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Government may announce a new ‘outcome-oriented’ industrial policy by October Nirmala Sitharaman to hold consultations with stakeholders, including industry captains,  think tanks and states to finalise the policy. Government will announce the new industrial policy in October this year, seeking to make  India a manufacturing hub by promoting ‘Make in India’ and addressing the issue of slower  job creation. Commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold talks with stakeholders,  including industry captains, think tanks and state governments in Chennai, Guwahati and  Mumbai to finalise the policy. In a press statement, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) said the  government wants to formulate “an outcome oriented actionable industrial policy that  provides direction and charts a course of action for a globally competitive Indian  industry which leverages skill, scale and technology.” DIPP has floated a discussion paper to have a “future ready ne

Govt might allow revised returns for input credit for pre-GST stocks Unavailability of the form offline made it difficult for companies to punch in details  manually In a respite for companies with big claims of input tax credit for pre-goods and services  tax (GST) stocks, the government is likely to allow rectifications of returns filed. The  revenue department is consulting the law committee on the matter. Although companies have been given 90 days to file the TRAN 1 form to claim input tax  credit for stocks bought before July 1, the last date for filing it was August 28. Unavailability of the form offline made it difficult for companies to punch in details  manually, increasing the chances of under reporting or incorrect filing. No provision for  rectification of transitional credit claims might mean companies losing credit. “We are aware of the concerns with respect to rectification of returns. We are consulting  the law committee to see if we can allow entities to re

Room rent in hospitals exempted from GST Rent paid by patients for hospital rooms will be exempted from the Goods and Services Tax  (GST), the government said today.  Issuing clarifications on levy of GST on the tariff for various accommodation services,  the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said the tax on rooms in the hotel, guest  house or inns will be payable on the actual amount charged and not on declared or  published tariff.  "Declared or published tariff is relevant only for the determination of the tax rate  slab," the clarification issued in form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) said.  No GST is applicable on room tariffs of less than Rs 1,000.  A 12 per cent tax will be levied on the tariff of more than Rs 1,000 and less than Rs  2,500 while an 18 per cent levy would come in for room rents of between Rs 2,500 and Rs  7,500.  A GST of 28 per cent will be charged on tariff greater than Rs 7,500.  The tax will be levied on the entire amo

Cabinet May Consider Ordinance On GST Cess Hike Tomorrow The Centre is all set to pass an ordinance that will increase the additional cess levied  on SUVs to 25 per cent from 15 per cent under the Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime at  present. This will be applicable to all motor cars designed to transport 13 persons seated  including the drivers, including station wagons and racing cars. Prices of most SUVs were  cut between Rs 1.1 lakh and Rs 3 lakh following the implementation of GST, which subsumed  over a dozen central and state levies like excise duty, service tax, and VAT from July 1. The GST Council, the apex tax rate setting body under the GST regime, had on August 5,  2017, approved raising cess on SUV's. But, for raising the cess requires an amendment to  the Schedule of section 8 of the GST (Compensation to a State) Act, 2017. An ordinance is issued when Parliament is not in session to approve legislation or change  in legislation. It has to be replaced with a

RBI asks banks to stick to December deadline for insolvency The latest communique is a reminder of that deadline, say bankers The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), sources say, has instructed banks to maintain the December deadline for completing the bankruptcy proceedings on their largest non-performing assets (NPAs), in addition to the 12 named in June and the ones in various stages of similar operations.  Senior bankers of various banks said there was no common list as such, but separate lists for different banks, drawn up on the basis of each one’s exposure to the defaulters.  So, say, if State Bank of India (SBI) received a list of 30 accounts, Punjab National Bank had a 20-account list, IDBI Bank had a list of 15-20 names, and Bank of Maharashtra was given a list of 10 names, say bankers. Many of the accounts are common among the lists as the loans were given by consortiums of lenders.  On June 13, the RBI had said the top 12 accounts, having an exposure of at least Rs 5,0

GST collections top govt target, 64% file returns in July: Arun Jaitley First month sees Rs 92,283 cr mop-up; Arun Jaitley says 'we have crossed the red line' The collections under the goods and services tax (GST) in July, the first month of its  roll-out, exceeded the Union and state governments’ target, even though 36 per cent of the  assessees did not file returns. The governments have earned Rs 92,283 crore, against the target of Rs 91,000 crore. Extrapolating the targets in the annual Budget, the central government’s July tax revenue  should have been Rs 48,000 crore. Assuming 14 per cent growth each in 2016-17 and 2017-18  over the 2015-16 revenues of the states, their tax kitty should have been more than Rs  43,000 crore for the month.  The growth rate is taken in accordance with a formula of compensating loss-making states. Thus, the combined kitty comes to Rs 91,000 crore. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: “We have crossed the red line so far as

New money laundering norms stump jewellery sector Dealers with turnover of Rs 2 crore and above covered; industry says threshold too low The central government has notified the money laundering rules for the gems and jewellery  sector with immediate effect. Now, any entity deals in precious metals, precious stones, or other high-value goods and  has a turnover of Rs 2 crore or more in a financial year will be covered under the  Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA, 2002). The limit of Rs 2 crore would be calculated on the basis of the previous year’s turnover,  said the notification. The directorate general of goods and service tax intelligence has  been appointed under the Act. Sources said the government’s move to apply the PMLA to the jewellery sector was a fallout  of income-tax raids on jewellers soon after demonetisation last November, when it was  found that they sold gold and jewellery at a huge premium and accepted old currency notes  as payment. The no