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Centre looks at phased roll out of e way bill The central government is looking at backup options to introduce the electronic way (eway) bill inaphased manner.It was to be implemented from February 1, but the Centre had to defer it indefinitely as businesses faced disruptions after the portal crashed.The bill, said sources, can now be introduced after safeguard options are installed for the portal´s smooth working. In January, the Goods and Services Tax Council decided to advance the introduction of the bill from February 1 for interstate movement of goods valued above Rs 50,000 from the earlier April 1. It gave freedom to states to introduce the bill for intrastate movement of goods beyond 10 km by July 1. However, 13 states had volunteered to implement the bill for intrastate movement of goods from February 1 itself.Given the wide applicability of the eway bill system, ClearTax Chief Executive Officer Archit Gupta said its stability and performance are critical to its complia...

CBDT No notice to taxpayers in case of minor I-T return filing mismatch The tax man will no tissue demand notice to tax payers incase there is a minor  mismatch between their income tax return and the corresponding tax credit data. The measure, introduced in  the Financial Bill, is aimed at providing relief to salaried tax payers and ease issues of discrepancies that crop up between the information on Form 16(provided by the employer) andForm26AS (taxcredit statement received by the tax department). The Business Standard, New Delhi, 07th February 2018

Centre´s GST relief to states at Rs  900 billion The Narendra Modi government has budgeted for Rs 900 billion to be paid as compensation to states to make good their losses on account of the goods and services tax (GST) in 201819.This represents a 47 percent increase over the Rs 613 billion it plans to distribute in 2017-18. The compensation comes to 3.6 per cent of the 201819 Budget size of Rs 24.4 trillion. According to the mediumterm fiscal policy statement (part of the Budget documents), the Centre has also projected a compensation cess outlay of Rs 900 billion each for 2019-20 and 2020-21. These however, are provisional projections and will be subject to change in future Budget The compensation cess is levied on high value items like luxury cars and demerit goods such as tobacco.By law, the Centre has to provide compensation to states for their revenue losses on account of the GST for five years.The Budget documents also make it clear that the amount earmarked for the ...

IRFC tax issue resolved Giving a major relief to the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), the dedicated market borrowing arm of the railways, the ministry of corporate affairs has exempted it from an accumulated deferred tax liability of Rs 63.92 billion.This will increase the company´s net worth and help IRFC raise additional debt of over Rs 630 billion, Indian Railways said in a statement issued on Tuesday. It will also improve the valuation of the company for its maiden IPO. According to the government, post its exemption from the tax liability, IRFC will not require any equity infusion.IRFC faced a deferred tax liability as its depreciation was greater than its profit. The company did not pay tax under normal assessment and is subject to a minimum alternate tax of 21 per cent.Besides, it had to make a provision for the deferred tax liability at 35 per cent. Thus the company´s books were bearing a total tax provision of 56 per cent. This will now come down to 21 per ce...

Sebi, bourses step up guard Market regulator Sebi and stock exchanges beefed up their surveillance mechanism amid a spike in volatility in the market following a rout in the global markets. According to sources, they are also keeping a close tab on market manipulators who might take advantage of the volatile trends expected in the equity and the derivatives segments. Sebi and the exchanges had a discussion on the ongoing sell-off. “As a proactive measure, regulators and exchanges have been monitoring positions across the market and calling for additional margins where required,” said Vikram Limaye, MD & CEO, National Stock Exchange. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 07th February 2018

 Don't misuse I-T laws, pay taxes as rates are already low: CBDT to industry CBDT Chief Sushil Chandra on Monday asked the industry to refrain from misusing provisions of laws to evade taxes, saying the effective tax rate for big companies is already 26 per cent on account of various exemptions. He said the industry should act more responsibly than the salaried class in paying taxes and help build a tax compliant society. "I want to drive home that point very clearly before the industry that you should be more tax compliant, automatically rates will come down. We are ready to move with you for making the society tax compliant. Industry has got much more responsibility than salary earning person," Chandra said while addressing the CII post-Budget meet. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 06th February, 2018 .....

