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  Even as the indirect tax department initiated investigations against several crypto exchanges for escaping Good and Services Tax (GST) liability, it may have also set a precedent around the categorisation of crypto assets for taxation.Legal experts have long debated on the categorization - and tax treatment - of cryptocurrencies. They are yet to converge on whether a cryptocurrency is indeed a currency, a commodity, a service, or something else.   The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) conducted searches and raids on several crypto exchanges and asked them to pay GST on their transaction fees or margins.The tax department's stand, say tax experts, could mean that at least part of what exchanges provide can be categorised as services. "GST on cryptocurrency has been a subject matter of dispute from the taxability and valuation perspective," said Abhishek A Rastogi, Partner at Khaitan NSE 0.53 % & Co. "Transaction fees are always paid by senders; thes...

  Setting the ball rolling on digital payments through the offline mode, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday released a framework for such payments, wherein it stated that the upper limit of an offline payment transaction will be Rs 200, the overall limit Rs 2,000 on a payment instrument at any point in time until the balance in the account is replenished.Offline payments can be made using any channel or instrument like cards, wallets, and mobile devices, the RBI had stated.   According to the RBI, an offline payment means a transaction not requiring internet or telecommunication (telecom) connectivity to take effect.“Offline transactions are expected to give digital transactions a push in areas with poor or weak internet or telecom connectivity, particularly in semi-urban and rural areas,” the RBI said.   In October last year, the central bank had indicated that it would come up with a framework for carrying out small-value digital payments in the offline mode acro...

  The CAG has pulled up the union government for adopting an erroneous process of devolution of IGST to states and short-transfer of cesses to reserve funds, which resulted in under-reporting of deficit figures for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 fiscals.The Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST), which is levied on inter-state sale of goods and services, is shared between the Centre and states in the 50:50 ratio.In its report on the union government accounts tabled in Parliament, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) found that a sum of Rs 13,944 crore was left unapportioned and retained in the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI) in 2018-19, even though the amended IGST Act now provides for a process for ad-hoc apportionment of IGST.   "Audit of Union Accounts for 2017-18 and 2018-19 disclosed misclassification of revenue expenditure, adoption of an erroneous process of devolution/apportionment of IGST to states, short transfer of cesses to reserve funds and non-adjustmen...

  In a relief to small-size firms, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday relaxed rules for opening current accounts with the banking system’s exposure of less than Rs 5 crore. The RBI asked banks to take an undertaking from borrowers that they will inform lenders when the credit facilities availed reaches Rs 5 crore or more.   The rules have been tweaked based on feedback received from Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and other stakeholders, the RBI said. Borrowers with banking system’s exposure of Rs 5 crore or more can maintain current accounts with any one of the banks with which it has CC/OD facility. Such banks must have at least 10 per cent of the exposure of the banking system to that borrower.Further, other lending banks may open only collection accounts, the RBI said. This can be done on condition that funds deposited in such accounts are remitted within two working days of receiving these to the CC/OD account.   The bank having the highest exposure may open c...

  Markets regulator Sebi has confirmed earlier directions passed against former CNBC Awaaz anchor Hemant Ghai, his wife and mother, that barred them from the capital markets for indulging in fraudulent trading practices. In an order passed late on Thursday, Sebi said the findings in the order are "prima facie" and that a detailed investigation in the matter is in progress. In its interim order passed in January, Sebi had noted that Hemant Ghai had advance information about the recommendations to be made on the ''Stock 20-20'' show, co-hosted by him, and he directly or indirectly used it to his advantage. The show featured recommendations on certain stocks to be bought and sold during the day. His wife Jaya Hemant Ghai and mother Shyam Mohini Ghai had undertaken a large number of buy-today-sell-tomorrow (BTST) trades during January 2019-May 2020, in synchronization with the recommendations made in the show, Sebi observed. They generated the proceeds of Rs 2,95,...

  PB Fintech, the parent company of PolicyBazaar and PaisaBazaar, has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to raise Rs 6,017.5 crore via an initial public offering (IPO). The IPO will consist of a fresh issue worth Rs 3,750 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of Rs 2,267.5 crore. SVF Python II (Cayman) is offloading shares worth Rs 1,875 crore, and other shareholders will sell shares worth Rs 392.50 crore, of which Yashish Dahiya, chairman and CEO of the company, will be selling Rs 250 crore worth of shares. In its DRHP, the company has said it may consider a further issue of equity shares through private placement up to Rs 750 crore before filing the prospectus with the registrar of companies (RoC). Net proceeds from the public offering (fresh issue) will be used to enhance the visibility of the brand. The company said it will use around Rs 1,500 crore out of the net proceeds to fund marketing initiatives ...

