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The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is looking to align the remuneration paid to directors  and key management personnel at stock exchanges in line with provisions of the Companies Act, said two  people with direct knowledge of the matter. This is part of the comprehensive review of governance and  ownership norms at stock exchanges and clearing corporations which the regulator had embarked on in  February. The review will focus on increasing the governance, accountability and transparency at these market  infrastructure institutions, said these people on condition on anonymity. On February 11, the Sebi board  had decided to do this review in the wakeof exchanges getting listed and observing certain governance  lapses. Sebi had invited comments from the market to finalise a list of proposed norms. “A discussion paper is being prepared,” said the first person cited earlier. “The regulator is also  looking to increase transparency in the appointment of Public Intere

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said demonetisation and GST will make cash transactions  a lot more difficult and lead to greater compliance as well as expansion of tax base. Mr Jaitley said the government has come out with laws to contain overseas black money as well as those  dealing with domestic black money and cracking down on shell companies. The minister said the country had reconciled to a Indian normal — a very large number of tax non- compliance and very large amount of transaction which took place outside the system. “There was almost a helplessness in trying to deal with the situation. Every year through the Finance  Bill we would announce some changes which at best had a marginal impact. I think the lasting impact of  those marginal changes was not very significant. And therefore, steps had to be taken in order to make a  very significant impact,” he said. “Net impact of the demonetisation coupled with the GST exercise, which is going to make ge

The proposed anti-profiteering authority under the new goods and services tax (GST) regime will take up  for scrutiny only those cases that have mass impact and those where undue profit of more than Rs1 crore  has been earned, a senior government official said. A five member National Anti-Profiteering Authority, headed by a secretary-level officer, will be set up  soon to keep a tab on businesses that have not passed on to consumers the benefit of lower tax rates  under the GST regime. The Mint, New Delhi, 24th July 2017

To enable homegrown ecommerce players such Myntra, Snapdeal and a host of handicraft and garment platforms to expand their global footprint, India is looking to revamp  the export framework governing overseas sales by them. The measures under consideration include a complete switchover to e-enabled filing systems and even doing away  with the current cap of Rs 25,000 on a purchase.  “A number of steps have been identified to make it easier for the ecommerce sector to trade,” said a senior finance ministry official. A pilot has already been  launched in Mumbai and will be expanded to other customs ports. Exports via these online marketplaces rely on couriers and small packages and often involves a lot of  paperwork at the ports. Essentially, these couriers act as aggregators for ecommerce platforms.  So, one courier may have to deal with multiple packages but of small value unlike large exporters. The paperwork for each package has to be done separately. They may  be allowed to

As the July 31 deadline for filing tax return nears, many non-resident Indians (NRIs), expats, as well  as foreigners with investments in private equity and hedge funds here are puzzled by the strange new  demand from the Indian tax office asking them to disclose their bank accounts held across the world.  Neither can they figure out the reason nor are they comfortable with sharing details of offshore  accounts with the income-tax department which cannot tax earnings from such assets Tax practitioners and lawyers are inundated with phone calls from these individuals who fear non- disclosure could put them on the wrong side of Indian regulations.  Leading law firm Khaitan & Co is among those that have drawn the attention of Central Board of Direct  Taxes, the apex tax authority, to the additional reporting requirement that has crept into the tax  return forms. With the government refusing to spell out whether it has been inadvertently or  intentionally inserted into the form

More than 160,000 companies been deregistered and a series of actions are being taken against shell firms, Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley told the Lok Sabha on Friday. His response was to a query on whether a large number of shell companies and entities that are primarily used as conduits for dealing in black money and hawala transactions have come to the notice of the government. Out of the 162,618 companies that have been struck-off the register, the registration of 33,000 were cancelled by RoC (Mumbai), according to a written reply by minister of state for corporate affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal. The Business Standard, new Delhi, 22th July 2017

The Goods and Services Tax Council could take up at its next meeting taxation issues raised by sectoral bodies along with a review of the implementation of the new tax regime, a top official has said. “Different issues will be coming to the table (at the next council meeting). Things that have been brought to our notice may be on the rules and implementation. Maybe, even on rates,“ Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) chair person Vanaja Sarna told reporters on the sidelines of a Ficci event here on Friday . The GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state counterparts, will meet on August 5 to review implementation of the new tax regime. On whether concerns raised by the textile sector will be taken up, she said, “Possibly.“ GST is a uniform tax structure that replaces 17 different levies, including excise, service tax and VAT. Some textile traders have been seeking removal of the 5% GST on fabric. Surat-based traders, who had gone on