CA Online

In order to promote `less-cash' economy , the government has said it will bear the transaction cost for all payments made to it through debit or credit cards and net-banking.   At present, customers bear the transaction cost, commonly known as merchant discount rate (MDR), on payments made to the government.   “Government departments shall take appropriate steps to bear MDR cost like other merchants. The public shall not bear any MDR cost for making payment to government through debit cards or credit cards or digital means,“ said an office memorandum issued by the finance ministry. It said the methodology to reimburse such payment to intermediaries on transactions involving debtcredit cards or digital means is being worked out and the detailed guidelines and operational modalities would be issued in due course.   The ministry has issued the circular in line with the government's decision to promote creditdigital transactions in government payments and collecti...

Starting Line Govt readies detailed framework to review excise duty exemptions being enjoyed by pharma, FMCG and auto cos in states India Inc may not face a bumpy ride under the proposed goods and services tax (GST) regime that would witness elimination of tax holidays as the government is readying a detailed framework to ensure a smooth transition.   The Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) has set up a panel to formulate the framework that could have wide ramifications for pharmaceuticals, FMCG and automobiles sectors that have thrived in the states enjoying area-based excise duty exemptions.   “All these issues need to be worked out for smooth implementation,“ said an official. A detailed set of guidelines would be put in place ensure that entities enjoying tax holidays during the grandfathering period do not suffer.   The finance ministry is also beginning stakeholder consultations with individual sectors -starting with ecommerce on Wednesday -to...

BSE sends compulsory de-listing notices to 194 companies; Sebi might attach properties of promoters who fail to comply The Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi)’s drive to de-list companies facing suspension has gotten underway. The BSE on Tuesday sent ‘compulsory de-listing’ notices to 194 companies. Trading in these companies has been suspended for nearly 13 years for non-compliance of listing agreement. The promoters of these companies will soon have to pay their public shareholders a ‘fair value’, which will be calculated by an independent agency. The fair value will act as a buyback price to ensure de-listing.   According to sources, Sebi is likely to attach properties and other assets of companies that fail to comply with de-listing notices. The regulator is expected to issue a circular in this regard soon, said a source.   Sebi and exchanges have embarked on a drive to weed out thousands of companies whose shares are suspended from trading...

The Goods and Services Tax Network, the information technology backbone that will implement the new indirect tax regime, will become a data analytics powerhouse in the months after the roll-out. “Once sufficient amount of data is generated, we will be able to generate analytics based on the requirements of various stakeholders,” Navin Kumar, chairman, GSTN, told Business Standard in a recent interview.   GSTN is a non-profit entity that is building the information technology backbone for the goods and services tax (GST). It will store all details related to the relevant transactions. These analytics, based on data filed by millions of taxpayers who will migrate to the system, will help in plugging leakages,    identifying economic trends and ensure more focused economic-policymaking. Kumar said this would be the third phase of the work undertaken by GSTN and is part of the terms of reference of the vendor, Infosys. “The vendor would build p...

Middle class constituted about 49 per cent of the total tax payees in financial year 2011-12 The top 1 per cent of earning individuals who filed tax returns earned about 18 per cent of the total income in financial year 2011-12, according to the latest data on income tax released by the income-tax department recently.   The bottom half of the earning individuals earned just about 21 per cent of the total income shown in the returns, the data showed, highlighting stark income inequality. However, in between there is a big chunk of middle class. It is this class, which was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his    Independence-Day speech when he said he would further mitigate their problems with the income-tax department.  The top 1 per cent of the individuals were those who earned Rs 25 lakh and above, while the bottom 50 per cent made up of those who earned up to Rs 2.5 lakh. In between, there was a middle class, constituting...

www.caonline.in News... 1. NIRC of ICAI is organizing Seminar on Audit Planning, Audit Working Papers, Pre Audit Study, Checklist for Audit, ROC Compliances, Audit Report & Tax Audit on 26th and 27th Aug 2016 at NDMC Convention Centre, Parliament Street, Delhi www.nircseminars.org 2. Consistent treatment made by assessee of share transactions cannot be disturbed by revenue. [The DCIT Circle-2 Vs Shri Mahender Kumar Bader (ITAT Jaipur)]. 3. The Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016 has been passed in Lok Sabha. Now the overtime work hour, under Section 64, has been doubled from 50 to 100 hr in a quarter and to 125 hours under special circumstances. 4. The petition alleging oppression on the ground of illegal allotment of shares without any basic resolution merits acceptance. [Ashok manchanda vs. Riviera bag manufacturing limited CLB, Delhi]. 5. Bihar state legislature pass GST Bill in special one-day session, it become second state after Assam to pass it. 6. Form 3 under Income De...

