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The smoother and easier way of transferring EPF money The process of transfer of Employees Provident Fund money is not smooth and according to VP Joy, central provident fund commissioner, Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), the delay is primarily due to the multiple bank accounts held by regional provident offices. “The transfer can take months because the money in the employees account has to be transferred from the bank account held by a regional provident fund commissioner’s (RPFC’s) office of the previous employer to the bank account held by the RPFC of the new employer,” he said. To reduce the turn around time of such transfers, EPFO has decided to discontinue the practice of multiple bank accounts and keep just one. This is likely to get operational by the end of this week. “We have now abolished individual State Bank of India (SBI) receipt accounts and have only one bank account for the EPFO. The money is tagged to the employee’s UAN and as she changes jobs, only

GST Council set to consider measures to help exporters In a move to support exporters recovering from a prolonged contraction, the goods and services tax (GST) Council headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley is set to consider new measures for a quick refund of taxes paid by them.Measures for the swift processing of refund claims, which will be taken up at a meeting of the council on Friday, will improve the liquidity of exporters. An official privy to the discussions in the council said on condition of anonymity that the indirect tax body will consider the report of a panel led by revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia which examined ways to avoid blocking exporters’ funds. The panel set up by the council had sought exporters’ views in August. Exporters are likely to be allowed refunds without waiting for the invoice details of raw materials and other purchases, but based on the summary of all transactions and details of exports made. Exporters have made a series of demands includi

Start-up launches slump to 800 in 2017 The number of new start-ups has now dropped steeply for two years in a row The number of new internet and technology start-ups launched in the first nine months of this year has slumped to 800 from more than 6,000 in all of last year, as start-up closures, the struggles of large internet companies such as Snapdeal and a slow-down in the growth of the e-commerce market took their toll on entrepreneurial activity. According to data from Tracxn, a start-up tracker, the number of new start-ups has now dropped steeply for two years in a row. Mint reported on 22 September that while some investors are again interested in backing new consumer internet start-ups, there is an acute shortage of such companies. The slump in new start-up formation is a worrying trend for the nascent Indian start-up ecosystem. It is a legacy of the go-go years of 2014 and 2015, when investors rushed to fund internet start-ups in the belief that the Indian internet ma

Crucial year ahead for regulator It has been a hectic first year for the insolvency regulator, which hit the ground running. A year ago, when MS Sahoo went to work inasmall room in the building of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India, there were not many to assist him. The board itself comprised only nominee members.The first whole time member would join only five months later.But, Sahoo had tight deadlines. The government wanted the entire corporate insolvency framework to be ready by December 1.Sahoo recalls how active participation from stakeholders helped him beat that tight 60day deadline.“This becameareform by the stakeholders, of the stakeholders and for the stakeholders,” he said in an interview. Today, the board is better placed than in those early days.It has already moved to a more spacious office in the Connaught Place area. Three whole time members have joined —Suman Saxena, who looks after research and regulation, Navrang Saini (registration and monitoring)

Composition scheme takes aquantum leap Availing of the benefits of a flat tax rate and easier compliance, the number of businesses opting for the composition scheme under the goods and services tax has gone up by 50 per cent. About 540,000 taxpayers have opted for the scheme under the new window of about 14 days till September 30, compared to one million as of August 16, the earlier deadline. The scheme is for specific categories of small businesses with a turnover of Rs 75 lakh and below.Anyone availing of the scheme cannot claim input tax credit.Such a dealer cannot issue a tax invoice. Hence, someone buying from a composition dealer cannot claim input tax on the goods bought. The number of taxpayers under the composition scheme, at 1.5 million, is about a sixth of the 8.9 million assessees under the GST. Uttar Pradesh (UP), Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat account for half of the composition dealers. UP has the highest number of such dealers at 291,552, followed by R

CBDT Opens Checking A/c on Rs  3Lcr Deposits Apex body chief tells tax officers to target unexplained deposits after demonetisation It could be taxing times for tax officials as well as those they turn their glare on. They have been told by the chief of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex body, to target and impose tax on Rs 3 lakh crore deposits which is estimated to be the quantum of unexplained cash parked with banks after demonetisation was announced. CBDT chairman Sushil Chandra conveyed the message in a recent video conference to senior officials of I-T department, according to two persons who attended the meeting. Identifying a sizeable slice of deposits as unaccounted cash will not on the sizeable slice of deposits as unaccounted cash will shore up overall direct tax collection also give the government a chance to showcase the success of demonetisation ly shore up overall direct tax collection in a slowing economy, but also give the government a chance to

Sebi seeks update from bourses on clients Aadhaar nos Markets regulator Sebi has asked stock exchanges to submit a monthly progress report on collection of Aadhaar numbers by its members, according to a circular. This follows the governments amending in June the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules with regard to collection of Aadhaar number from clients. In a circular, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has asked all its members to update +the Aadhaar number of their clients to comply with the amended prevention of money laundering (PML) rules. "Sebi has asked the exchange to submit a progress report on the collection of the Aadhaar number by the members on a monthly basis. "In view of the same, members are requested to update the Aadhaar number of their clients, wherever provided, in the UCC (Unique Client Code) database of exchange," said the circular, dated September 27. On the basis of updation by the members in the UCC database, NSE wo