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Concerned over low service tax realisation, Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Monday asked the Central Board of Excise and Customs to analyse revenue mop- up sectorally and ensure that it grows 20- 22 per cent this financial year. “ We need to analyse why service tax growth hovers around 16 per cent.... I would expect growth at least 20- 22 per cent.” Business Standard, New Delhi, 25th August 2015

The Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) on Monday paved the way for the merger of the markets regulator with the Forward Markets Commission ( FMC). According to a press release issued by Sebi, its board has cleared the norms for commodity exchanges and brokers. “Major compliances include norms related to net worth, shareholding, composition of the board, corporatisation and demutualisation and setting up various committees, turnover and infrastructure,” Sebi said. To ensure a non- disruptive transition, Sebi has prescribed atimeline for aligning with the different provisions of the Securities Exchanges and Clearing Corporations ( SECC) regulations. Regional commodity exchanges would have to be corporatised and demutualised within three years of the merger. Currently, commodity exchanges don’t have a separate clearing corporation for contracts, a requirement under the Sebi Act. The markets regulator will give commodity exchanges up to three years to comply in this reg

1.  Provision for doubtful debts not required to be add back to arrive at book profit u/s 115JA [CIT vs. Salgaonkar Mining Industries Pvt. Ltd, (Goa High Court)] 2.  The revenue could not assail the finding returned by the CIT(A) in favour of the assessee in an appeal preferred by the assessee before the tribunal, limited to the issue decided by the CIT(A) against the assessee. [CIT vs. Divine Infracon P. Ltd, Delhi High Court] 3.  CBDT Instruction No. 5 of 2014 revising monetary limit to Rs. 4 lakhs for filing appeal before tribunal shall apply to pending appeals also. Since monetary limit of appeal filed by revenue was less than Rs. 4 lakhs, same was to be dismissed [ Gurudayal Sontosh Kumar [2015] 60  taxmann.com  24 (Kolkata - Tribunal)] 4.  Today 25.08.2015 is the last date for filing of DVAT return for the 1st quarter ending on 30.06.2015, both online and hard copy return. 5.  CBEC has made Custom Duty Free Allowance to Rs. 45000 for Passengers of Indian origin and forei

The Supreme Court last week dismissed a large number of appeals moved by the excise authorities and allowed the appeals of construction companies, ruling that service tax could not be levied on indivisible works contracts prior to the introduction, on June 1, 2007, of the Finance Act, 2007 which expressly made such works contracts liable to service tax. All these cases, led by Commissioner of Central Excise vs L & T, arose before the 2007 amendment was made, which introduced the concept of “works contract” as being a separate subject matter of taxation. Works contracts which were indivisible and composite were split so that only labour and service elements of such contracts would be taxed under service tax. The revenue authorities assailed the judgments of various tribunals and high courts which had decided against them. According to them, the various components of works contracts were already split and taxed since 1994. On the other hand, the companies argued that not only was t

A discussion paper on the first set of tax exemptions to be phased out will be in public domain soon, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday. “As I said in my last budget speech, the Union government will bring down the corporate tax level from 30% to 25% gradually. A discussion paper on this will be in the public domain shortly,” Jaitley said at a gathering organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce on Sunday. Earlier in the day, addressing the inaugural function of the newly-launched Bandhan Bank, Jaitley pitched for financial patronisation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Bandhan Bank began operations on Sunday, with 501 branches and 14.3 million accounts across India. “SMEs generate maximum employment, besides contributing the least towards bad loans or non-performing assets,” Jaitley said. “That is why the Union government has opened Mudra Agency, which will soon become Mudra Bank, to fund SMEs, which often do not have access to institutional financing,” he

The government has speeded up tax refunds with some taxpayers getting them within a week of filing returns. The quick response has helped the tax department win accolades -a rarity given that in the past it has faced criticism for holding up refunds to show healthier government finances. “Historic! I-T refund in less than a month of filing! Jai Ho!“ tweeted Bhaskar Bhattacharya, a former MNC executive. Others such as chartered accountant Kamlesh Vikamsey and Krish tweeted that they received refunds within a week and 10 days, respectively . The government is now looking to improve the process further. “Have noted the other suggestions regarding I-T refunds. Will have them looked into,“ revenue secretary Shaktikanta Das tweeted. Times of India, New Delhi, 24th Augsut 2015

Two out of three taxpayers don't know the tax rules and could be filing faulty returns Filing your tax returns is very easy, but make sure you know the tax rules when you do so. An online survey conducted by economictimes.com indicates abysmal levels of tax literacy . The returns of almost 66% of the 2,158 respondents could have faulty information, and almost 34% could even get a notice because of the errors in their tax forms. Interest income is where many taxpayers are going wrong. Almost 30% of the respondents believe that interest of up to Rs.10,000 from bank FDs is tax free in a year. They should know that the exemption under Section 80TTA is only for the interest on their savings bank accounts. What they earn on FDs and recurring deposits is taxable. Similarly , almost 30% believe that the interest earned on tax-saving infrastructure bonds bought a few years ago under Section 80CCF is not taxable because they were tax saving instruments.Wrong again. The bonds may have h