 No Angel Tax on Startups with up to Rs. 10cr Funding Startups incorporated before 2016 that have got up to Rs. 10 crore in angel funding won’t face the so-called angel tax, once changes in the regime are finalised by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), which will soon notify the amendment, a senior government official told ET. It will also set up a separate committee for the recognition of such startups so that they get the relief, he said. “We have finalised the conditions which will resolve the issue of pre-2016 startups,” the official said. This will ease the concerns of about 300 startups that received funding from the Angel Investors Network. ET reported on February 5 that DIPP was working to provide relief to startups incorporated before 2016. Startups incorporated after 2016 and recognised under the Startup India policy are spared this tax. “We will have adequate safeguards that would be taken into account when a startup is examined for recogniti...

 CV Sales May Stay in Top Gear for 2 years on GST, Infra Boost Sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles are set to reach a new high this financial year and continue the growth momentum into next year, with the positive rub-off from the government’s infrastructure push and implementation of GST, as well as strict enforcement of rules against overloading driving demand. Sales of commercial vehicles in the 16-49-tonne category this fiscal year are set to top the record of 245,000 units achieved in 2011-12, industry executives estimate. In construction equipment, sales are expected to cross the 50,000-unit mark for the first time and be as much as 55,000 units, thanks primarily to the rapid pace at which the country is building highways and other infrastructure. Commercial vehicle sales, particularly of higher tonnage trucks, are seen as an indicator of economic activity. The strong showing by the sector and expectations among industry executives for the momentum to contin...

MF Industry welcomes Sebi move to abolish extra commission for distributors The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) decision to abolish the extra commission for mutual fund distributors in 15 more cities and towns — from Guwahati in Assam to Raipur in Chhattisgarh — has been received well by India’s Rs 22-trillion mutual fund industry. According to sector officials, the move will help to bring 30 cities on a par and arrest the churn rate in these regions.  Further, they added the 15 cities were not small ones and mutual fund distribution could grow on its own without additional incentives. Effective from April 1, 2018, mutual fund distributors (MFDs) in cities such as Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Patna, Coimbatore, Rajkot, Indore, Bhopal, and Varanasi will not be given an extra 30-basis-point (bps) commission. Sundeep Sikka, chief executive officer (CEO) of Reliance Nippon Life Mutual Fund, said, “The special incentives for B-15 cities had certain objectives to help ...

Natural gas and real estate may come under GST net, says FM Arun Jaitley  Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said natural gas and real estate, which are currently exempt from the goods and services tax (GST), could be brought under its purview first, followed by petrol and diesel and potable alcohol at a later date. Speaking at an event organised by industry body FICCI, Jaitley also said there would be some two-or three anti-evasion measures put in place with regard to the GST, to ensure better compliance. “So far the mood of most of the states is not in favour of including petrol and diesel. But I’m sure as the GST experience moves on, natural gas and real estate (which includes land)… these are areas which are to be brought in and then probably at some stage we will try for petrol and diesel and potable alcohol,” Jaitley said. These four items, along with electricity, are currently out of the ambit of GST, and both the Centre and states continue to levy dutie...

Taxing times for IPOs: LTCG tax from April 1 promts issuers to expedite market launch but ongoing correction could play spoilsport The reintroduction of the long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax has placed companies coming up with initial public offerings (IPOs) in a quandary. According to sources, about half-a-dozen companies are planning to launch their IPOs before the end of this fiscal year to avoid the tax. However, the downturn in the stock market provides little comfort to bankers and issuers over listing. Besides the 10 per cent tax outgo, the eligibility for the grandfathering benefit for companies that list after April 1 is bothering promoters. Tax experts say it is unclear how the new regime will apply to companies that were unlisted on January 31, 2018, the cut-off date for grandfathering. Over two dozen companies have filed IPO documents with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to raise a cumulative Rs 337 billion. More than half have already obtained ap...