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To enable Indians living abroad to access old age income security, the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday allowed non- resident Indians ( NRIs) to subscribe to the National Pension System ( NPS). “It has now been decided, in consultation with the government, to enable National Pension System ( NPS) as an investment option for NRIs under FEMA, 1999,” RBI said in a notification here on Thursday. NRIs may subscribe to the NPS governed and administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority ( PFRDA), provided such subscriptions are made through normal banking channels and the person is eligible to invest according to the provisions of the PFRDA Act, it said. The subscription amounts shall be paid by the NRIs either by inward remittance through normal banking channels or out of funds held in their NRE/ FCNR/ NRO account. RBI, however, said there would be no restriction on repatriation of the annuity/ accumulated savings. NPS was launched on January, 1 2004, with

The largest employers’ organisation in the country urged the government on Thursday to consider applying amendments to the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, from financial year 2016- 17 and not retrospectively from April 1, 2015, as passed by the Cabinet earlier. The All India Organisation of Employers ( AIOE), an allied body to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry ( Ficci), argued that applying the amended Act from the start of the current financial year would prove a serious operational challenge to businesses. The main reason for this is that the enhanced amount has not been provided for in the balancesheet of companies in financial year 2014- 15, it said. The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, is applicable to all industrial units and other establishments, where 20 or more persons are employed on any given day during an accounting year. The labour ministry had last month proposed an amendment to the Act, whereby all employees earning up to Rs.21,000 a month be elig

Updates Of the Day 1.ICAI solicits suggestions / views on ITR forms as Ministry of Finance, has constituted a committee on ITR forms to review the existing ITR forms and suggest modifications. 2.No VAT is leviable on website selling goods via electronic mode. in the case of [Flipkart] (Kerela High Court) quashed the demand on Flipkart on sales to customers within state. 3.Date for filing DVAT return for 2nd QTR 2015-16 extended to 16/11/2015. 4.Benefit of exemption notification only for goods covered in notification and cannot be extended to similar goods (Supreme Court) [Larsen and Toubro Limited vs CCE] 5.MCA has revised the versions of annual filing forms, e forms AOC - 4, MGT - 7 w.e.f 29th October 2015 and form 8 LLP is likely to be modified w.e.f 28th October 2015. 6.Extension of last date of form AOC-4 XBRL, AOC-4 and MGT-7 to 30th November 2015 without any additional fees. Circular No.14/2015 dated 28/10/2015. 7.AO cannot make adjustment to book profits certified by aud

In a directive aimed at enhancing taxpayer services, the Income Tax department has asked its customer care centres to effectively monitor email- based complaints of assesses and diligently send them to tax officers. Under the new instructions, Aaykar Sampark Kendras have been asked to forward emails from taxpayers to range in- charges who will then send it to jurisdictional Assessing Officers. Business Standard, New Delhi,29th Oct. 2015

Credit in the banking system continues to grow in single digit. According to the Reserve Bank of India data, Scheduled commercial banks’ credit grew 9.5 per cent to Rs.67,83,127 crore in the fortnight ended on October 16, against Rs.61,92,158 crore a year ago. Deposits increased slightly faster at 11 per cent to Rs.90,73,325 crore. Advances grew by 9.45 per cent at Rs.68,30,245 crore in the previous fortnight, from Rs.62,40,256 crore in the corresponding period last year. “We are not seeing any fresh investments. Demand from corporates is not there. We can see some pick- up in the fourth quarter,” Dena Bank Executive Director R K Takkar said. In the reporting period, deposits rose 11.2 per cent to Rs.90,73,325 crore, against Rs.81,61,169 crore in the corresponding period last year. Demand deposits stood at Rs.8,02,320 crore, up 9.3 per cent from Rs.7,34,127 crore. Time deposits grew 11.36 per cent to Rs.82,71,007 crore from Rs. 74,27,042 crore in the same period last year, th

Give 0.5% higher returns than domestic term deposits of banks With falling interest rates, locking your savings in deposittaking non- banking financial companies ( NBFCs) might be agood option. NBFCs give at least 50 basis points ( bps) higher rate of return than domestic term deposits of banks. The deposit schemes offered by the top NBFCs are ‘AAA’ rated, which signifies the highest safety for investors. India’s top commercial banks offer 7.25- 7.75 per cent interest rates for fixed deposits of one year, while the rates of NBFCs are higher than eight per cent. In fact, in certain cases, senior citizens get additional interest rate of 0.25 per cent for these deposits. However, that is the case even with banks where senior citizens are offered higher interest rates. “This year, we have already cut rates by 55- 60 bps. Despite the cut in retail deposit rates, the demand for these deposit have not come down because we offer higher rates than banks and these deposits are AAA- rated

The proposed Goods and Services Tax ( GST) law is the most important reform towards creating a single market in India and if implemented by April 2016 its impact will be visible by 2018, the World Bank said on Wednesday. “... GST will make it easier to pay tax. For example, if it gets introduced by April 2016... you would only see its impact by 2018 as per a survey- based methodology,” World Bank country director in India Onno Ruhl said. Business Standrad, New Delhi, 29th Oct. 2015