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Exporters GST refund: Second phase of fast track clearance drive from Thursday With an estimated Rs 20,000 crore exporters' refund still stuck, the government will launch the second phase of refund fortnight beginning May 31 to fast-track clearances. "Special Refund Fortnight" to be organised from May 31 to June 14 in which Center and state GST officers will strive to clear all GST refund applications received on or before April 30, 2018," GST@GoI, which is the official twitter handle for GST related matters, tweeted. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ganesh Gupta earlier in the day said refund of over Rs 20,000 crore is pending on account of IGST (integrated GST) and ITC (input tax credit). "Many exporters have not been able to file the refund of ITC due to technical glitches as input tax credit and exports happened in different months," Gupta said. In the first phase of refund fortnight observed between March 15 to March...

Pharma Freebies Under GST Lens Companies offering schemes such as 1+1 may have to pay tax on the extra quantities Pharmaceutical companies offering buy-one-get-one-free schemes or 20% extra for the same price may have to pay goods and services tax (GST) on the extra quantities, raising prospect of the principle being applied to a broad spectrum of consumer products, said people with knowledge of the matter. The tax heads of firms such as Novartis India, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Lupin have been summoned for meetings with tax officials, they said. The Director General of GST (Intelligence), an arm of the indirect tax department, has begun investigations and sought details of incentives given to distributors, stockists and customers by about 30 companies.  Demand may Lead to Litigation, Say Experts The tax authorities want them to either pay GST or reverse input tax credits on the extra quantities. “We did receive a query from the Director General of GST (DGGST) regarding trade di...

GST Refund of Rs  20,000 Cr Pending: Exporters’ Body Refund of over Rs 20,000 crore on account of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is pending with the government with more than half the amount stuck as input tax credit, Federation of Indian Export Organisations said on Tuesday. While claims over Rs7,000 crore were cleared in March, the amount was Rs 1,000 crore in April.However, after exporters’ request, the GST council and tax department are organizing a second phase of Special Refund Fortnight starting May 31, which will enable exporters to draw their refunds at a speedy pace. Many exporters have been unable to file the refund of input tax credit due to technical glitches, exports and claim happened in different months. The major challenge lies on ITC refund especially because the process is partly electronic and partly manual which is cumbersome and add to the transaction cost, the exporters’ body said. On IGST, refunds are getting delayed due to airline and shipping compani...

India may have to End Export Promotion Plans If WTO Objects Panel set up by WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body to look expeditiously into US complaint on subsidies India’s export promotion programmes have come under the global trade watchdog’s scanner and would need to be stopped if found prohibited as per the World Trade Organisation (WTO) norms. The WTO on Monday referred a US complaint against India’s export promotion schemes to the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) by establishing a panel to look expeditiously into the matter. Failing to find a mutually agreed solution in the stipulated 30 days to India’s export promotion programmes, which Washington claims harm American workers, the US had requested the establishment of a panel more than 10 days ago.“A panel has been established in the DSB under accelerated timelines of the agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures (SCM) on our export-related measures,” an official privy to the details told ET. The SCM agreement provides...

SGX delays launch of new India products as NSE gets injunction order Will continue offer SGX Nifty contracts till August 2018 The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has put on hold the launch of its new India derivatives products following the injunction order obtained by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) from the Bombay High Court.Through a circular dated April 11, SGX had announced the launch of three new India products—SGX India Futures, SGX India Bank Futures and SGX Options on India Futures. As the new products were strikingly similar to licensed Nifty products, NSE’s index providing arm India Index Services and Products (IISL) moved Bombay HC on May 21. On May 29, the court granted an interim injunction against the launch of SGX’s new India derivatives products. “In view of the uncertainty caused by IISL’s action, and after consultation with key stakeholders, we have decided to continue listing SGX Nifty contracts until August 2018, as contractually provided for under our licence...

