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Finance ministers from India and other G- 20 countries have endorsed the final detailed plan for putting in place a coherent and transparent global tax regime to curb artificial profit- shifting ways. Once implemented, the steps would bolster India’s efforts to prevent tax avoidance and illegal fund. At the G- 20 finance ministers meeting here, also being attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the final package of measures for a comprehensive, coherent and co- ordinated reform of the international tax rules was approved. In a statement on Friday, the Paris- based think- tank Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said at the meeting, chaired by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cevdet Yilmaz, the G- 20 finance ministers expressed strong support for the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project. Earlier this week, the OECD came out with the final detailed action plan for coherent and transparent international taxation norms for multinationals. Artificial p

A bulk of the growth has been contributed by excise duty Signalling faster economic growth, the Centre’s indirect tax collections rose 35.8 per cent in the first half ( AprilSeptember) of 2015- 16. This was mainly due to additional revenue measures announced this year, showed data issued by the ministry of finance on Friday. The collections were Rs.3.24 lakh crore in these six months, from Rs.2.38 lakh crore in the corresponding period of last year. The year’s Union Budget had estimated no more than a 19 per cent rise in indirect taxes. Service tax, excise duty and customs are major components. Part of the rise was due to measures such as the excise increases on diesel and petrol, increase in clean energy cess, withdrawal of exemptions for motor vehicles, capital goods and consumer durables, and, from June, increase in service tax from 12.36 to 14 per cent. September’s collection was up 32.6 per cent over a year before, at Rs.61,284 crore. The bulk of the growth was fro

The decision is line with RBI’s statement on 29 September that it was reviewing these norms and will release guidelines shortly The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday increased the amount banks can advance for a property purchase and also reduced the so-called risk weights attached to some categories of home loans in a move that will likely make more credit available to borrowers and improve sentiment in a struggling real estate market. In a notification, RBI allowed a loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of up to 90% for home loans of Rs.30 lakh or less. Earlier, 90% LTV was allowed only for loans up to Rs.20 lakh. LTV denotes how much of the property value a bank can lend to a borrower. A 90% LTV indicates that the buyer will have to shell out only 10% of the property value and the rest can be financed through banks. Loans up to Rs.30 lakh fall under the “affordable” category in urban areas. While some banks add stamp duty and registration amount to calculate the total property v

Slew of other sops may also go as govt prepares to lower corp tax rate to 25% The government will soon forge ahead with plans to cut through the clutter of exemptions that litter the corporate tax code. Tax breaks for special economic zones and units, investment allowances, employment generation, plantation, packaging, highways and accelerated depreciation are some of the incentives that could get end dates as part of the cleanup drive as the rate of tax on companies is lowered to 25% over the next four years. The introduction of a firm sunset date in open-ended exemptions that do not have this option would ensure there is no disruption from the phasing out of these benefits running into thousands of crores of rupees. The finance ministry is working on proposals for amendments that will set an expiry date on benefits along with a grandfathering provision for existing beneficiaries to ensure a smooth transition. That means old rules will apply to existing projects and not new on

The Centre asked the Chief Justice of India on Thursday to constitute a larger bench to determine if the right to privacy is a fundamental right, a day after the Supreme Court refused to modify an interim order restricting the use of Aadhaar. The remit of Aadhaar has been a subject of controversy as rights groups have argued the collection of personal details by state agencies is tantamount to a violation of privacy, particularly as the government cannot guarantee the data would not be susceptible to misuse. Attor ney general Mukul Rohatgi said the two-judge bench’s order disallowing the government and its various agencies to use Aadhaar on a voluntary basis affected several social welfare schemes. The court of Justice J Chelameswar said on Wednesday the government’s request to modify the August 11 interim order could be looked into only by a larger bench. “We seek the modification that Aadhaar be allowed to be used voluntarily for the benefit of the poor and aged groups,” Roha

Officials of the striking unions said no work was conducted at these offices all day and the next plan of action will be decided on Sunday About 50,000 employees of the income tax department observed a day-long countrywide strike on Monday, demanding redressal of their service-related demands from the government. Officials of the striking unions said no work was conducted at these offices all day and the next plan of action could be decided on Sunday. The I-T department has two prominent groups - the Income Tax Employees Federation (ITEF) and ITGOA - and they represent about 97 per cent of the workforce. They cautioned they might intensify protests by not taking part in the vital search and survey operations to check tax evasion if their demands for timely promotion in cadres and providing required infrastructure and a few others were not met. This will impact the work of budget collection and taxpayer services are "bound to fail" in the coming days. A CBDT offici

To boost demand for low- cost housing, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday reduced the risk weight for individual housing loans of up to Rs.75 lakh. The minimum risk weight for individual housing loans has been reduced from 50 per cent to 35 per cent. The risk weight for commercial real estate has been left unchanged at 100 per cent. For loans of up to Rs.30 lakh, the central bank increased the loan- to- value ( LTV) ratio to 90. LTV is the highest loan amount a bank can disburse, as a proportion of the property price. Now, banks will have to allocate less capital if risk weights are lower. Most banks have a sizeable portfolio of loans of up to Rs.75 lakh. As capital costs will come down due to lower risk weight, the move is expected to translate into lending rate cuts by banks. “This will be a boost for the low- ticket housing segment (up to Rs.30 lakh) … increasing the loan- to- value will encourage builders to focus on this segment. With the interest rates coming d