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To check falsity by salaried taxpayers in claiming deductions, the income tax ( I- T) department has introduced a new form that all employees will need to give their employers this financial year onwards. Along with the new declaration (From 12BB), employees will also need to furnish evidence and information related to the deductions they claim. According to the government notification, if an individual claims housing rent allowance (HRA) of over ? 1 lakh, he or she will need to furnish name, address and permanent account number ( PAN) of the house owner. Those claiming leave travel allowance/ concession ( LTA or LTC) will need to give ‘ evidence of expenditure’. And, if you have a housing loan and claim deduction on the interest, you will need to provide PAN of the lender, along with its name and address. Similarly, relevant proof is needed for claiming deductions under Chapters VI- A ( A) and VI- A, which cover Sections 80C, 80CCC, 80CCD, 80E, 80G, 80TTA, et al. These rules tak

Currency consultants are seeing some discipline in India’s companies when it comes to hedging, even as the rupee continues to remain stable and might remain so in the coming months. While larger ones are well- hedged, smaller firms are preferring to enter into short- term hedging and rolling it over. Importers are willing to hedge in the one- month basket, and exporters, too, are selling dollars for the near future, say currency dealers. This is a departure from the earlier practice of keeping foreign currency exposures largely un- hedged, inviting criticism from the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) stating that the central bank wouldn’t be available to protect these firms if currency volatility tosses the currency bets upside down. Unsure of whether the repeated warnings would work, the central bank directed banks that the lenders have to set aside more money for their clients un- hedged exposures. This indirect pressure tactics worked, as capital- deficient banks tightened their pu

People with annual income of over Rs. 50 lakh will have to disclose the acquisition cost of all assets like land, building and ewellery in the Income-Tax return forms for assessment year 2016-17. The luxury items to be disclosed will also include utensils, apparels and furnitures studded with precious stones and ornaments made of gold, silver, platinum or any other precious metal or alloy. “The amount in respect of assets to be reported will be the cost price of such assets to the assessee,“ the CBDT has said while issuing instructions on the new ITR forms. The Economic Times New Delhi,05th May 2016

To ensure the “highest degree of safety“, Sebi on Wednesday asked clearing corporations to invest their money broadly in fixed deposits, government securities and liquid schemes of debt mutual funds. The market regulator has issued the circular in this regard after taking into consideration the recommendations made by an expert panel on issues pertaining to investment policy of clearing corporation. Clearing houses are associated with an exchange to handle the confirmation, settlement and delivery of transactions, fulfilling the main obligation of ensuring transactions in a prompt and efficient manner. While framing the `investment policy', the clearing corporations will have to consider highest degree of safety and least market risk, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said. The investments need to be broadly in fixed deposits, central government securities and liquid schemes of debt mutual funds. These fixed deposits should be made with banks having a net wo

Must for Builders and Developers: After section 80-IB of the Income-tax Act, section 80-IBA shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of April, 2017. The section was inserted by Finance Act, 2016. Where the gross total income of an assessee includes any profits and gains derived from the business of developing and building housing projects, there shall, subject to the provisions of this section, be allowed, a deduction of an amount equal to hundred per cent of the profits and gains derived from such business. Approval of Project between : 01/06/2016 to 31/03/2019 Project Should be Completed within 3 Year of Approval. If approval for more than 1 time than 3 year from first approval.Project was deemed to be Completed when a certificate of completion of project as a whole is obtained in writing from the competent authority. Where a residential unit in the housing project is allotted to an individual, no other residential unit in the housing project shall be allotted to the i

Country's top auditor, Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), has pointed out that 24 central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) did not issue bonus shares despite having free reserves in excess of their paid up capital. The CAG observations come at a time when the government is looking to push CPSEs to either achieve their capital expenditure plans failing which they may need to either give out special dividends or go for buybacks. This could raise the pressure on these companies to productively deploy their cash. ET had reported last week that government is looking at buybacks by state run companies to meet its ambitious disinvestment target of Rs. 56,500 crore. In its audit report, the CAG has noted that in case of eight CPSEs, managements are yet to amend Articles of Association to provide for buyback of shares. The report further notes that 10 CPSEs which includes MMTC Ltd, NMDC Ltd and Bharat Electronic Ltd did not formulate their investment policy for investi

Rs. 1.73 lakh crore of public sector bank money stuck in top 100 non- performing accounts as of Dec 2015 There were 7,686 wilful defaulters owing ? 66,190 crore to stateowned banks as of December 2015, Jayant Sinha, minister of state for finance, told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Sinha also said that the total outstanding amount in top 100 nonperforming accounts ( NPAs) with public sector banks ( PSBs) was Rs. 1.73 lakh crore as of December 2015. Sinha said the number of wilful defaulters of PSBs rose from 5,554 to 7,686 in three years to December 2015 while the amount involved more than doubled to Rs. 66,190 crore from Rs. 27,749 crore. “ The total exposure of top 50 defaulters of PSBs as of December 2015 was Rs.1,21,832 crore,” he said in a written reply in the Upper House. In another reply, Sinha said there were 1,365 borrower accounts having outstanding of Rs. 500 crore and more at the end of December 2015. He said government has taken specific measures to address issues in sector