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 ETF assets surge four-fold in 2 years on steady inflow from EPFO ETFs are traded on stock exchanges, with stocks, bonds or commodities as the underlying product   The assets of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have quadrupled in the past two years, on the back of steady inflow from the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). ETFs are traded on stock exchanges, with stocks, bonds or commodities as the underlying product. An ETF's portfolio exactly mimics the securities in its underlying index, in the same weightage.   EPFO had entered the stock market in August 2015. The decision was to invest up to five per cent of its investible deposits; this was raised in 2016 to 10 per cent and then in 2017 to 15 per cent. The body had an estimated Rs 440 billion invested in the stock market this January.   EPFO has invested the remaining portion in debt market instruments such as government securities and bank fixed deposits. ETF schemes run by SBI Mutual Fund...

SEBI re-constitutes panel on corporate bond market   Markets regulator Sebi has re- constituted its committee that suggests roadmap for developing corporate bond market in the country. The 27-member committee would now be chaired by Harun R Khan, former Deputy Governor at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as per the latest update with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).   Earlier, the panel was headed by Shyamala Gopinath, who was also a former Deputy Governor at RBI. Notably, Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi was part of the HR Khan committee appointed to look into measures to deepen the corporate bond market in the country. The committee -- corporate bonds and securitization advisory -- has representations from the government, banks, markets regulator, mutual funds, rating agencies, stock exchanges and depositories.   The panel was set up in 2011 under the chairmanship of R H Patil and is mandated to advise the regulator on developing the corporate bond m...

Epayments continue to climb in feb Digital payment transactions for February have touched 1.09 billion maintaining the above 1-billion threshold even in the shortest month of the year, acoording to RBI data. The numbers reveal that UPI clocked 17.12 million against 151 million recorded in january. while UPI maintained the growth trajectory, carads showed a slight fall at 2.47 million The Economic Times, New Delhi, 08th March 2018

 Fooling the IT returns system by using all zeros as Aadhaar number Central Board of Direct Taxes had issued a circular, making it mandatory to provide Aadhaar or the enrolment number with IT returns for everyone Even as the government is in overdrive to get people to link their Aadhaar number with the income tax (I-T) department while filing returns, some of those without the unique identification number have managed to find a loophole in the system. They say they have been able to file tax returns by putting in all 0s or 1s instead of the 12-digit Aadhaar. The drive to link Aadhaar with I-T returns started in July last year. Central Board of Direct Taxes had issued a circular, making it mandatory to provide Aadhaar or the enrolment number with IT returns for everyone who was eligible for the unique identification number. The same condition applied for those applying for the permanent account number, too. However, many still do not have an Aadhaar card and are holding ou...

Council to take first step on bringing alcohol into Goods and Services Tax The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will likely take the first step towards inclusion of alcohol in the GST during its meeting on Saturday. Despite resistance from states, extra-neutral alcohol (ENA), a key ingredient in making alcoholic beverages, or ‘alcohol for human consumption’, may be included in the GST if a consensus is arrived at This is Centre’s second attempt at imposing the GST on ENA, which is taxed by states at present. Alcohol for human consumption, or potable alcohol, is out of the GST, whereas its input, ENA, is a grey area. Industrial alcohol is within the GST. “The council will take a re-look at taxing ENA under the GST. States had opposed it earlier, but now we have a legal view on the matter, strengthening our case for taxing it under the GST,” said a government official. The council is meeting after a gap of one-and-a-half months. The Centre has taken the views of the additio...

GST Council to weigh proposal to further delay rollout of e-way bill   The GST Council meeting on Saturday will also try to reach a consensus on simplifying GST returns and set GST on raw alcohol   The GST Council meeting will on Saturday consider proposals to further delay rolling out the e-way bill system by about 5-6 months and levy GST on a concentrated form of alcohol. The 26th GST Council meeting will also try to reach a consensus on simplifying tax returns.   The GST Council meeting, earlier planned as a video conference, will now be held in New Delhi as this is expected to make it easier to explore consensus on technical issues relating to tax rebates that are proving to be a stumbling block in simplifying tax returns, a person privy to the development said on condition of anonymity.   The GST Council wants to make sure that businesses, logistics firms and the IT backbone for rolling out e-way bills are fully prepared before electronic permi...

