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Goods and services tax (GST) collection touched a record high in April, exceeding Rs 1 trillion for the third time in four months. The mop-up was 10 per  cent higher over the previous year.  Gross collection for the month was Rs 1.13 trillion, said the finance ministry. Despite the recent rate rationalisation in December, a rise in collection  was reported.  Of the total collected, the CGST (central GST) contributed Rs 21,163 crore, the SGST (state GST) Rs 28,801 crore, the IGST (integrated GST) Rs 54,733 crore  (including Rs 23,289 crore on import) and cess Rs 9,168 crore (including Rs 1,053 crore on import). After settlement of the IGST and the balance IGST in a 50:50 ratio between the Centre and states on a provisional basis, the CGST stood at Rs 47,533 crore  and SGST at Rs 50,776 crore. The CGST target in the Union Budget for 2019-20 is Rs 6.1 trillion.  “The April collection indicates the tax base is increasing gradually, with GST getting sta...

Event Date Act Applicable Form Obligation 07/05/2019 Income Tax Challan No. ITNS-281 Payment of TDS Deducted in April 11/05/2019 Goods and Service Tax GSTR-1 Outward supplies of taxable goods and/or services for the Month of April 2019 turnover exceeding 1.5 Cr.) Monthly Return. 13/05/2019 Goods and Service Tax GSTR-6 Return by Input Service Distributor 15/05/2019 Providend Fund Electronic Challan cum Return (ECR) E-Payment of PF for Apr 15/05/2019 ESI ESI Challan Payment of ESI of Apr 15/05/2019 Income Tax Return No. 27EQ TCS Return of all collectors for March Quarter 15/05/2019 Income Tax Form No.27C (TCS) Exemption from TCS 15/05/2019 Income Tax Form No. 16 B Due date for issue of TDS Certificate for tax deducted under Section 194-IA in the month of March, 2019 20/05/2019 Goods and Service Tax GSTR-3B GSTR return for the month of April 2019 30/05/2019 Income Tax Form - 49C Statement b...

Data confidentiality part of pact The Income Tax Department will now share information — such as reported turnover and gross income declared — with the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) to check tax evasion.  The I-T Department and GSTN will enter an agreement on the modalities of information sharing. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has said the agreement will include provisions for confidentiality, a mechanism for safe preservation of data and timelines for furnishing information. CBDT has left the onus of data-sharing on the principal director general of income tax (systems) or director general of income tax (systems). “Spontaneous exchange of data (is in the works), the modalities of which shall be decided by the concerned specified authorities,” an order issued by the CBDT said.  Details captured in returns, status of filing income tax returns (ITR) and turnover ratio will form part of the information package to be shared with GSTN. The data can be match...

Contributions to EPS limited and is not adequate to pay a higher pension, says EPFO The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) plans to move the Supreme Court to review a high court order that allowed workers to draw pension on a wage above the current salary ceiling of  Rs. 15,000 per month.  The current monthly contribution toward employees pension scheme (EPS) is limited and is not adequate to pay a higher pension, according to the retirement fund body. Any binding order on it will make the organisation financially unviable, two government officials said requesting anonymity. “We are readying for a review petition. Pension contribution by EPFO subscribers is based on a  Rs. 15,000 salary ceiling. If pension outgo is calculated on the total salary above the  Rs. 15,000 threshold, it will be tough to maintain. It will be a negative cash flow and we may fall short of several thousand crores every year,” said one of the two officials mentioned above. At ...

India Inc could face a tax landmine with authorities beginning to question input tax credit claimed by companies in lieu of Goods and Services Tax paid by their vendors.  The authorities have already started sending notices to businesses, confirming fears that scrutiny will increase in the new financial year as the government looks to plug leakages. Experts said notices have been sent in Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and some other states. The issue has its origin in the provisions of the GST law that warrant a reversal of input tax credit claimed by a business if its vendor has not paid the tax for which credit is being claimed.  Currently, there is no mechanism to ascertain if vendors have paid GST. The GST Network Portal allows viewing of the return-filing status of a registered person, but payment of tax cannot be determined. At best, buyers can only verify whether vendors have included the invoice in their GST filings. Effectively, while a business may...