www.caonline.in News... 1. ICAI is organizing certificate course on forex & treasury management in Delhi on 20.08.2016, visit http://www.icai.org/post.html?post_id=3552&c_id=266 Fee@17,500 #0120-3045945 2. SEBI revises format for publishing financial results in newspapers - Circular No. CIR/IMD/DF1/69/2016 - 10/08/2016 3. Maternity Bill passed in Rajya  Sabha, now women to get 6 months off. Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, 2016 as introduced in Loksabha Bill no. 215 of 2016 4. Assam becomes the first state in the country to pass the GST Bill. 5. MCA vide its General Circular No. 08/2016 dated 29.07.2016  has relaxed the payment of additional fees on filing of e-forms AOC-4, AOC-4 (XBRL), AOC-4 (CFS) and MGT-7 on or before 29th October, 2016, where the due date for holding the AGM is on or after 1st April, 2016. 6. 15.08.16 is the last date to Issue of TDS certificate for June quarter of 2016-17 by all deductors. 7. Tax Returns for A.Y.s 2009-10 to 2014-15 filled e...

Policyholders could be left in the lurch when insurance companies discontinue their plans. Policies are withdrawn either because of changes in regulations or introduction of new policy schemes by insurers. Recently, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) banned life insurance companies from selling indemnity- based health insurance products. Almost all life insurance companies —HDFC Life Insurance, Reliance Life Insurance and IndiaFirst Life Insurance — have indemnity mediclaim plans wherein the policyholders are reimbursed according to the hospital bills. The insurers will now have to withdraw these plans. “Existing policyholders, however, will continue to enjoy the benefits of the policy till the end of the term,” says R M Vishakha, MD & CEO, IndiaFirst Life Insurance. Many policyholders may worry that they would face problems with servicing as the insurers will no longer focus on health product. “They shouldn’t have any such apprehensions, as r...

Finance minister Arun Jaitley has said amendments to the Companies Act 2013 being considered by Parliament will help ease institutional fund flow to small businesses, acknowledging this has been an issue with the MSME sector that has also not received adequate policy attention. “There were procedural constraints concerning related party transactions whereby the main source of finance for MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) was jeopardised but the government is working on it,“ the finance minister said at the launch of an online databank for MSMEs on Thursday. He conceded that even though the micro, small and medium enterprises were the backbone of the economy, they had not received enough policy attention. “The MSME sector is not given enough space during policy making or due media coverage, given how vast the sector is,“ Jaitley said, adding that the sector was facing competition from not only domestic industries with economies of scale but also globally. Despite the...

Amendments to help 1.8 million women in the organised sector; Bill will now go to the Lok Sabha The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the amendments to the Maternity Benefit Act that seeks to provide 26 weeks of maternity leave to working women and 12 weeks to commissioning mothers and introducing an enabling provision of “work from home“ for nursing mothers. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its ex post facto approval to the bill on Wednesday. The provisions are applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more people. The amendments will help about 1.8 million women in the organised sector, the Cabinet had said. The bill will now go to the Lok Sabha, where the government enjoys a majority, and after its passage in the lower house and presidential assent, the changes will be notified by the labour ministry, making them formal. As per the proposed amendments, maternity leave for women working in both private and public sector will be enhanced to ...

The textile industry is watching to see what the final rate of tax under the proposed goods and service tax (GST) regime would be. This is because of the tax implications the new law will have on major input goods going into the textile production process such as cotton and man-made fibres. According to a report by financial analysis firm ICRA, a lower 12 per cent rate, as recommended by the Arvind Subramanian committee last year, is likely to have a negative impact on the textile sector, especially affecting cotton value chain. Currently, cotton attracts zero central excise duty under the optional route. Compared to this, man-made fibre attracts excise duty at the manufacturing stage. Hence there is an incentive for the downstream players in manmade sector to avail of the input tax credit (ITC). With an optional duty structure at the cotton yarn stage itself, the downstream sectors — weaving, processing and garments — also operate under the optional route, Anil Gupta, vice-p...