A number of GST amendments likely in Monsoon Session: Official According to GST Council special secretary Arun Goyal, the GST e-way bill system will be rolled out across the country by 3 June. Several amendments to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) law is likely to be placed before Parliament in the Monsoon Session, a senior official said in Kolkata on Monday. “There are several amendments to the GST which is proposed to come up during the Monsoon Session of Parliament,” GST Council special secretary Arun Goyal said at a seminar organized by the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce. Over a dozen pending GST amendments are aimed at easing operational functioning of the indirect tax reform, he added. According to Goyal, the GST e-way bill system will be rolled out across the country by 3 June. A total of 20 states have already implemented the e-way bill system, dates of which has seen several deferments in the recent past The Mint, New Delhi, 29th May 2018

MCX shares continue to surge, up over 4% amid merger talks with NSE Shares of Multi Commodity Exchange of India had surged 14 per cent on Friday also. Shares of Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) continued to gain for the second straight session on Monday, rising over four per cent amid reports of merger with National Stock Exchange (NSE). The stock soared 4.25 per cent to end at Rs 853.60 on the BSE. During the day, it jumped 6.49 per cent to Rs 872. On NSE, shares of the company surged 4.53 per cent to close at Rs 854.85. In terms of equity volume, 244,000 shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 2,200,000 shares changed hands on the NSE during the day.  Shares of Multi Commodity Exchange of India had  surged 14 per cent on Friday also. In a clarification to the BSE on Friday, MCX said, “We would like to state that as part of the corporate strategy, the company continuously evaluates various opportunities for enhancing shareholders’ value. If and when...

No major change in number of MF schemes post Sebi rationalisation Drop in the number of schemes is less than 3%, despite merger of 38 schemes between Sept 2017 and May this year The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) move to categorise and rationalise mutual fund schemes has resulted in a reduction of less than three per cent in the number of schemes in the MF universe. Between September 2017 and May this year, 38 schemes have been merged, the majority of which are in the debt domain, data collated from Value Research shows. The fund count in the equity category has declined by one and that in the debt category has reduced by 26. Open-ended schemes today number 977, about three per cent lower than the figure before Sebi issued its October circular. Experts believe the number of categories under the new directive provides enough options for fund houses to continue with existing schemes under a different category, which effectively reduces the scope for l...

Govt Mulls New Category to Tax Hi-tech Items Move to allow Centre to impose import duties without violating global pact The government is exploring the possibility of creating new categories in its tariff structure that will allow it to impose import duties on hi-tech products without violating a global agreement that mandates nil duties.The government has already imposed customs duties on mobile phones to encourage manufacturing in India.The finance and commerce ministries and the department of electronics are in discussions on the issue to give a ‘Make in India’ push to hi-tech products. Officials say some countries have already used the flexibility available in the Harmonised System of Nomenclature of goods to raise duties without running afoul of the Information Technology Agreement 1, or ITA1.Violations of the agreement are challenged at the World Trade Organization (WTO).The government has also sounded out the industry on the idea, said a person privy to the move. New Delhi ha...

NSE, MCX in merger talks, could submit proposal to Sebi this month The merger will help NSE and MCX cement their leadership position both in the equities and commodity derivatives space The National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) entered into merger talks ahead of the implementation of the universal exchange framework in October, said a top official. The two entities are planning to approach market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) as early as this month, according to the official.Both the exchanges have readied a blueprint for the merger proposal which will be discussed with Sebi. Sources say NSE entered talks with the commodity bourse soon after the market regulator allowed exchanges to dabble both in the equities and commodities space. The decision was taken by the Sebi board at its December 2017 meet. NSE spokesperson said, “We will not comment on market speculations.” An query sent to MCX did not elicit immediate response.Sourc...

Taxman Disallows AMP Deductions Sought by MNCs Says ad money spent not for India business uses hitherto unused provision of I-T Act The income-tax department has started issuing notices to several multinational consumer firms, disallowing deductions on expenses of advertising, marketing and sales promotion under a hitherto unused provision of the Income Tax Act. Notices have been issued to consumer companies such as Hindustan Unilever, P&G, L’Oreal, LG and Maruti Suzuki. Industry experts peg the total demand raised by the tax department on this count at about Rs.10,000 crore. As AMP (advertising, marketing and promotional) expenses is a cost head, disallowing the deduction would inflate pre-tax accounting profits, translating into increased tax outgo for a company if tax claims are upheld. The government claims that these expenses are not relevant for the India business and are mostly related to overseas brand building. Hence, they are sought to be disallowed under Section 37 of...