India Inc could face a tax landmine with authorities beginning to question input tax credit claimed by companies in lieu of Goods and Services Tax paid by their vendors. The authorities have already started sending out notices to businesses, confirming fears that scrutiny will increase in the new financial year as the government looks to plug leakages. Experts said notices have been sent in Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and some other states. The Economic Times, 30th April 2019

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is once again caught on the wrong foot, and this time for one of its recent circulars that  made public names of over 2,000 entities, which have defaulted on its dues. Some of the companies named in the list have raised objections with the finance ministry, stating that the list was erroneous, said sources aware of the  development.  The regulator had pulled out the circular dated 2 April within hours without any explanation. But, the uncertainty and confusion among market players,  triggered by the list, lingered. The list featured some prominent names like SBI Capital, Axis Capital, GMR Holdings, United Breweries, Alpic Finance (a Cipla group unit), Saradha Realty,  United Bank of India and Trident India. “Putting our name on the defaulter list has sent a wrong message to our shareholders. It has affected the company image,” said the official of a company  whose name was on the list. An ex...

The Supreme Court on Friday reprimanded the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for refusing to disclose information pertaining to the annual inspection report on  banks under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, and warned that any further attempts by the banking sector regulator to hold back such information “shall be  viewed seriously by the court”. Though the apex court held the RBI in contempt of court, it gave the regulator “one last opportunity” to withdraw the disclosure policy related to the  annual inspection report on banks. The RBI, the court held, was “duty-bound under the law” to provide such information, which was otherwise exempted under  law. “Though we could have taken a serious view of the respondents continuing to violate the directions issued by this court, we give them a last  opportunity to withdraw the disclosure policy insofar as it contains exemptions which are contrary to the directions issued by this court,” a two-judge  Bench of Just...

Ministry of Corporate Affairs has extended the due date for filing ACTIVE eForm INC-22A upto 15th June 2019. For more information refer to the following article: Applicability The following companies are required to file INC-22A filing: Company incorporated on or before 31 December 2017. Penalty for Non-Compliance If a company does not file Form 22A or ACTIVE before 15th June 2019, the company would be marked as ACTIVE non-compliant. When a company is marked as ACTIVE non-compliant, it would not be able to effect any of the following changes: Penalty of Rs.10,000 will be applicable for regularisation Changes in authorized capital (Form SH-07) Changes in paid-up capital (Form PAS-03) Changes in Director (Form DIR-12) (cessation would be allowed). Changes in Registered Office (Form INC-22) Amalgamation or Merger (INC-28) If a company files Form INC-22A or ACTIVE after 15th June 2019, a penalty of Rs. 10,000 would be charged. On payment of the penalty and...

The first such open market operations (OMO) for the fiscal year 2019-20, amounting to Rs 12,500 crore, will happen on May 2 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to buy Rs 25,000 crore worth of bonds in two installments from the secondary market in May, it has notified.  The first such open market operations (OMO) for the fiscal year 2019-20, amounting to Rs 12,500 crore, will happen on May 2. The date for the second auction has not been given. This would be on top of the dollar swaps that the central bank is undertaking. The system liquidity was short of Rs 1.4 trillion as on Monday. This is despite the central bank buying bonds worth Rs 3 trillion in the last fiscal year and infusing another about Rs 70,000 crore through two dollar swaps.  The OMO plan is in continuation with the central bank’s practice in the last financial year. The RBI had spelt out how much of bonds it would purchase from the market through monthly calendars. In the OMO, the central bank would be b...

The three-year forward premium was 775 paise in the morning before the auction The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI's) second three-year dollar-rupee swap auction was a massive success like the first one, even as it took just five large bids to cover the entire dollor 5 billion on offer.  Market participants bid more than three times the offer, but the five successful bids were closer to the market rates and managed to shoot up the forward premium in the secondary market.  “The aggressive bids most likely came in from a large corporate looking to hedge long-term dollar liabilities, such as external commercial borrowings,” said Abhishek Goenka, managing director of IFA Global. RBI's second 3-year dollar-rupee swap auction too a grand success Since the other participants could not offload their dollar holdings, the central bank offered to buy up to Rs 25,000 crore of bonds from the secondary market in May to help with liquidity. The banking system was running a liquidity defic...