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EPFO's investment in corporate debt to reduce to 20% 2017-18, the EPFO is estimated to receive Rs 1.28 trillion as contribution from employees The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will substantially reduce investing its incremental income in debt instruments due to paucity of corporate bonds in the market. The government had decided that EPFO will be mandated to invest a minimum of 20 per cent of its incremental corpus in debt-related instruments, against the present requirement of 35 per cent. Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Gangwar had written to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in October last year to reduce minimum investment limit in debt instruments following concerns raised by EPFO’s portfolio managers that it might deviate from its investment pattern. The finance ministry gave approval to the labour and employment ministry’s proposal on February 16. “Portfolio managers during performance review meetings had expressed concern that at times there are

GST Network simplifies returns filing process GST returns filing has been simplified to the extent that the tax amount due is visible to the assessee even before submitting the return, say experts In a move to make filing of returns taxpayer friendly and error-free, the Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN), the firm that processes tax returns in the indirect tax regime, has simplified the monthly return of sales summary that businesses and traders have to file. GSTN said in a statement on Wednesday that filing of GSTR-3 has been made more convenient and easy.One area of improvement is the utilization of tax rebates and making the remaining payment in cash, which was an area where a few taxpayers were frequently erring, the statement said, quoting GSTN chief executive Prakash Kumar. “By improving the user interface and redesigning the process, filing of GSTR-3B has been made considerably convenient. We expect the user experience will be far better and the process of filing will

Errors in GST returns filing a hurdle in issuing tax refunds to exporters: CBEC Errors in GST returns, pertaining to either the summary of transactions, purchases, sales or a comprehensive filing of transactions are causing delays in processing claims, says CBEC chief Vanaja SarnaErrors in GST returns filing are coming in the way of disbursing tax refunds to exporters covered by the goods and services tax regime, according to Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) chairperson Vanaja Sarna. In an interview, Sarna said a third of the total dues to exporters have already been disbursed as the documents are clear.Claims worth more than Rs4,000 crore for dues under integrated GST (IGST) have been processed, she said. Total IGST refunds due to exporters since July, the first month of the tax, stand at about Rs13,000 crore. GST Network, the company that processes tax returns under the new indirect tax regime, is unable to process the remaining claims on account of errors and misma

RBI releases ombudsman scheme for NBFCs An RBI officer, not below the rank of general manager, will be appointed by the regulator as the ombudsman with territorial jurisdiction being specified by RBI The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday issued an ombudsman scheme for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), offering a grievance redressal mechanism for their customers. The scheme will come into effect immediately, the regulator said in a press release. “In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 45L of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, the RBI being satisfied that for the purpose of enabling it to promote conducive credit culture among the NBFCs and to regulate the credit system of the country to its advantage, it is necessary to provide for a system of ombudsman for redressal of complaints against deficiency in services concerning deposits, loans and advances and other specified matters, hereby directs that the NBFCs... should comply with the provisions of the Ombudsm

GST improved tax compliance:survey Under the gooods and services tax (GST) regime,prices have not changed said many respondents to a survey conducted by the consultancy firm KPMG Around 43% of the respondents said prices had remained neutral under teh GST. However, 33 percent said prices had  increased  and 24 percent said these had gone down .As many as 87 Percent said tax compliance had increased under GST :while 13 percent said otherwise. A total of 232 chief executive officers, co-founders and chief technology officers of serval companies participated in the survey Around 53 per cent of respondents were not clear about the anti-profiteering provisions: 33 per cent were.sevently per cent said the government should have implemented these provisions before the GST was rolled  out. Around 36 percent said the provisions  should have been restricted to sectors where business to consumer supplies wre involved, And, around 110 per cent said anti-profiteering provisions should not h

Govt tightens norms for removal of independent directors Independent directors appointed for a second term at corporates can now be removed only by a special resolution passed by shareholders, with the government tightening the rules.Before removal, such independent directors should also be given "reasonable opportunity of being heard", according to the corporate affairs ministry. The move comes against the backdrop of concerns in certain quarters about the independence of independent directors in carrying out their functions and instances of such people being removed from the boards of companies by promoter entities.A special resolution requires approval from at least 75 per cent shareholders present at a meeting whereas only a minimum of 50 per cent is needed in case of ordinary resolutions. Coming out with the new provision, the ministry said the decision is to ensure better corporate governance and balancing of powers of the boards.In this regard, the ministry has

SEBI sets conditions on promoters selling holdings to achieve MPS norms The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has set conditions on promoters selling their holdings in the open market to achieve minimum public shareholding (MPS) norms. The regulator has issued a list of disclosures that companies will have to make at least a day prior to such sale. These include the intention of the promoter to sell; details of promoters proposing to divest; total number of shares to be divested; and period within which the sale will be completed. In addition to existing methods such as offer for sale and institutional placement programme, Sebi has allowed two new avenues for companies to meet the MPS norms.These include open market sale and qualified institutional placements. Promoters, however, can dilute a maximum of 2 per cent under these new routes. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 23rd February 2018