E-way bill may not be needed for small orders Small orders that are part of a large consignment out for multiple deliveries within a state may not require an electronic-way (e-way) bill in the goods and services tax (GST) regime. This will come as relief for e-commerce and consumer goods suppliers. The e-way bill requirement will be limited to items priced over Rs 50,000 for intrastate supply This is among changes expected in the GST e-way bill to ease the compliance burden and will likely be taken up by the GST Council during its meeting on Saturday. The exemption, however, will not apply to interstate movement of consignments. “Changes will be made in the rules to do away with the requirement for multiple e-way bills for small orders within a state. The aim is to remove difficulties faced by companies,” an official said. This essentially means if a truck out for delivery is carrying 20 orders, of which four orders are priced over Rs 50,000, only four e-way bills will need to ...

Tax cloud over IFSC dividend payout DDT waiver only on what is paid from current income, not accumulated profit; experts say Centre should clarify There is concern that a portion of the dividend to be declared by companies operating out of the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) could come under the tax net. The central government had announced various tax sops for new businesses engaging in financial services at IFSC, set up at GIFT City in Gujarat. Among these, waiver of dividend distribution tax (DDT) on profits distributed by IFSC companies was considered a major relief, as it would help them to repatriate profits without additional cost to the business. However, the waiver has been provided for dividend distributions made by IFSC companies only from current income. The present company law provisions, which apply to companies set up at the IFSC, permit declaration of dividends out of accumulated profits. Given these, companies could potentially bifurcate the am...

Digital transactions decline in February February saw total digital transactions worth Rs115.5 trillion, down 12.5% from Rs131.9 trillion in January, provisional data by the RBI showed Digital transactions in February fell from the previous month in terms of both value and volume, provisional data released on Tuesday by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed. The month saw total digital transactions worth Rs115.5 trillion, down 12.5% from Rs131.9 trillion in January, according to the data. The number of digital transactions also declined marginally to 1.09 billion in February from 1.12 billion in January. The highest volume was recorded in January. Digital transactions include those conducted via credit and debit cards, unified payments interface (UPI), unstructured supplementary service data (USSD), prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) and internet banking. Transactions across UPI yet again reached a new peak in February. The transaction volume was 171.2 million, up 13% from 1...

Government probing 53 cases of profiteering in GST regime MoS finance Shiv Pratap Shukla informed Rajya Sabha that out of 354 petitions received, a standing committee attached to NAA has forwarded 65 to the Directorate General of Safeguards for investigation The Directorate General of Safeguards, which probes complaints of profiteering by businesses under the goods and services tax (GST) regime, has initiated investigation in 53 cases, the finance ministry said on Tuesday. In a written reply, minister of state for finance Shiv Pratap Shukla informed Rajya Sabha that out of 354 petitions received, a standing committee attached to the National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA) has forwarded 65 to the Directorate General of Safeguards for investigation. The NAA’s task is to ensure that businesses do not pocket the benefit of tax cuts meant for consumers. “Notices of initiation of investigation have been issued by the Directorate General of Safeguards in respect of 53 applications,...

Corporate social responsibility spends of firms warrant audit, says P.P. Chaudhary MoS P.P. Chaudhary said the government was in the process of improving procedures relating to CSR spending outlined in the Companies Act of 2013 Corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending by businesses warrants auditing as their total spend of about Rs15,000 crore a year has the potential to transform the rural economy by complementing government efforts, said P.P. Chaudhary, minister of state for law and justice and corporate affairs Speaking at the India Sustainability Conclave organized by industry chamber Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), Chaudhary said the government was in the process of improving procedures relating to CSR spending outlined in the Companies Act of 2013. The law mandates that firms with a net worth of at least Rs500 crore or revenue of Rs1,000 crore or net profit of Rs5 crore should spend at least 2% of net profit on CSR. It also mandates...