  1/10 IPO Candidates While startups like Zomato and CarTrade are awaiting clearance from markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to launch their initial public offerings (IPOs), there are at least nine other companies that have got the nod. According to a list of upcoming IPOs prepared by Axis Capital, nine companies have got regulatory approvals. These nine companies may launch their IPOs in the coming months. 2/10 GR Infraprojects Ltd The integrated road EPC company got Sebi's nod for its offer for sale (OFS) of upto 11,508,704 equity shares last month. With experience in design and construction of various road/highway projects across 15 states in India, GR Infraprojects had recently diversified into projects in the railway sector. 3/10 Shriram Properties Ltd Shriram Properties has Sebi's nod to issue equity shares worth Rs 800 crore, including a fresh issue of Rs 250 crore and OFS of Rs 550 crore. The company is among the 5 largest residential real e...

  Shares of rate sensitive sectors were trading mixed with banks largely lower after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained 'status quo' on interest rates during the bi-monthly monetary policy decision. While, automobiles, real estate, select non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies stocks were trading up to 1 per cent higher, the benchmark Nifty50 index was down 0.06 per cent at 10:38 am. The Reserve Bank of India's six-member monetary policy committee, headed by governor Shaktikanta Das, on Friday kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged amid coronavirus uncertainty and fears over inflation. The repo rate (lending rate) will continue at 4.00 per cent and reverse repo rate (RBI’s borrowing rate) at 3.35 per cent. With this, the repo rate has remained unchanged for the sixth consecutive time. Among individual stocks, Hero MotoCorp, MRF and Mahindra & Mahindra from the automobile pack; and Phoenix Mills, Brigade Enterprises, Godrej Prop...

  The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Thursday revised the overseas investment limit for mutual funds (MFs). The market regulator stated in a circular that MFs can make overseas investments up to $1 billion each, within the overall industry limit of $7 billion. MFs had made representations to the regulator to increase the investment limit. Last November, Sebi had enhanced the overseas investment limit from $300 million per mutual fund to $600 million. Industry participants say this announcement was the need of the hour as several MF schemes that were international focused were attracting huge inflows. Sebi in its circular stated, “MFs can make investments in overseas exchange-traded funds (ETFs) subject to a maximum of $300 million per mutual fund, within the overall industry limit of US $1 billion.” Earlier the limit was $200 million per mutual fund. Indian fund houses have launched various international-focused fund of funds (FoF) in the last few months as such p...

  The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) policy comes at a critical time when the economy is in the midst of a confused lockdown with different perspectives on growth and a definite direction for inflation. The monetary policy committee (MPC) has reiterated in the past the accommodative stance, and hence the takeaway is that there are few chances of the repo rate being increased in the near future. Some of the important signals provided are the following. First, is the outlook on growth and here the RBI has scaled down the forecast to 9.5 per cent, which is now closer to what most analysts have done (CARE is 8.8-9 per cent). A single-digit growth sounds less attractive than a double-digit one. In fact, the rate would be declining over the quarters sequentially. Therefore, this also supports the MPC view that growth is weaker than expected and hence requires support from the monetary authority. The second view is on inflation, which is still unchanged at 5.1 per cent for the year. This...

  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut its projection for gross domestic product (GDP) growth for fiscal 2021-22 (FY22) to 9.5 per cent from the earlier forecast of 10.5 per cent. Consumer price inflation (CPI), the central bank said, is likely to be at 5.1 per cent in FY22 as compared to the earlier forecast of 5.2 per cent (5.2 per cent in Q1; 5.4 per cent in Q2; 4.7 per cent in Q3; and 5.3 per cent in Q4) with risks evenly balanced. “Going forward, the inflation trajectory is likely to be shaped by uncertainties impinging on the upside and the downside. The rising trajectory of international commodity prices, especially of crude, together with logistics costs, pose upside risks to the inflation outlook,” the RBI said. Adding: “Rural demand remains strong and the expected normal monsoon bodes well for sustaining its buoyancy, going forward. The increased spread of COVID-19 infections in rural areas, however, poses downside risks.” The lowering of GDP projections comes on the b...