 people who have no record of income tax filing in the system. Some of them deposited cash of more than Rs 20 lakh in the bank account but have never filed returns.The finding sare part of a status report on demonetisation which was prepared by the ITdepartment under the supervision of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Sources said the...

Board Tightens Norms Shuts Backdoor Entry of Promoters ?INSOLVENCY CURBS Bankruptcy board has empowered the committee of creditors to conduct a due diligence on bidders' background and viability of resolution plans to prevent frivolous bids and thwart attempts at backdoor entry of promoters who ran the enterprise aground The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board Tuesday tightened disclosure norms for insolvency professionals, and empowered the committee of creditors to conduct thorough due diligence on the bidders' background and viability of resolution plans. The latest move is likely to prevent any frivolous bids and also thwart attempts at backdoor entry of promoters who ran the enterprise aground. This would help realise the objective of the code that was enacted to protect the value of assets. “A key objective of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is insolvency resolution of corporate persons in a time bound manner for maximisation of value of their assets,“ IBBI said ...

Over 20000 Returns Picked For Probe The Income Tax Department has picked 20,572 tax returns for “detailed scrutiny” suspecting discrepancies in incomes before and after demonetisation, official sources said on Monday. Separately, they said, the department has identified one lakh “high risk” cases of alleged tax evasion for detailed investigation. According to the sources, 20,572 tax returns have been selected for detailed scrutiny after their profiles before and after demonetisation did not match. A scrutiny procedure in the I-T department parlance denotes submission of a volume of records and testimonials, after which the taxman or the assessing officer makes sure that the return filed is correct and the filer has not evaded any tax. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 07th November 2017

Sebi plans further rise in public float The Securities and Exchange Board of India is mulling another increase in minimum public shareholding (MPS) requirements from the current 25 per cent to 30 per cent, or even 35 per cent, said three people in the know.The discussions at the market regulator´s end are, however,anascent stage, clarified one of India has traditionally been driven market and increasing the threshold will ensure wider through institutional investors, more market depth and better corporate governance standards. “A wider ownership will improve liquidity and reduce the scope for price manipulation, besides bettering corporate governance standards,” said Pranav Haldea, managing director, PRIME Database.“Thus far, most private sector firms have complied with the Sebi requirement for a 25 per cent public float and raising it to 30 per cent or even 35 per cent should not pose a major challenge to most.” An email to Sebi did not receive a response. At present, 110 of t...

Over 39 percent PANs linked with Aadhaar Over 13.28 crore Permanent Account Numbers (PANs) have been linked with the Aadhaar till now, official sources today said. With this, 39.5 per cent of PANs are now linked with Aadhaar numbers. There are about 33 crore PAN cards, while Aadhaar has been issued to about 115 crore people. The government had made the PAN-Aadhaar linking mandatory for filing ITR (Income Tax Return) and obtaining a new Permanent Account Number (PAN) from July 1. The Supreme Court had in June upheld the validity of an Income Tax Act provision making Aadhaar mandatory for allotment of PAN cards and ITR filing, but had put a partial stay on its implementation till a Constitution bench addressed the issue of right to privacy. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 07th November 2017

Tired of monthly GST return filing Govt may review process The government may review the requirement of filing at least three returns every month under the GST regime with a view to easing compliance burden of taxpayers, officials said.Presently, businesses have to file returns in GSTR-1, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 forms for every month. These forms detail outward supplies of taxable goods and/or services, inward supplies for claiming input tax credit and monthly return The review follows businesses complaining problems in matching invoices while filing July returns."There will be a review of the norms to file GSTR-1, 2 and 3. Businesses have complained of trouble in invoice matching while filing GSTR-2. It would be reviewed whether matching of invoices would be pursued in the coming months," a senior government official told PTI. Under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime rolled out from July 1, the government has allowed businesses to file initial returns and pay taxes by...

FMs of Cong States Seek Changes in GST Regime With the GST Council likely to offer some relief in the goods and services tax to small businesses and traders when it meets in Guwahati on November 9-10 ­ exactly a month before the first phase of the Gujarat assembly polls ­ the Congress party is looking to project itself as the original advocate of a realistic tweaking of the regime's norms. The GST Council must agree to a rationalisation of tax slabs and a lowering of the 28% rate cap, among other demands, the Congress finance ministers of Punjab, Karnataka and Puducherry Manpreet Badal, Krishna Gowda and Kamalakaran ­ said at a joint press confe rence in New Delhi on Monday . While the Centre had “arrogantly“ overlooked their de mands earli er, “the na tionwide resentment and the upcoming Gujarat polls have, finally, made the government to look at our constant demands with accommodation now,“ they said. The Congress party's other demands related to GST, which was impl...