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Call on GST e-way bill on Saturday Early implementation a possibility in view of slowing tax collectionsAfter reducing tax rates on over 200 items in the last meeting, the goods and services tax (GST) Council is set to meet again on Saturday to discuss early implementation of the electronic way bill, or e-way bill, from January amid slowing revenue collections. If implemented, the move could be a setback to the industry, which has been seeking the e-way bill’s deferment, citing increased compliance burden.The meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, will take place through video conferencing to discuss the advancement of the e-way bill implementation from April to January to check tax evasion, officials said. Tax collections in October touched their lowest, to Rs 83,000 crore, since the roll-out of the GST on July 1. The e-way bill is a compliance mechanism wherein by way of a digital interface the person causing the movement of goods uploads the relevant information ...

IBBI issues guidelines for tech standards of info utilities The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has issued guidelines for technical standards to be followed by information utilities, including for consent framework in sharing details with third parties. Information utilities store financial information to help establish defaults and verify claims expeditiously in order to complete transactions under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in a time-bound manner.The guidelines for technical standards for various core services have been issued, an official release said on Thursday. These include those for registration of users, unique identifier for each record, as well as user, “consent framework for providing access to information to third parties”, and security of the system, as well as information. Besides, guidelines for submission of information, identification and verification of persons, authentication of information, verification of information, data i...

Insolvency law committee calls for stakeholder views The Insolvency Law Committee has called for suggestions from stakeholders on the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code as well as the rules and regulations. The government had constituted the committee on November 16 under the chairmanship of Injeti Srinivas, secretary, corporate affairs ministry, to take stock of functioning and implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. It was also tasked with identifying the issues that might impact the efficiency of resolution and liquidation framework. The committee held its first meeting on December 8 and took a decision to take into account the views of all stakeholders while making recommendations for any changes required in the code.The corporate affairs ministry has asked the stakeholders to share their views on the matter by January 10, 2018. TECHNICAL STANDARDS The technical committee of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) on Thursday laid...

Sebi and RBI in talks on giving a boost to interest rate futures With RBI we are re-looking at IRF which is currently seeing less traction, says Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are in consultations to give a boost to interest rate futures (IRF) which is currently struggling under low volumes, Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi said on Thursday. “With RBI we are re-looking at IRF which is currently seeing less traction,” Tyagi said at the NSE-NYU conference on Indian Financial Markets in Mumbai.An interest rate future is a financial derivative with an interest bearing instrument such government bonds as the underlying asset. It is used to hedge risks related to interest rate volatility. IRF was relaunched for a third time during its lifetime in January 2014 by exchanges. Even in the third attempt, it has struggled to garner volumes due to limited participation. The average daily volume of IRFs on both NSE and...

GST Network simplifies returns filing process The GST Network said it has introduced a functionality which simplifies the returns filing process for taxpayers."A new functionality has been introduced on the GST portal for ease of the taxpayers under which questions will be posed as soon as the taxpayer enters the Returns dashboard and only relevant tiles will be displayed to the taxpayers based on the answers to the questions posed," the GST Network said in a statement This has been started first with GSTR-3B returns (initial sales return), it added.For 'nil' GSTR 3B returns, one-click filing has been introduced as no tile will be shown to such taxpayers. Also, a help section has been provided on each page for the convenience of the taxpayer."Until now, taxpayers were shown all tiles with payments when they enter the Returns dashboard but now they will be shown only those tiles which are relevant for them "They will be asked questions and basis their...

RBI stays firm on MDR revision Retailers across the country are protesting against the RBI’s move to “rationalise” the MDR based on the turnover of the merchant establishment The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made it clear on Wednesday that it would stay firm on recent revisions to the merchant discount rate (MDR).Retailers across the country are protesting against the RBI’s move to “rationalise” the MDR based on the turnover of the merchant establishment. The MDR is the rate charged to a merchant by a bank for providing debit and credit card services. Under the revised rule, merchants with a turnover of more than Rs 20 lakh would have to pay a maximum MDR of 0.9 per cent of the transaction value to banks. But for smaller establishments, the MDR would be 0.4 per cent of the transaction value. The Retailers Association of India (RAI) has been vocal about the changes, but RBI Deputy Governor B P Kanungo said in a select press interaction that the association did not provide feedbac...

