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Financial institutions and banks have introduced various modes of electronic payment facility Sebi on Thursday barred stock brokers from directly accepting cash from their clients as it looks to promote digital payments. Besides, stock brokers are not permitted to receive cash deposits in their bank accounts from clients. "In view of the various modes of payment through electronic means available today, it is directed that stock brokers shall not accept cash from their clients either directly or by way of cash deposit to the bank account of stock broker," the regulator said in a circular. According to Sebi, all payments would be received or made by stock brokers from/ to the clients strictly by account payee crossed cheques or demand drafts or by way of direct credit into the bank account through electronic fund transfer, or any other mode permitted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).  GST: Ministerial panel favours deferment of sops for digital payments "The sto

The central government wants to impose the levy; many states are opposed - at least, to the Centre doing so  Is it legally permissible to impose the goods and services tax (GST) on extra-neutral alcohol (ENA), an input in liquor making?  No one is quite sure at the moment. For, alcohol for human consumption or potable alcohol is outside GST. While, industrial alcohol is within it. The central government wants to impose the levy; many states are opposed – at least, to the Centre doing so. They see this as their own prerogative; – they currently levy value-added tax (VAT) and sales tax on ENA. There is, however, counter-pressure from businesses. The pharmaceutical industry, for one, has been demanding inclusion of ENA within GST – if this happens, they can get input tax credit. Advance ruling in GST: Classification-related disputes top the list One company, Madhucon Sugar and Power, went to the Authority on Advance Rulings (AAR), an official body which is empowered to render an o

A slowdown in demand from developed countries; Indian exporters urge the government to sign  India’s apparel exports are estimated to have declined by 17 per cent in the first quarter of FY19 due to a slowdown in demand from developed countries following weak economic activity there. Data compiled by the apex industry body, the Clothing Manufacturers’ Association of India (CMAI), showed India’s apparel exports at Dollar 1.35 billion and $1.34 billion in April and May 2018, a decline of 23 per cent and 17 per cent respectively. During FY18, apparel exports from India fell by 4 per cent to Dollar 16.72 billion. Starting in June 2017, after the goods and services tax (GST) was implemented, and resulted in the blockage of working capital due to delay in refund of state levies and other mandatory refundable taxes, the slowdown in overseas pick continued till the first quarter of the current fiscal. “India’s overall apparel exports are estimated to have declined by 17 per cent in t

The recommendations of the ministerial panels will be placed before the GST Council, chaired by the Union Finance Minister and comprising his state counterparts, during its next meeting on July 21 The Sushil Modi-led ministerial panel will recommend to the GST Council to defer by a year the proposal to incentivise digital payments under the goods and services tax (GST), citing revenue implications of doling out the concessional tax rate. At its meeting on Sunday, the panel has decided to wait for stabilisation of revenues under GST and the new return filing systems in the current financial year, before considering differential GST rates for people making payments using the digital mode. Besides, another ministerial panel under Modi, on reverse charge mechanism (RCM), has decided to recommend powers to the GST Council to notify the registered persons who would come under the purview of the RCM. Advance ruling in GST: Classification-related disputes top the list The recommendatio

MONEY MATTERS Markets regulator clears the air on sponsors and managers of alternative investment funds, saying they come under Sebi regulations and are exempt from FDI rule Local business houses and financial services groups will find it easier to rope in foreign partners to carry out fund management activities in India with the capital market regulator, Sebi, clearing the fog caused by a new rule. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has spelt out that sponsors and managers of alternative investment funds, or AIFs, are covered by its regulations — a stand that will spare the sponsors and managers of these funds from a recent government rule that foreign direct investment (FDI) in unregulated financial services cannot be less than Dollar 20 million. AIFs are money pooling vehicles for venture capital funds, private equity houses, real estate and hedge funds, besides others. Sebi’s AIF regulations issued in 2012 provide a framework for registering funds but not sponsors/m

GST Collections may Help Beat Deficit Target: Goyal India is likely to improve upon the fiscal deficit target this fiscal year thanks to rising goods and services tax (GST) collections, finance minister Piyush Goyal said.  “There is a perception that the fiscal deficit will not be met, but I feel that we will actually do better than our budgeted fiscal deficit,” Goyal told reporters in the capital on Monday.  The fiscal deficit target was revised in the February budget to 3.3% for FY19 against the 3% that it had been pegged at previously. The government has already run up 55% of the budgeted fiscal deficit in the first two months of the financial year, raising worries in some quarters about a breach. The fiscal deficit stood at  Rs. 3.45 lakh crore in April-May. In the year-ago period, this was at 68.3% of the budget estimate as the government frontloaded spending.  Goyal’s optimism stems from improved GST collections. He expects them to cross Rs 13 lakh crore on the back of the

GST likely to get centralised AAR for uniform rulings India is looking at creating a centralised Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) for the goods and services tax (GST) after divergent rulings on identical issues fuelled confusion over applicability and the rate of tax. A recent case in point being the divergent rulings by Karnataka and Maharashtra AARs on the issue of solar projects.  “We are looking at an issuebased central authority with officials from states and the Centre,” a top government official told ET. “If more than one appeal is filed on the same issue in different jurisdictions it can be taken up by this body.” The AAR is a quasi-judicial body that allows assessees to get guidance on their potential tax liabilities relating to any transaction beforehand. The rulings by the AAR are case-specific, but they have a persuasive impact on tax assessment in cases of other firms under similar circumstances.  This is the key reason behind the government contemplating such a m