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The government is set to miss the deadline for tabling supporting legislation for the goods and services (GST) tax in the ongoing winter session of Parliament after the GST council on Sunday failed to finalize the draft laws. This in turn puts the government’s 1 April deadline of rolling out GST under a cloud. The government wanted to table three draft laws—the central GST bill (CGST), the integrated GST bill (IGST) and the bill for compensating states for revenue losses following the implementation of GST (SGST)—in the winter session ending on 16 December. But these bills are now likely to be tabled only in the budget session, due to begin in January, as the GST council failed to reach a consensus on any of the bills. State legislatures also have to pass the state GST bill before the tax can be rolled out, making it even more difficult for the government to push through GST implementation from the beginning of the next fiscal year. Finance minister Arun Jaitley reiterated th

Revenue Department today said officials will not reopen the past assessments of excise and service tax of assessees even if their turnover in the current period increases on account of digital payments in the wake of demonetisation. In a circular to excise and service tax chief commissioners, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said there are "apprehensions" that an increased turnover because of use of digital modes of payment may lead to demands for the earlier period. "It is, hereby, clarified that in indirect taxes, past assessments will not be reopened for this reason alone," the CBEC said. Ever since the demonetisation announcement on November 8, in order to curb generation of black money the government has been taking steps to encourage people to shift towards digital mode of payment while making financial transactions. "By adopting a digital mode of payment, no financial transaction would remain undisclosed and consequently an enhanc

It is virtually a race against time for India Inc as the April 1 deadline for the Goods and Services (GST) Tax rollout stares at them. While companies have appointed consultants to advise them on GST, nothing much has moved beyond that especially with small and medium enterprises. Large companies, however, say they can meet the April 1 deadline. Conversations with multiple tax experts reveal that not more than 40-50 per cent of large companies are ready for a GST rollout on April 1. “Manufacturing companies in categories such as consumer goods, auto, auto ancillaries etc were conscious of GST early on and did begin their groundwork in time. But, the services sector such as banking, insurance, media and entertainment are not quite ready for an April 1 rollout,” says Sachin Menon, partner and head of indirect tax at KPMG.  Retail majors such as Future Group and Shoppers Stop say that they have kicked off the process of being GST-compliant and can meet the April 1 deadline. Nihal

India needs to invest more in public health care and build a robust health delivery system in all aspects, including infrastructure and human resources,with special focus on rural areas, Henk Bekedam, WHO Representative to India, told PTI ,on Sunday. According to Bekedam, though India has made enormous progress in the health care sector in the recent past, still “60 million people are in poverty through paying health care bills mainly because of the country’s low investment in health, inadequate financial protection and high out-ofpocket expenditure.” PTI CBDT plans drive to sensitise taxpayerof e-initiatives. Business Standard New Delhi,12th December2016

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) assured people on Wednesday that it has no plans to permanently put a cap on withdrawal limits, asserting that the money belongs to the people. Addressing the media after the fifth bi-monthly monetary policy review, RBI Governor Urjit Patel said there will be restrictions only during the transition process resulting from demonetisation. “The money in the bank is yours,“ said Patel. “There are some controls on withdrawal, but only during this transition phase.“ The RBI had put a limit on withdrawal from automated teller machines and bank branches post demonetisation.Customers, for instance, can withdraw Rs.2,500 per day from ATMs that are recalibrated and Rs.2,000 from those yet to be recalibrated. They can withdraw up to Rs.24,000 from bank branches in a week. However, withdrawal limits for farmers have been fixed at Rs.25,000 a week. The central bank governor said that large quantities of currency notes in various denominations are in supply a

Regulators often overstate the seriousness of the work they do to defend every measure adopted in regulations, however flawed As we move toward the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) in India, corporations are forming task forces to assess the impact and update systems to conform to the proposed taxation structure. Of course, modifying IT systems is a priority and should be completed before the GST is implemented but we at Bain believe that the GST legislation provides an opportunity to consider a strategic and zerobased revamp of the entire inbound and outbound supply chain. After recent discussions with CEOs of top companies, it has become increasingly clear that left to operational executives, businesses will simply conform to GST requirements. It is imperative, however, for the leadership team to view this as a transformational opportunity with possible implications in the competitive environment. Companies should not simply seek to gain short-term cost redu

Without doubt, the roll-out of GST will turn out to be the most significant and far-reaching indirect tax reform that India has ever seen. It is going to impact almost all industries and businesses, some more than others. In the process, it will create a common Indian marketplace and reduce the cascading effect of taxes. To put it succinctly, GST will subsume all indirect taxes and create just one rate for the entire nation. In view of the importance of this legislation, it makes sense to be fully prepared for it. Here is a list of 10 steps that corporate entities can take to implement GST in a hassle-free manner. 1. Upgrade ERP systems: In order to evaluate new tax structures, other cost implications, companies need to upgrade their ERP systems. This is essential to accommodate the complexities of calculating GST. 2. Get a fix on which software modules need to be changed: As GST will have more of an impact on data management and taxation, organizations need to look into their