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The limit has been increased to Rs 10 lakh in appellate tribunal and Rs 20 lakh in HCs Seeking to reduce tax litigation by about 50 per cent, the finance ministry on Tuesday raised the monetary limit for filing appeals to Rs 10 lakh in appellate tribunal, and Rs 20 lakh in high courts (HCs). It has been decided to withdraw appeals filed by the income tax (I-T) department in Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) and high courts for cases involving tax effect of below the new monetary limit. There are 75,000 cases pending in ITAT and HC. Tax effect refers to the difference between what the I-T department's assessment of tax liability and asssessee’s assumption. “The monetary limits for filing of appeals by the Department before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) and the High Courts have been revised to tax effect of Rs 10 lakhs and Rs 20 lakhs respectively, from the present limits of tax effect of Rs 4 lakhs and Rs 10 lakhs,” Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia told report

Months after Central, state governments cracked down on pulses hoarders for violating the Essential Commodities Act, a paper floated by the NITI Aayog has called for ‘judicious’ use of the Act to make private investments in agriculture marketing and storage attractive. The paper, based on the discussions a NITI Aayog task force had with a wide range of experts and stakeholders, also favoured selective use of genetic modification technology in pulses and oilseeds after necessary safeguards. It also favoured freeing urea imports. The task force is headed by NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya with Bibek Debroy, Ramesh Chand, Ashok Gulati and host of secretaries from the ministries of agriculture, land resources, water resources, and fertilisers as members. In October, the Centre amended the Essential Commodities Act to enable imposition of stock limits on pulses sourced from imports, stocks held by exporters, and those used as raw-materials by licensed food processors and

RuPay cards issued to 16.51 crore customers and two lakh accounts are opened every day Banks have opened 19.21 crore accounts under the government's ambitious financial inclusion scheme Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana with deposit of more than  Rs.26,819 crore, the finance ministry has said. In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said RuPay cards have been issued to 16.51 crore customers and that two lakh accounts are opened every day. The Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which also entails a life insurance cover of Rs.30,000 and an accident insurance cover of Rs.1 lakh has benefited several subscribers as 1,336 claims of life cover and 333 claims of accident insurance cover have been paid till No vember 2015. The ministry statement also noted that zero balance accounts in PMJDY have declined from 76% in September 2014 to 36.5% in November 2015. “Till June 2015, more than . 4,273 crore have been routed ` through these accounts towards payment of wages under MNREGA and transfer of

Jaitley says world should not think Parliament is being `obstruction' to reforms Finance minister Arun Jaitley has said Parliament should not send a message that it is an obstacle to reforms making a strong appeal for early passage of goods and services tax while reaching out to the main opposition Congress to think about the “legacy“ it would leave behind by not supporting the measure when there is a need to strengthen the economy to shield it from global headwinds. “It not difficult for India to grow at 8-9 %.....We need to strengthen domestic economy so that become resilient to global shocks...“ Jaitley said and appealed to the Congress party to support the constitution amendment bill for GST, which is stuck in the Upper House. “I would urge the current leadership of Congress party also to look at the history and legacy they want to leave behind. Support these measures so that we are able to grow faster. We have more money to get rid of poverty much faster,“ he said addi

To curtail domestic flow of unaccounted money, the finance ministry on Tuesday announced mandatory furnishing of permanent account number ( PAN) for all transactions over Rs.2 lakh through all payment modes, with effect from January 1, 2016. Quoting PAN will also be mandatory for cash payments made to settle hotel bills or for buying foreign travel tickets From Jan 1, PAN mandatory for transactions above Rs.2 lakh In a bid to curtail domestic black money flow, the finance ministry on Tuesday announced mandatory furnishing of permanent account number ( PAN) for all transactions above Rs.2 lakh through all payment modes with effect from January 1, 2016. This is a relaxation from an proposal to make PAN mandatory for sale and purchase of items above Rs.1 lakh. “We have received a lot of representations. We will give breathing time to taxpayers,” said revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia. Accepting the recommendations of the special investigation team on black money, finance minister

FM seeks Cong support; says party will leave behind a bad legacy if it continues to oppose crucial reforms With barely a week left for the winter session of Parliament to be over, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday asked the Congress to think about the legacy it would leave behind by not supporting the Constitution amendment Bill on goods and services tax (GST). Amid a walk-out by the Congress, he said GST would offer the economy an opportunity to touch nine per cent growth rate. Replying to a debate on the supplementary demand for grants in the Lok Sabha, Jaitley also sought to bring on board the Left parties by invoking former West Bengal finance minister and former chairman of empowered committee of state finance ministers Asim Dasgupta.  The Left parties had given their dissent on a Rajya Sabha select panel's recommendations on the indirect taxation system. The Lok Sabha later passed the supplementary demand for additional expenditure of Rs 56,256 crore. The finan

Oppn MP says govt suffering from Cinderella syndrome, while CPI(M) alleges NDA sabotaging Bill With only six working days of the ongoing winter session left, the likelihood of the passage of the goods and services tax (GST) Bill became remote because of the continuing disruption of parliamentary proceedings by the Opposition. Also, neither the government nor the Congress showed any keenness to meet again to take forward their negotiations on the issue. The Opposition parties on Tuesday ensured repeated adjournments of the Rajya Sabha over the alleged Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids at the office of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The Congress protested the “interference” of the governor of Arunachal Pradesh with the activities of the state government and over summoning of winter session of the Assembly “without the state government requesting for it”. The issue is likely to dominate Congress protests on Wednesday as well. In the Lok Sabha, the Congress staged a