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Govt agrees to drop key amendments, including those doing away with consent clause, social impact assessment In a major climbdown, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Monday agreed to drop key amendments, including those doing away with the so-called consent clause and social impact assessment in the controversial 2015 land acquisition bill. The unexpected move by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA to meet the opposition more than halfway sets the stage for striking consensus on passage of the legislation, designed to address impediments to expanding manufacturing capacity in the country. Politically, however, this is a big setback to the BJP, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi, since the government had, despite opposition from within and outside the party, stuck to its stand to dilute the land acquisition provisions in the existing land law. This disrupted most of the budget session of Parliament and eventually forced the government to refer the bill to a

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to leave interest rates unchanged in its monetary policy review on Tuesday, preferring to keep its powder dry until the US Federal Reserve raises borrowing costs from near-zero levels, according to bankers and economists. The central bank may also want to see how the monsoon plays out in August and September before it cuts the repurchase rate, the rate at which it lends money to commercial banks, for a fourth time this year. RBI, under governor  Raghuram Rajan , has cut the policy rate three times by a quarter of a percentage point each, to 7.25%, since the start of the year, seeking to kickstart the stalled investment cycle and bolster economic recovery. Only one of 13 bankers and economists, whose forecasts for the outcome of Tuesday’s monetary policy review were compiled by  Mint , expects a cut—by another quarter of a percentage point. The Indian central bank may prefer to hold interest rates steady until after the Federal Reserve

1.  Allahabad Bank invites applications for empanelment as Concurrent Auditors for audit year 2015-2016 by practicing CA Firms. 2.  The income on investment made through portfolio management scheme is not business income but capital gain. [CIT vs. M/s Kapur Investments Private Limited, High Court of Karnataka]. 3.  No Service Tax on packaging of fertilizer as manufacturing is not complete without packaging services. [Supreme Court: CCE, Goa vs. New Era Handling Agency]. 4.  The writ petition is not maintainable if appeal against the adjudication order is dismissed as time barred by Commissioner (A). K.V. Narayana Reddy vs. Add CIT, High Court of Andhra Pradesh. 5.  Delhi Government has reduced VAT from 12.5% to 5% on 3 items i.e. Utensils of Metals, Wax and Woods w.e.f 01.08.2015 vide notification no. 599 dated 31.07.2015. 6.  MCA has notified new versions of E-Form's i.e. Form 20B, 23AC, 21A, 23ACA, 66, 23ACA (XBRL), Form 4 LLP, FC-4, 23B, FC-1 w.e.f 01-08-2015. 7.  M

1.  E-filing utility of ITR Forms 3, 4 and 7 have been made active by CBDT. Kindly proceed to filing your returns. Remaining ITR forms 5 and 6 shall be made active soon. 2.  04.08.2015 is Last date to file D-VAT return for Q1 ending on June 2015 for the financial year 2015-2016 in forms DVAT-16, DVAT-17 and DVAT-48. Circular No. 16 of 2015-2016 dated 27.07.2015. 3.  Availment of CENVAT credit on activities relating to business is allowed. [RSWM Limited. vs. CCE, CESTAT - New Delhi]. 4.  Modified versions of MCA Forms 20B, 23AC, 21A, 23ACA, 66, 23ACA(XBRL), 23B effective from 01.08.2015 cannot be used for F.Y. 2014-15 read with general circular 08/2014. 5.  Delhi Government increased Luxury Tax Rate from 10% to 15% (w.e.f. 01.08.2015). 6.  The Central Government has made amendment in the Customs Table, against S.No.10A, in column (3), now the words “functional Director or the Chief Executive Officer, as the case may be,” has been substituted. 7.  NIRC of ICAI is organising

Companies put aside funds for potential tax penalties as CFOs and experts say ICDS contradicts some I-T Act provisions Indian companies are expecting litigations and increased tax demands this year due to confusion around computing their income under the new accounting standards the government has introduced. According to chief financial officers and taxation experts, the income computation and accounting standards (ICDS) contradict with some provisions of the existent Income Tax Act, putting them in a catch-22 situation and prompting many to put aside some funds for potential tax penalties. “There are lot of discussions with companies about how we must tackle some of the contradictions between ICDS and the Income-Tax Act,“ said Rajesh H Gandhi, part andhi, part ner, tax, at Deloitte Haskins & Sells. “Some of the examples (areas of contradictions) include taxation of interest income on time basis, revenue recognition of services under percentage completion method, taxation of rete

Government is working on restoring with “suitable modifications“ the section 66A of IT Act which was struck down by the Supreme Court. The Ministry of Home Affairs has constituted a committee to examine the implications of the apex court judgement and “suggest restoring of 66A of Information Technology Act 2000 with suitable modifications,“ Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said onFriday. The Economic Times, New Delhi, 1st August 2015

Reconciled to the fact that it will have no option but to cave in to the diktat of the Opposition on the 2015 Land Acquisition Resettlement and Rehabilitation ( LARR) Bill in the Rajya Sabha where it is in a minority, the Narendra Modi- led National Democratic Alliance ( NDA) government is preparing to virtually abandon its own Bill. This could cause even more legislative and policy confusion on land acquisition. The 2013 LARR was sought to be amended and replaced by LARR 2015, to make land acquisition easier for certain categories of projects, to give aboost to industrial activity. The requirement of social impact analysis (SIA) and consent of land losers was waived for this category. The Lok Sabha passed LARR 2015 and 44 members of the Congress walked out to show they disagreed. When the Bill came to the Rajya Sabha, the House demanded a panel study it, as even an amended version had been changed substantially by the Lok Sabha. The committee, which has 15 Bharatiya Janata Party memb