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A number of GST amendments likely in Monsoon Session: Official According to GST Council special secretary Arun Goyal, the GST e-way bill system will be rolled out across the country by 3 June. Several amendments to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) law is likely to be placed before Parliament in the Monsoon Session, a senior official said in Kolkata on Monday. “There are several amendments to the GST which is proposed to come up during the Monsoon Session of Parliament,” GST Council special secretary Arun Goyal said at a seminar organized by the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce. Over a dozen pending GST amendments are aimed at easing operational functioning of the indirect tax reform, he added. According to Goyal, the GST e-way bill system will be rolled out across the country by 3 June. A total of 20 states have already implemented the e-way bill system, dates of which has seen several deferments in the recent past The Mint, New Delhi, 29th May 2018

MCX shares continue to surge, up over 4% amid merger talks with NSE Shares of Multi Commodity Exchange of India had surged 14 per cent on Friday also. Shares of Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) continued to gain for the second straight session on Monday, rising over four per cent amid reports of merger with National Stock Exchange (NSE). The stock soared 4.25 per cent to end at Rs 853.60 on the BSE. During the day, it jumped 6.49 per cent to Rs 872. On NSE, shares of the company surged 4.53 per cent to close at Rs 854.85. In terms of equity volume, 244,000 shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 2,200,000 shares changed hands on the NSE during the day.  Shares of Multi Commodity Exchange of India had  surged 14 per cent on Friday also. In a clarification to the BSE on Friday, MCX said, “We would like to state that as part of the corporate strategy, the company continuously evaluates various opportunities for enhancing shareholders’ value. If and when any prop

No major change in number of MF schemes post Sebi rationalisation Drop in the number of schemes is less than 3%, despite merger of 38 schemes between Sept 2017 and May this year The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) move to categorise and rationalise mutual fund schemes has resulted in a reduction of less than three per cent in the number of schemes in the MF universe. Between September 2017 and May this year, 38 schemes have been merged, the majority of which are in the debt domain, data collated from Value Research shows. The fund count in the equity category has declined by one and that in the debt category has reduced by 26. Open-ended schemes today number 977, about three per cent lower than the figure before Sebi issued its October circular. Experts believe the number of categories under the new directive provides enough options for fund houses to continue with existing schemes under a different category, which effectively reduces the scope for l

Govt Mulls New Category to Tax Hi-tech Items Move to allow Centre to impose import duties without violating global pact The government is exploring the possibility of creating new categories in its tariff structure that will allow it to impose import duties on hi-tech products without violating a global agreement that mandates nil duties.The government has already imposed customs duties on mobile phones to encourage manufacturing in India.The finance and commerce ministries and the department of electronics are in discussions on the issue to give a ‘Make in India’ push to hi-tech products. Officials say some countries have already used the flexibility available in the Harmonised System of Nomenclature of goods to raise duties without running afoul of the Information Technology Agreement 1, or ITA1.Violations of the agreement are challenged at the World Trade Organization (WTO).The government has also sounded out the industry on the idea, said a person privy to the move. New Delhi ha

NSE, MCX in merger talks, could submit proposal to Sebi this month The merger will help NSE and MCX cement their leadership position both in the equities and commodity derivatives space The National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) entered into merger talks ahead of the implementation of the universal exchange framework in October, said a top official. The two entities are planning to approach market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) as early as this month, according to the official.Both the exchanges have readied a blueprint for the merger proposal which will be discussed with Sebi. Sources say NSE entered talks with the commodity bourse soon after the market regulator allowed exchanges to dabble both in the equities and commodities space. The decision was taken by the Sebi board at its December 2017 meet. NSE spokesperson said, “We will not comment on market speculations.” An query sent to MCX did not elicit immediate response.Sourc

Taxman Disallows AMP Deductions Sought by MNCs Says ad money spent not for India business uses hitherto unused provision of I-T Act The income-tax department has started issuing notices to several multinational consumer firms, disallowing deductions on expenses of advertising, marketing and sales promotion under a hitherto unused provision of the Income Tax Act. Notices have been issued to consumer companies such as Hindustan Unilever, P&G, L’Oreal, LG and Maruti Suzuki. Industry experts peg the total demand raised by the tax department on this count at about Rs.10,000 crore. As AMP (advertising, marketing and promotional) expenses is a cost head, disallowing the deduction would inflate pre-tax accounting profits, translating into increased tax outgo for a company if tax claims are upheld. The government claims that these expenses are not relevant for the India business and are mostly related to overseas brand building. Hence, they are sought to be disallowed under Section 37 of

Tower Cos Brought Under Regulatory Net Tower providers will be considered licensees under right-of-way rules The telecom department has clarified that tower providers will be considered as licensees under rightof-way rules, addressing a major demand of the industry that had been kept out of the purview of these rules so far. The industry welcomed the move, which it said would help infrastructure providers to set up the base for future technologies including 5G. The right-of-way rules allow online filing of applications in a bid to ease the pain that the sector faces in building infrastructure. They are expected to help companies get land from state governments and local bodies within a stipulated timeframe, with standard procedures set for telecom companies and government authorities to follow. The Department of Telecommunications had issued rules on setting up of telecom towers and laying of cables in November 2016, providing a framework for granting approvals and settling d