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Retirement fund body EPFO may soon allow its subscribers to contribute voluntarily towards its pension scheme in addition to their employers' mandatory contributions. "We are considering a proposal to allow employees to contribute owards 'EPS 95' for getting enhanced benefits after retirement. But that contribution would be paid by the employees," EPFO's Central Provident Fund Commissioner VP Joy told PTI. At present, an employer contributes 8.33 per cent of basic wages of Rs 15,000 per month towards to the Employees' Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95). The threshold for monthly basic wages for deduction of EPS contribution is Rs 15,000. Therefore, the maximum contribution in a pension account can be Rs 1,424 every month which includes government subsidy of 1.16 per cent of basic wages even if an employee is drawing more than the threshold. Once the proposal is approved by the EPFO's Central Board of Trustees, the employees would have an option to

Startups, advertisers and media buyers have approached the finance ministry seeking an exemption from the equalisation levy (Google tax) for online advertisers that will come into effect from June 1. Members of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) recently met minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha and revenue department officials, sources said. The tax will raise the cost of doing business for Indian clients by almost 6%, and give international ad networks edge over their Indian counterparts, the IAMAI said. It will also “severely raise the cost of doing business” for Indian tech startups as their cost of advertising will go up. Hindustan times New Delhi,14th June 2016

Web aggregators might have to face tighter norms for operating in the insurance sector. In proposed rules, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India ( Irdai) has suggested the capital requirement (paid- up capital and net worth) would be increased from a minimum of Rs.10 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh. Further, these aggregators would be treated as insurance intermediaries. If an application for registration is rejected by Irdai or has been withdrawn, the applicant may apply afresh after a financial year has gone by. However, if a foreign promoter or foreign investor has exited for any reason during the preceding two financial years, they would be ineligible to apply. Web aggregators are entities granted a licence by Irdai and allowed to display insurance product information and comparisons on their sites. Prospective customers can buy products of multiple insurance companies from these portals. However, they are not allowed to sell other financial products on this platfor

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), as part of its effort to tighten the norms for giving investment advice, warned the public to deal only with Sebi- registered investment advisors ( RIAs) and research analysts. Investors who heed the regulator’s advice are much less likely to fall victim to the twin malaise of poor- quality advice and misselling. The Sebi ( Investment Advisors) Regulations, issued in January 2013, made it mandatory for any person or entity that acts as an investment advisor to obtain a certificate of registration from the regulator. The first advantage of dealing with an RIA is that he would be properly vetted. He would have cleared the NISM Series- X- A and B exams. To obtain the certificate, he would have demonstrated that he possesses the required qualifications, infrastructure and capital. An inherent conflict of interest arises when people who offer investment advice also sell products. They inevitably veer towards selling produ

Targeting April 2017 for the rollout of the goods and services tax ( GST), the government is betting on support from smaller regional parties to pass the national sales tax legislation in the Parliament session from next month, and expects approval for supporting laws by year- end. GST was earlier planned to be introduced from April 1 this year, converting 29 states into a single market through the new indirect tax regime, but the deadline was missed as the Bill to roll it out remains stalled in the Oppositiondominated Rajya Sabha. “ If we can pass it in the monsoon session ( of Parliament beginning next month), then we can implement it in April 1, 2017,” said Minister Business Standard New Delhi,14th June 2016

New SDR norms allow promoters to manage debt- laden firms SIGH OF RELIEF The Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) on Monday allowed banks to conduct deep restructuring of large accounts to revive projects that can be saved, effectively throwing a lifeline to promoters who risked losing their companies. Banks are anyway struggling to dispose of many stressed assets they have already acquired and have no clue what to do next. Accounts that are worth ? 500 crore or more and have already started commercial operations will be eligible for the new recast scheme, titled ‘ Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets.’ Only those promoters who have shown no malfeasance in their actions while running the show can ask for the permission to continue with the management, even if they get reduced to minority shareholders in the process. RK Bansal, executive director, IDBI Bank, said the two sectors which would benefit are steel and power . Some of the completed projects in these sectors

www.caonline.in News... 1. Procedure for Gold/silver/platinum import by nominated agencies via {Circular No. 27/2016-Customs } 2.Startups- Guidelines for Patent, Designs & Trade Marks application via {Public Notice No. CG/F/Start-up/Guidelines/2016/79 - (08/06/2016)} 3. CA providing accommodation entries debarred from practice via {Institute of Chartered Accountants of India V/S Vivek Kapoor & Anr (Punjab & Haryana High Court)} 4. Registration u/s 12AA cannot be denied for mere non filing of ITR via {Shri Shirdi Sai Darbar Charitable Trust (Dharamshala) Vs. C.I.T. (Exemptions)- (ITAT Chandigarh)} 5. Preference shares redemption not taxable as deemed dividend via {Shri Uday K. Pradhan vs. ITO (ITAT Mumbai)}