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Finance ministry rules out adding GST rate in Bill The government and the main opposition, the Congress, on Wednesday were on the same page on the crucial goods and services tax (GST) Bill as far as talks were concerned. On the eve of the winter session of Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley assured the Congress it would hold consultations with opposition parties over the crucial GST Bill. The Congress told the government it had made its main concerns clear and wanted the government to respond to those, implying it was open to negotiations. Addressing reporters after an all- party meeting, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “The government has never discussed with us on the GST. We have made clear our concerns and it is now for the government to get back to us. We are open for discussion.” The view was also reiterated by party Vice- President Rahul Gandhi in Bengaluru. “ We strongly believe in GST ... but the government’s approach has to be o

Market players see no change in CRR either, expect RBI to wait for Fed move Bankers, economists and market participants expect the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) to maintain status quo in its fifth bi- monthly policy review for 2015- 16, scheduled on December 1. All 12 participants in a BS   poll said RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan would be in no mood to tinker with the interest rate or even the cash reserve ratio. He would ideally wait to see the impact of a possible rate hike by the US Federal Reserve on December 15- 16, possibly the first by the world’s largest economy since June 2006. RBI has, since January this year, cut its policy rate four times to bring it down from eight per cent to 6.75 per cent. In the fourth monetary policy review on September 29, the central bank surprised the market by a 50 basis point ( bps) cut. One bps is a hundredth of a percentage point. The repo is the rate at which the RBI lends to banks. In his monetary policy statement, Rajan said the central

Worry that this would be too low is misplaced A panel chaired by chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian has reportedly recommended a goods and services tax (GST) rate of 18%. This is less than half the current incidence of cascading indirect taxes on goods. The rate is also the cap that the Congress wants prescribed in the GST law. The government would do well to accept a cap as well as the two other changes the Congress wants: do away with the 1% tax on inter-state sales and resolve tax disputes among the states or between the Centre and the states through a mechanism that excludes parties to the dispute. Continuing with a tax on inter-state sales on which the buyer cannot claim an input tax credit is against the logic of GST. And it is redundant as the Centre stands ready to compensate the states for any revenue loss during the transition. The Centre and the states must settle for an 18% rate when all taxes imposed on goods and services are collapsed into one. By subsuming m

Pension body invests Rs.2,322 cr in ETFs till November 3 this year, with returns at 1.52% — far lower than those on others The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation ( EPFO)’ s first brush with investment in equity instruments may turn out uninspiring for its future risks with the stock markets. The central board of trustees, ( CBT), chaired by Union Minister of State for Labour Bandaru Dattatreya, reviewed the first tranche of EPFO’s investment in exchange- traded funds. ( An ETF, or exchange traded fund, is a marketable security that tracks an index, a commodity, bonds, or a basket of assets like an index fund. Unlike mutual funds, an ETF trades like a common stock on a stock exchange. ETFs experience price changes throughout the day as they are bought and sold.) After the trustees raised concerns over lowerthanexpected returns, the board directed the EPFO to have a re- look at its investment pattern. The EPFO will soon convene a meeting of its finance, investment and audit com

Barely two days before the start of the winter session of Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government was willing to reach out to the Congress over the goods and services tax ( GST) but counselled the party to reconsider some of its suggestions as they can “ damage” the new indirect taxation system. Speaking at the annual day function of Assocham in New Delhi on Tuesday, Jaitley termed “preposterous” the Congress’ suggestion that tariff must be mentioned in the Constitution amendment Bill. “ It did not dawn on them when ( the then finance minister) PChidambaram accepted the Standing Committee recommendations,” Jaitley said, adding it would be “ extremely unfair” to the country “ if we try to impose in the name of political compromise, a GST with a defective architecture”. “And when tariff rate has to be mentioned in the Constitution itself, ( then it) is a flawed architecture... Because the GST with flawed architecture can actually damage the system much more

Companies operating across more than 35 industries pay taxes at an effective rate of less than 25% and large companies pay taxes at a lower rate compared to smaller firms. In addition, the overall effective tax rate is only around 23.2% against the statutory tax rate of 32-34%. These are some of the reasons why the government is eager to phase out exemptions. Indeed, this will mean that despite a reduction in tax rates to 25%, its tax revenue will see an increase. In line with the budget announcement by finance minister Arun Jaitley of gradually reducing corporate tax rates to 25% from 30%, the government on Friday released a draft roadmap for phasing out corporate tax exemptions in the next two years. The phasing out of these exemptions is expected to impact fresh investments into SEZs, research and development as well as hit profit of companies operating in sectors such as infrastructure, IT, natural gas explorers and pharmaceuticals. All such investments currently get tax so

Low rate likely to be acceptable to all, ensure compliance A key panel on goods and services tax is likely to recommend a revenue-neutral rate of about 18%. The group, headed by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, has zeroed in on the rate after considering various scenarios, brightening the chances for this important reform as the low rate should be acceptable to everyone. “It has worked out to about 18%,“ a government official privy to discussions said. Another official said the range for the tax could be 16-18%. GST, which seeks to replace a host of central and state indirect taxes on goods along with services tax, will create a pan-India market and is expected to help lift the country's gross domestic product (GDP) by 1-2%. A revenue-neutral rate means a rate at which there would be no revenue loss to the Centre or states under GST compared with current collections Low rate will help boost compliance and also cut the pain from increase in tax rate on services, wh