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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday directed senior officials of the ministries of finance and corporate affairs to take steps, including setting up of a board, for the implementation of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016 in a time bound manner. “Implementation in a time bound manner is very crucial in order achieve the desired goals of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016,“ Jaitley told senior officials of both the ministries here. An immediate action is needed on key requirements for implementation of the IBC including setting up of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), notifying Rules and Regulations relating to Insolvency Professionals (IPs), he added. The Economics Times New Delhi,24th August 2016

The insurance regulator has tightened equity investment norms by prescribing a dividend track record of 10% for the last two years instead of the earlier 4% in the last eight out of the nine years. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has said that insurance companies can invest in equity shares of any listed company where at least 10% dividend has been paid for at least two consecutive years under the approved investment category . Under the unit-linked insurance plans, which are a mix of investment and protection, companies can invest 75% in approved securities and 25% in other than approved securities. Approved securities are those stocks that have dividend paying record and are liquid. As per the liquidity criteria, in a month 50,000 shares, or a value of Rs.5 lakh crore, should be traded.Traditional funds invest primarily in government securities -50% -both state and central, 15% in infrastructure, and the remaining 35% in corporate bonds, equities and...

Those who have undeclared immovable property can now revise it under the Income Declaration Scheme ( IDS). Last week, the Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT) clarified this amendment in the latest round of Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs) on the scheme. According to the earlier rule, if you declared property under in the IDS, the value would be as on June 1, 2016. But now that it has been amended, there is an option that if you have the title deed of the property, the value might be declared on the stamp duty paid and re- adjusted according to the cost inflation index of that year minus the cost inflation index of 2016. In case the property was acquired before 1981, you can get market value as done on April 1, 1981 and adjust it with the cost inflation index of 2016- 17. “ One impact of the recent amendment is that people need not to go a registered valuer to get valuation done, as the stamp duty value can be considered based on the title deed of the property, if available,” sa...

The Gujarat Legislative Assembly ratified the Constitution Amendment Bill on Goods and Service Tax ( GST) unopposed on the last day of monsoon session on Tuesday in the absence of Congress legislators, who were suspended for creating ruckus in the Assembly. “ The Bill has been ratified unopposed by Gujarat Assembly,” Speaker Ramanlal Vora said in the House, after the Bill was passed by voice vote by Bhartiya Janata Party legislators. Passed by Parliament recently, the Bill needs to be ratified by at least 15 state legislatures. Business Standard New Delhi,24th August 2016

The government is examining a recommendation by the special investigation team ( SIT) to ban cash transactions of over ? 3 lakh to clamp down on black money, the top Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT) official said on Tuesday. Addressing an Assocham event, CBDT Chairperson Rani Singh Nair also favoured the proposal to advance the presentation of Union Budget to January, saying it will bring in “ more efficiency” as the public expenditure will start from first day of the financial year. A key international tax official also said India- Singapore tax treaty would be broadly on the same lines as that with Mauritius, though there could be some minor differences. On banning cash transactions of over ? 3 lakh, Nair said, “ SIT recommendations are under consideration.” The income- tax department, she said, has already put a one per cent tax, to be collected at source (TCS), on cash transactions of over ? 2 lakh. Quoting PAN is also mandatory for any mode of payment. “ All these aspec...

www.caonline.in News... 1. In case you are facing any problem in uploading tax audit reports due to non updation of PAN Number at ICAI. Now update your details at.http://online.icai.org/app_forms/panupdate/index.html 2. The functionality for approval of hospital u/s 17(2) of the IT Act and for registration of tax practitioner will be available in administration module of ITBA w.e.f 22.08.2016. 3. The assesses applying for registration/ approval under section 12AA, 80G and 10(23C)(iv), (v), (vi) & (via) have option to apply in form 10A/ 10G/ 56/ 56D of the I. T. Rules, 1962 either manually or through e-filing, which will get barred by limitation on 31.08.2016 4. Company court cannot make enquiries about genuineness of documents submitted to the ROC in connection with incorporation of the company.[Vinod Krishan Khanna vs. Amritsar Swadeshi Textile Corp (P)Ltd, HC of Punjab and Haryana] 5. Gujarat became the sixth state to ratify the GST Bill after Assam , Bihar , Jharkhand, Hi...

