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The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved raising of the foreign shareholding limit to 15 per cent from the existing five per cent in Indian stock exchanges. A depository, a banking or insurance entity or a commodity derivative exchange will be among those allowed to raise stake. The Cabinet has also approved the proposal to allow foreign portfolio investors to acquire shares through initial allotment, besides the secondary market, in stock exchanges. The approval follows the Budget announcement by the finance minister earlier this year, concerning reforms in foreign direct investment policy with respect to enhancement of the limit in bourses. “The move will help in enhancing global competitiveness of Indian stock exchanges, by accelerating/facilitating the adoption of latest technology and global best practices,” the government stated on Wednesday evening. The change in norms is likely to encourage more foreign exchanges to increase their stake in Indian exchanges. Top forei

Revenue officials will not arrest or prosecute jewellery manufacturers in cases where suspected excise duty evasion is less than Rs. 2 crore, the finance ministry said, in a move to address jewellers’ concerns. There will be no excise audit for the first two years for jewellery manufacturers whose duty payment is less than Rs. 1 crore. Manufacturers whose duty payment is more than Rs. 1 crore and less than Rs. 3 crore may be audited once in every two years and in cases of those with duty payment of Rs. 3 crore, it could be done every year, the ministry clarified. Business Standard New Delhi, 28th July 2016

The empowered committee of the finance ministers of states on Tuesday reached an agreement that the revenue- neutral rate ( RNR) would not be specified in the Goods and Services Tax ( GST) Constitution amendment Bill, raising hopes that it would be passed by the Rajya Sabha next week. Also, according to a source, once the Bill is passed “ there will be a significant reduction of taxes on the common man which will be reflected in a tax rate and structure that protects the existing levels and trends of revenue between the Centre and the state.” No finance minister, including those of states ruled by chief Opposition party Congress, insisted on a cap on the rate of taxation and agreed that this could be revisited later. Armed with this consensus, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to tell the Congress that the finance ministers of states, where it is in power, are on board on the Constitutional amendment Bill. Jaitley made no bones about the fact that he was extremely kee

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday paved the way for the Goods and Services Tax ( GST) Constitution amendment Bill to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha by clearing key changes. The Cabinet gave the green light to scrapping the one per cent additional tax on inter- state supply of goods. The Bill is most likely to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha next week. On Tuesday, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and counterparts from the states reached a consensus on the issue of the one per cent tax, intended to benefit manufacturing states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. After the consensus was reached to scrap the additional tax, the Centre pledged full compensation to states for the revenue loss over the next five years of the unified indirect regime roll- out. This, too, was cleared by the Cabinet. In the earlier version of the GST Constitution amendment Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha in May 2014, the Centre had provided for full compensation for the first three years and 75 per c

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015, which provides for confiscation of assets held in the name of another person or in a fictitious name to avoid taxation. During the debate, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley assured that genuine religious trusts would be kept out of the purview. The Bill also keeps away transfer of property through power of attorney from the ambit of benami transactions, giving relief to property buyers in the National Capital Region, where transfers through this route have been common. Business Standard New Delhi,28th July 2016

www.caonline.in News...  1. MCA has released Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Rules, 2016 vide Notification which shall come into force on the date of their publication in the official Gazette. 2. Clarification regarding attaining prescribed Age of 60 years/80 years on 31st March itself, in case of Senior/Very Senior Citizens whose date of birth falls on 1st April, for purposes of Income-tax Act,1961. [Circular No. 28/2016-IT]. 3. Mere Non Completion / Registration cannot be the reason for denying benefit U/s 54. [ Rajeev B. Shah v. ITO (ITAT Mumbai)]. 4. It is date on which option for conversion of debentures into shares is exercised that open offer obligation gets triggered under the Regulations. [VICTOR FERNANDES Vs SEBI [2016] 133 CLA 1 (SAT)]. 5. Subsidy by way of refund of excise duty and interest for setting up a new industrial undertaking is a capital receipt and not taxable as income. [CIT vs. Shree Balaji Alloys (SC)].

The government has notified a 2.57- time hike in basic salary of 10 million government employees and pensioners following the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations. The recommendations, which will cost the exchequer annually Rs.1.02 lakh crore, were notified in a gazette on Monday. The minimum pay in central government with effect from January 1, 2016 will now be Rs. 18,000 per month, up form Rs. 7,000 per month. At the highest level of Cabinet secretary, the salary would go up from Rs.90,000 a month to Rs.2.5 lakh. There shall be two dates for grant of increment — January 1 and July 1 every year — instead of the existing July 1 only. Employees will be entitled to only one annual increment on either of these two dates, depending on the date of appointment, promotion or grant of financial upgradation, it said. The Union Cabinet had last month accepted the recommendation of Justice A K Mathur headed panel in respect of the hike in basic pay and pension but a deci