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With pressure mounting to roll back the Budget proposal to tax withdrawals from Employees’ Provident Fund, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ( pictured) on Wednesday said he was reviewing the matter. In the Lok Sabha, he said he would address it during the Budget discussion in Parliament. He was responding to Trinamool Congress ( TMC) members raising the issue soon after Question Hour. TMC Member of Parliament ( MP) Saugata Roy demanded that Jaitley make an announcement on this immediately. His party colleague Sudip Bandhyopadhyay said the Budget proposal to tax the Employees’ Provident Fund ( EPF) — a contributory retirement fund — has caused nationwide concern. Earlier in the day, too, Jaitley had said, “There have been some reactions [ to the Budget proposal]. When the debate comes up in Parliament, I shall give the government’s response on what decision we finally take.” In his post- Budget interactions with industry and trade chambers, the finance minister said Parliament had

The banking and finance sectors have responded with large post- Budget gains. The Nifty Bank is up by over five per cent since Monday. From a technical standpoint, the signal is clear. Any trend following system will suggest going long and staying long, with a trailing stop- loss. Easing liquidity in the bond market and the hopes of more rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) have driven the rally. The bond market went into a big rally on Budget day, with yields falling sharply. The reason was a positive surprise. Nobody expected the fiscal deficit to be held to 3.5 per cent of GDP ( gross domestic product). The governments borrowing programme in 201617 will be somewhat less than in 2015- 16. There are also hopes RBI will cut rates in early April, at its next bi- monthly policy review. Some optimists are hoping for an earlier rate cut --- after all, RBI made an out- of- turn rate cut in 2015. I am not so sure RBI will cut rates, either out- of- turn or in April. Retail

Lack of mention in the Budget was a disappointment for investors and developers After the finance minister did away with dividend distribution tax ( DDT) for real estate investment trusts or REITs, capital gains tax is the biggest issue for the developers/ investors considering whether to float one. “DDT was not the only issue. The other tax issue to be resolved is complete pass- through for capital gains,” said Jayesh Kariya, partner at BSR & Associates. When a REIT sells shares of a Special Purpose Vehicle ( SPV) or assets, the capital gain is taxable in the hands of a REIT. Investors/ developers want a complete pass- through. In the previous Budget, the government announced capital gains tax exemption at the hands of the sponsor but it is a big issue at the REIT level, consultants said. They say the finance ministry seemed agreeable to representations in this regard. Which is why the lack of a mention of this in the Budget was a disappointment. “Though the issue is

Govt to present legislation in the Lok Sabha today The government could introduce a regulatory framework to ensure that the biometric details of citizens it collects is kept discreet and used only to generate Aadhaar numbers or authenticate them. The Aadhaar Bill, which could be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, is likely to introduce this regulatory framework. It could also to propose that in cases of national security, an officer not below the rank of a joint secretary will be empowered to call for disclosure of such information. According to the revised list of business of the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley would introduce The Aadhaar ( Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 on Thursday. It would be a money Bill, since it specifies its objective to provide targeted delivery of subsidies, expenditure of which will be incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India. A money Bill can only be introduced in the Lok Sabh

In a move that will bring down one of the most common tax disputes, the income tax (I-T) department has clarified that the taxpayer can decide how to classify the gains from sale of shares—as capital gains or as business income. In a notification dated 29 February, the tax department said the determination whether a particular investment in shares or other securities is in the nature of a capital asset or stock-in-trade has led to a lot of uncertainty and litigation in the past, compounded by different interpretations of the law by courts. Therefore, the tax department has decided to take the interpretation away from the assessing officer’s hands and leave it to the taxpayer to make the classification. This means that a taxpayer dealing in equities can decide if it is an investment or his business. However, a classification once made in an assessment year cannot be changed in subsequent years. “Where the assessee itself, irrespective of the period of holding the listed shares a

www.caonline.in News... 1.Request to join with family for Spritual and Cultural Programme organised by Art of Living, Near Mayur Vihar Extension Metro Station, Delhi from 11-13 March from 5PM onwards. Chief Guest Prime Minister and President of India. Entry Free. 2.Jurisdiction of AO in search cases cannot be challenged after one month of notice.This amendment will take effect from 1st June, 2016 3.Digital Signature is now mandatory w.e.f. 4th Quarter of FY 2015-2016 for dealers having turnover above Rs. 50 lakhs. It means all the returns and other correspondences should be filed with D-VAT department via digital signature only. 4.Power of CG to impose transitional product specific safeguard duty on imports from the People’s Republic of China, to omit section 8C of the Customs Tariff Act as the provision which was inserted for a period of ten years has lapsed. Clause 137, Omission of section 8C - THE FINANCE BILL, 2016 5.Extension to 31.03.16 of last date to file DP-1 under DVAT

If there's a dispute over taxes, there's now a way for a company to prevent its property being attached. It can give a bank guarantee to the tax officer to prevent property, such as a factory, from being attached during the course of a tax assessment. The Budget proposals provide that a tax official can revoke an order for provisional attachment of the property if the taxpayer furnishes a bank guarantee equal to the fair market value of the property, or of an amount sufficient to protect the interests of the revenue authorities. Within 15 days of receipt of the bank guarantee, or within 45 days if the case has been referred to a valuation officer, the order for attaching the property is to be revoked. This proposal will come in force from June 1, 2016. Business entities operating in India, often find that their property, such as an office or a factory building, is attached by the tax authorities during the course of assessment. For instance, operations froze at Nokia's man