www.caonline.in News... 1. Transfer of goods by way of hiring, leasing, licensing or in any such manner without transfer or right to use such goods is a “declared service” and hence liable to service tax. 2.Deduction U/s 35AC available only up to previous year ending 31-03-2017. 3.Eminent economist and RBI Dy. Governor, Mr. Urjit Patel replaces Raghuram Rajan as RBI Governor. 4.SEBI has issued Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012. 5.CBDT issues Clarifications on Income Declaration Scheme, 2016. CBDT Circular No.29 of 2016 dated 18.08.16.

Online retailers worried about draft GST law not providing for refund of tax paid on goods returned by the customers The government is looking into the biggest concern of online retailers with the goods and services tax (GST) -rules relating to returned goods that have at times even reached as high as half their sales. The draft GST law does not provide for credit on tax paid on returned goods, potentially imposing double taxes on sellers -tax paid on returned goods and again when replacements are provided. GST may be put in place as early as April 1. The industry also fears return of the permit raj, with the law allowing states to seek additional documents from transporters carrying goods exceeding ` . 50,000. “Industry probably prefers more clarity as the term `sales return' has not been used,“ said an official, adding that it could be examined. Online sale returns average around 30%, but in India this can be as high as 50%. The GST law, however, does not provide for ...

Govt feels the entire exercise should be over by March 31 Union Budget has for decades been presented on last day of February , but this could soon change with the government mulling advan cing it to January end so as to complete the budget exercise before the beginning of the new fiscal. Finance Ministry is doing an overhaul of the entire Budget making exercise which may see scrapping of the current practice of presenting a separate budget for Railways and the Budget document getting slimmer with indirect tax proposals finding almost no mention after excise duties, service tax and cesses being subsumed in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. Also on the anvil is abolition of distinction between Plan and non-Plan expenditure and replacing it with capital and revenue expenditure. Sources said the government is of the view that the Budget exercise should ideally be over by March 31every year as against the present practi ce of it being carried in two phases spread betwe en ...

Plans are afoot to train 20,000 chartered accountants by March 2017 in different aspects of the GST Corporate India is just about getting started to get their businesses ready for the goods and services tax ( GST) regime. This has opened up a sizable business opportunity for tax experts, advisory firms, and law firms. What has come as a shot in the arm for chartered accountants and cost accountants is the mandatory need for tax audits for certain companies under the GST regime. Under Section 42 ( 4) of the draft Model GST Law, businesses with to- be- prescribed turnover have to get their accounts audited by a chartered accountant or a cost accountant. Accordingly, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India ( ICAI) is preparing to boost training for its members to enable them to make the most out of the opportunity. “ Plans are afoot to train 20,000 chartered accountants by March 2017 in different aspects of the GST for conducting impact studies and filing of GST returns,” sa...

AUTOMOTIVE Companies made adjustments to revenue recognition. This was more visible in case of deferment of revenue of future performance obligations, or for recognition of cash/ trade discounts ENERGY, METALS AND MINING The sector is heavily capital- intensive and exposed to the global commodity/ currency markets. Some high- value adjustments arose due to: Forex gains and losses, particularly due to change in the functional currency of the company and of its foreign operations Change in accounting policy, primarily for oil companies with respect to capitalisation of expenditure and depletion of producing assets Adjustments in fixed assets. Saw capitalisation of new assets as a result of major overhauling costs Presence of embedded finance lease arrangements. This was more visible for the power companies; Companies that had previously capitalised fixed assets on their balance sheet have de- capitalised these assets, reversed the corresponding depreciation charged and recognised fin...