Sebi norm on profit-sharing puzzles firms Norms issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on profit-sharing agreements have forced companies to seek clarifications. A round six companies have sought informal guidance over applicability of the provisions in various situations. An informal guidance is a method for entities to seek interpretation from the market regulator on any regulation, circular or guideline. Although Sebi acts in accordance with an informal guidance, it is not a binding obligation. Legal experts say there are many grey areas in the circular issued by Sebi in November last year to curb profit-sharing arrangements, which are typically side-deals between the managements of companies and private equity investors. One of the key issues is how “profit” is interpreted because there is no standard definition, experts point out. Further, it is unclear whether the provisions are applicable to payments made in unlisted subsidiaries of listed compan...

Banks, insurance companies under lens for inflated tax credits The government is keeping a watch on some banks, insurance companies and technology and telecom firms after it announced that errors in tax credit claims should be rectified, according to two people aware of the matter. "There are instances where the transitional credit has jumped by more than 50% from the period before GST (goods and services tax). The government want these companies to return transitional credit either erroneously claimed or inflated," one of the persons said, requesting not to be named. A few companies in FMCG and consumer durables sectors are also under the scanner, the person said. Tax credit is the amount that can be set off against a taxpayer's liability. When India moved to GST, many companies faced a situation where they had paid tax on old stock and availed credit but had to now set it off against the GST liability. Transitional credits are tax credits accumulated before July...

To avoid extra TDS, give tax-saving proofs If you don’t submit proof of tax-saving investments and expenses, your employer will deduct tax as per the applicable slab rate, without considering tax deductions Though a few months are still left for financial year 2017-18 (FY18) to end, your employer will soon ask or might have already reminded you to submit proof of tax-saving investments and expenses to claim various tax deductions. If you fail to submit the documents, your employer is liable to deduct tax as per the applicable slab rate, without considering tax deductions. And if that happens, you may end up paying extra tax in the form of tax deducted at source (TDS), from the salary of the remaining months of the FY. Here’s what you need to do to avoid paying more tax than you have to. Document submission There is no specific date mentioned in the income tax laws regarding submission of tax-saving investment documents to the employer. “As such there is no statutory time li...

To avoid extra TDS, give tax-saving proofs If you don’t submit proof of tax-saving investments and expenses, your employer will deduct tax as per the applicable slab rate, without considering tax deductions Though a few months are still left for financial year 2017-18 (FY18) to end, your employer will soon ask or might have already reminded you to submit proof of tax-saving investments and expenses to claim various tax deductions. If you fail to submit the documents, your employer is liable to deduct tax as per the applicable slab rate, without considering tax deductions. And if that happens, you may end up paying extra tax in the form of tax deducted at source (TDS), from the salary of the remaining months of the FY. Here’s what you need to do to avoid paying more tax than you have to. Document submission There is no specific date mentioned in the income tax laws regarding submission of tax-saving investment documents to the employer. “As such there is no statutory time li...

Banks set to crack down on defaulters in RBI’s second list A majority of companies on RBI’s second list of loan defaulters, including Monnet Power and Visa Steel, will be referred to NCLT for bankruptcy proceedings Banks are set to refer a majority of the 28 loan defaulters cited in the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) second list to bankruptcy courts starting Thursday, as the central bank prods lenders to speedily resolve bad loans clogging their balance sheets. After its first list of 12 large defaulters was sent to banks in June, RBI sent a second list of 28 troubled companies in late August, accounting for Rs 2 trillion of bad loans, asking lenders to find resolution plans for them by 13 December or start insolvency proceedings by December end. The assets of some of the 40 top defaulters are likely to be sold over the next few months as RBI and the government pushes lenders to speed up the resolution of Rs10 trillion of soured loans. This, along with the government’s Rs 2....