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WPI Inflation Eases to 2.47% in March IN THE BALANCE Food prices decline 0.29% and are likely to remain moderate in the coming months Wholesale inflation remained almost unchanged in March from the month before as a decline in food inflation offset a rise in fuel and power cost.Inflation as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) slowed to an eight-month low of 2.47% in March, compared with 2.48% in February and 5.11% a year earlier.Data released by the commerce and industry ministry on Monday showed deflation in food articles after nine months — prices shrank 0.29% in March, against 0.88% inflation in the preceding month. CARE Ratings expects food prices to remain moderate in the coming months. “Inflationary threats, however, could emerge from: increase in international oil prices, unseasonal weather patterns and minimum support prices for select crops,” it said in a noteWholesale inflation for January was revised upwards to 3.02% from the provisional estimate of 2.84%.Ret...

GoM to meet businesses, experts on GST return simplification tomorrow The ministerial panel, under Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, on GST return simplification will meet tax experts and representatives from industry tomorrow. As it looks to finalise a single-page return form for businesses under GST, the Group of Ministers (GoM) will seek views of the experts and representatives from businesses as to how they expect the return form to be. As per the structure being worked out by the Centre and state officials as well as Nandan Nilekani, businesses having zero tax liability for six consecutive months may get to file returns only twice a year. The return filing date will be spread out and businesses having annual turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore will have to file return by 10th of next month, while others can file return by 20th The Business Standard New Delhi, 17th April 2018  

India's apparel exports decline by nearly 4% in year of GST Backed by its duty-free access to the EU market, Bangladesh retains its status as the second-largest apparel exporter after China In the first year of implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), India’s apparel or readymade garment (RMG) exports have declined by nearly four per cent in dollar terms in FY18. In rupee terms, the decline is higher at 7.6 per cent. RMG exports fell from Rs 17.4 billion in FY17 to Rs 16.71 billion in FY18, a 3.8 per cent decline. Fall in RMG exports happened due to continual month-on-month (MoM) decline in dollar terms, beginning from a 39.30 per cent fall in October 2017 and ending at 17.8 per cent in March 2018. In the latter month alone, India’s RMG export was Rs1.49 billion, against Rs 1.81 billion for the corresponding month last year. H K L Magu, chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council, said, “The export figures show apparel export is not only stagnating but heading t...

PM Modi may launch second phase of Digital India programme on June 15 The programme was launched by Modi in 2015 with an aim to make all government services available to citizens electronically Keeping an eye at the target of a Rs 1 trillion digital economy by 2022, the government could soon announce the second phase of its Digital India programme, with about 30 policy initiatives. According to sources, this is likely to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi around June 15. The electronics and information technology ministry is working on the boost to the existing programme, the sources added. The programme was launched by Modi in 2015 with an aim to make all government services available to citizens electronically. "The proposal is to launch the programme immediately after the Modi government completes four years in office,” an official in the ministry said. The focus would be on services such as health, education, rural development, agriculture, energy and next-gen...

 Intra-state e-way bill rolled out in five states from Sunday From midnight till 5 pm on Sunday, about 0.24 million e-way bill (both inter state and intra-state) was generated on the portal, an official said E-way bill requirement for intra-state movement of goods has been rolled out in five states from Sunday. The bill for inter-state movement of goods valued over Rs 50,000 was rolled out on April 1. The Goods and Services Council had decided on a staggered roll out of intra-state e-way bill starting with five states — Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala. From midnight till 5 pm on Sunday, about 0.24 million e-way bill (both inter state and intra-state) was generated on the portal, an official said. The official said there was not much increase in the generation of bill on Sunday on account of intra-state roll out. On the day of inter-state roll out of e-way bill on April 1, about 0.28 million such bills were generated in 24 hours The official sa...

