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At a time when fintech players and banks are vying to offer faster services to their customers, reduce paperwork, and move processes online for greater convenience, government bodies like the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) too have realised that they need to change with the times. The EPFO, which has traditionally been perceived as stodgy, has surprised long-time watchers with its customer-friendly initiatives in recent months. No certificates required for advances Earlier if you wanted a non-refundable advance from your EPF account, you had to produce a certificate to prove your need was genuine.If you needed money for medical treatment, you had to produce a doctor's certificate. If you needed it to finance a child's marriage, you had to submit the wedding card as proof. All such requirements have been done away. "You can withdraw money by just making a self-declaration.This is in line with the central government's policy of relying on people's s

The government said the goods and services tax regime, likely to start in two months, will not increase the compliance burden on trade and industry. “Many people think that implementation of GST would result in increase in compliance cost.This is completely misplaced,“ revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia told netizens on Facebook. Industry has been apprehensive about GST increasing compliance burden. Adhia said that on the contrary, it would come down because trade and industry won't have to maintain separate books for central excise and value added tax. “With the rollout of GST, there would be a single tax and accounting for this will be very simple. It can be done through an offline excel form provided by GST Network. If someone uses this form for keeping records of purchase and sales, then he can use this for filing returns. Thus, compliance would be minimised,“ he said. Adhia, who is spearheading the implementation of GST, said the finance ministry is gearing up for the rollo

Retail small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) have builtacase for deferment of implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) to September 1 on account of complexities involved to comply with the new setup.Agroup of retail businesses, including Max Standard Retail, SRS Group and VMart Retail, has written a letter to Finance Minister and Chairman of the GST Council Arun Jaitley to extend the GST deadline, which has now been set at July 1. The retailers sought extension, along with clarification for the industry, to absorb the change, the representation made to the finance minister said.Earlier, traders´ association, the Confederation of All India Traders, also pitched delaying the roll-out of the GST regime to September 1, as small businesses are not yet ready for it. Business Standard New Delhi, 02nd May 2017

The budget session of Parliament is likely to begin on January 31, advancing it by over three weeks, the cabinet committee on parliamentary affairs decided on  Tuesday. Finance minister Arun Jaitley will present the combined Union budget – including allocations for the railways and ending a 92-year-old tradition of presenting a separate railway budget – on February 1. Jaitley was present at the meeting also attended by home minister Rajnath Singh, parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. Officials expect the move will allow for earlier allocation of funds for government schemes and projects and lead to their better implementation on the ground. In the past, funds were usually not allotted from the beginning of the financial year on April 1, creating a backlog and choking funds. Though the budget was presented in February, several tax proposals kick-in only from June after Parliament passes the annual finance bill in May. A gro

Income tax for companies with annual turnover up to ?50 crore has been reduced to 25% from 30% in order to make Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) companies more viable and also to encourage firms to migrate to a company format. This move will benefit 96% or 6.67 lakh of the 6.94 lakh companies filing returns of lower taxation and make MSME sector more competitive as compared with large companies. However, bigger firms have shown their disappointment since the proposal for reducing tax rates was to make Indian firms competitive globally and it is the large firms that are competing globally. The Finance Minister foregone revenue estimate of Rs 7,200 crore per annum for this for this measure. Besides, the Finance Minister refrained from removing or reducing Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT), a popular demand from India Inc., but provided a higher period of 15 years for carry forward of future credit claims, instead of the existing 10-year period. “It is not practical to rem

The Goods and Services Tax (GST), the country’s biggest tax reform, is scheduled to be rolled out from July 1 but India might be running against time to finalise the technology needed to implement it. The success of this complex tax reform will depend on the glitch-free running of the GST-network or GSTN, the technology backbone for the new tax. The flawless GSTN, will capture every sale, purchase, stock pile of every registered business in India, once set in motion, this network will end any possibility of evasion or multiple taxation. But the main problem is implementation, which politicians and experts say, will not be smooth taxpayers, both businessmen and professionals, will have to file as many as 37 forms in a year.Compliance cost will increase, as smaller units will have to buy software and hire professionals to compile the transaction details. For those businesses at remote places, filing returns online will be a challenge in the absence of internet connections. “As

Obligation for the Month of May 2017 Event Date Act Applicable Form Obligation 6-May-2017 Service Tax Challan No.GAR-7 E-Payment of Service Tax for April by Cos 7-May-2017 Income Tax Form No.27C (TCS) Submission of Forms received in Apr  to IT Commissioner 7-May-2017 Income Tax Challan No.ITNS-281 Payment of TDS/TCS deducted/collected in Apr 10-May-2017 Excise ER-1 Return for Non SSI assessees for Apr 10-May-2017 Excise ER-2 Return for EOUs for Apr 10-May-2017 Excise ER-6 Return by units paying duty >  1 crore (CENVAT + PLA) for Apr 12-May-2017 D-VAT BE - 2 Advance information for 2nd fortnight of May of functions with  booking  cost > Rs 1 lakh in Banquet Halls,hotels etc. in Delhi 15-May-2017 D-VAT DVAT-20 Deposit of DVAT TDS for  Apr 15-May-2017 Income Tax Form 27EQ TCS Returns by ALL Collectors 15-May-2017 Providend Fund Electronic Challan cum Return (ECR) E-Payment of PF for Apr 15-May-2017 D-VAT DVAT-48  Return of DVAT TDS for quarter ending March 21-May-201