CA Online

NEW DELHI: Providing the first possible avenue to resolve insolvency in a market-determined and time-bound manner, the Insolvency and  Bankruptcy Code will help improve ease of doing business as well as develop the debt market, says IBBI Chairperson M S Sahoo. Less than four months old, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has started its work in a mission mode and well over 900  insolvency professionals have already registered with it. IBBI has been set up under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, which was cleared by Parliament last year. The Code seeks to consolidate  and amend laws relating to reorganisation and insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals in a time- bound manner. "We needed a mechanism to resolve the insolvency wherever there was a default at the first possible opportunity and release idle resources  for efficient use. The Bankruptcy Code provides these in a market-determined and time-bound manner. "This w

The Budget 2017 18 isexpected to focus on recasting and reorienting existing flagship programmes of the Narendra Modi government, with added funds to ensure their completion before the next general elections and alsoensure benefits of such schemes reachthe last mile. Officials said the rural developmentsector,inparticular, couldseeajumpinallocations in all its major schemes and programmes,followedbyschemes related to poverty alleviationand the socialsector. The possibility of as lew of big schemes and mega announcements looks remote, with the exception of revising income tax slabs to mollifythe middle classes and areferenceto the basic income transfer scheme. The budgetary outlay could see significant increase in infrastructure,social sector schemes,micro, small and medium enterprises, rural sector and job creation. Officials say that aslong as the government can ensure last-mile delivery and better targeting of beneficiaries, the existing programmes are sufficient to reach out to

It is easier to track cash which has returned to banking channels, Revenue Department said Demonetisation will lead to a wider tax base and lower interest rates, thus paving the way for "sustainable faster economic growth", the Finance Ministry has said. In a written response to the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Revenue Department said that due to the withdrawal of old high-value notes, the idle or hidden cash has come into the formal system which will be utilised for productive purposes. "Targeted verification of suspect substantial deposits is likely to widen and deepen the tax base," it said. It is easier to track the cash which has returned to banking channels, thus making tax evasion "more difficult", it added. Further, increased availability of funds with banks and "lowering of interest rates" are expected to enhance credit disbursal, promoting investments in productive economic activities and giving a boost to grow

NSUNDARESHA SUBRAMANIAN & SUDIPTO DEY offshore vehicles, including foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), were subject to indirect transfer provisions. The move set alarm bells ringing in fund houses from Hong Kong to London and New York. Effectively, the indirect transfer provisions imposes taxes on offshore transactions if the value of Indian assets represent 50 per cent or more of the value of  all assets owned by the FPIs. The circular contained responses to queries on the indirect transfer provisions in a number of different contexts, such as redemptions by offshore funds registered  as FPIs, master-feeder structures, and corporate reorganisations. “While the expectation was that the circular would examine the practical problems being faced  by stakeholders and propose rectifications to the indirect transfer provisions or, at least, relax the rigours arising from a mechanical application of the existing  provisions, the circular instead confined itself to an excessively literal

Protectors can help ring-fence the working of the trustees and ensure the rules do not become rigid PRIYANAIR Can someone entrusted to protect the well-being of your family unwittingly act against them, based on your instructions? Private trusts that are  set up for the distribution of wealth to the next generation could face this situation if the structure is not carefully formed. Recently, there  was a case where a trustee was accused of acting against the interests of the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries in this case were a mother and child. They accused the trust of paying as monthly maintenance a lesser amount than what was decided by the settler, the father who is no more. The trust said it acted on the instructions of the protector, also appointed by the settler. The court has asked all the parties involved to settle the matter among themselves. In India, the concept of a corporate trustee is slowly catching on as high net worth individuals (HNIs) prefer such a structure to pas

It is easier to track cash which has returned to banking channels, Revenue Department said Demonetisation will lead to a wider tax base and lower interest rates, thus paving the way for "sustainable faster economic growth", the Finance Ministry has said. In a written response to the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Revenue Department said that due to the withdrawal of old high-value notes, the idle or hidden cash has come into the formal system which will be utilised for productive purposes. "Targeted verification of suspect substantial deposits is likely to widen and deepen the tax base," it said. It is easier to track the cash which has returned to banking channels, thus making tax evasion "more difficult", it added. Further, increased availability of funds with banks and "lowering of interest rates" are expected to enhance credit disbursal, promoting investments in productive economic activities and giving a boost to grow

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has set Rs.500 crore in one of the past three years as the minimum turnover for a commodity to remain eligible for futures trading on exchanges. This will come into effect from April 1. “For any commodity to continue to be eligible for futures trading on exchanges, it should have an annual turnover of more than Rs.500 crore across all national commodity derivatives exchanges in at least one of the last three financial years,” Sebi said in a circular on Friday. A commodity that generates less than Rs.2 crore a day in trading volume across all contracts and exchanges will thus be delisted. This is aimed at parking of funds in illiquid contracts to evade taxes. Sebi has provided three years of gestation for commodities from their launch or re-launch dates. “Exchanges earn Rs.250 per day for a commodity generating Rs.1 crore of turnover. While the norms are good, the limit should have been much higher for any exchange to launch co