Cos may have to Rework salary Packages to reduce GST Impact The next tweak to GST could end up pinching your pockets on salary day  India Inc may have to start restructuring compensation packages or human resource benefits of their employees to ensure they don’t face taxing times under the goods and services tax (GST).  Reimbursements on home rentals, telephone charges beyond a certain limit, medical premiums for extra coverage, health check-ups, transportation, gym use, uniforms or even re-issue of identity cards could face GST.  Tax experts have started advising companies to ask HR departments to examine these issues closely, especially in the wake of a recent decision by the Authority for Advance Rulings in a case concerning canteen charges. Though AAR rulings are case specific, they can be taken as precedent. AAR had ruled that canteen charges recovered from an employee would be liable to GST. GST on employer to-employee supplies could cause employers to sto...

RBI may loosen NPA norms to let banks breathe easy  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may relax some of the stringent norms for treatment of bad loans that it announced in February without diluting their spirit, said two officials aware of the development.  The finance ministry has made a case for providing some relief, especially for small and medium enterprises, given that the tighter rules could force defaulters into rapid bankruptcy, which could dent jobs generation, they said.  The one-day, non-performing asset (NPA) classification norm may be extended to 30 days and the requirement that a resolution plan has to be approved by all lenders could be lowered to 75%, they said. This will mean that only if any amount is due for more than 30 days will it be considered a default.  Under new rules announced by RBI in February, even a one-day delay would be considered a default. “The RBI is having a relook — we expect some relief without diluting the spirit of the ...

  Supreme Court’s SC/ST Act ruling has diluted law, done great damage: Govt The govt stressed that the Supreme Court judgement on SC/ST Act had diluted the provisions of the governing act, resulting in great damage to the country A recent Supreme Court ruling preventing automatic arrests in cases of atrocities against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes has diluted the SC/ST Act and created great damage, the government said. The ruling was in the “teeth of the provisions of the law”, the government submitted in the Supreme Court. “This case dealing with an issue of very sensitive nature has caused a lot of commotion in the country and is also creating anger, unease and a sense of disharmony”, the centre said. It was also stressed that the judgement had diluted the provisions of the governing act, resulting in great damage to the country. In written submissions to the review petition, the centre, through attorney general K.K. Venugopal, said the court was not filling in ...

RBI tightens monitoring of Liberalised Remittance Scheme for overseas money transferring The Reserve Bank today tightened reporting norms for the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) under which an individual can transfer up to USD 2,50,000 abroad in a year. The LRS transactions are currently permitted by banks based on the declaration made by the remitter. The monitoring of adherence to the limit is confined to obtaining such a declaration without independent verification, in the absence of a reliable source of information. "In order to improve monitoring and also to ensure compliance with the LRS limits, it has been decided to put in place a daily reporting system by AD banks of transactions undertaken by individuals under LRS, which will be accessible to all the other ADs," the RBI said in a notification. Now banks will be required to upload daily transaction-wise information undertaken by them under LRS. Under the LRS, all resident individuals, including minors, ...

Limits notified for tax breaks to angel investors The notification says start-ups may avail of the tax concession only if total investment, including funding from angel investors does not exceed Rs 100 mn The government announced it had exempted investments by individuals in some categories of start-ups from the so-called ‘angel tax’. The notification says start-ups may avail of the tax concession only if total investment, including funding from angel investors (those who make the initial equity investment) does not exceed Rs 100 million. The said tax, under Section 56(2)(viib) of the Income Tax Act, provides that where a closely held company issues its shares at a price more than its fair market value, the amount it gets in excess of this value will be charged to tax as income from other sources, to the tune of 30 per cent. Concerns were expressed over the possibility of investment into the start-up system being discouraged by this; also, of harassment by tax officials. “Gen...

Centre, RBI step in as cash crunch hobbles ATMs across various states Several states are facing cash shortage despite currency flow in the economy going back to the pre-demonetisation level The finance ministry held a meeting with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks, and state government officials on Thursday to take stock of cash availability in automated teller machines (ATMs) after receiving complaints of cash crunch in some states. Several states are facing cash shortage despite currency flow in the economy going back to the pre-demonetisation level. A recent analysis by the RBI to the finance ministry found that the rate of cash withdrawal was far more than the cash deposits in banks in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana, according to the documents reviewed by Business Standard. “We held a meeting with the RBI officials, banks, and states today (Thursday). There is no apparent cash crun...