CA Online

The Narendra Modi government is planning the next big round of foreign direct investment (FDI) liberalisation, which could have significant implications for several sectors, including print media and retail. Economic ministries are learnt to be working onaproposal to step up the FDI limit in print news media to 49 per cent, from the current cap of 26 per cent. Also, there are plans to allow singlebrand retail companies with up to 100 per cent FDI to go through the automatic clearance route. Adraft Cabinet note on phasing out the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is already in the making and could be ready for approval by the Union Cabinet by the end of April. FDI rules could be eased subsequently in some of the sectors. “Successive governments have done all they can in raising FDI limits across sectors. Further liberalisation can now happen through easing the rules governing approval routes,” saidasenior government official, aware of the interministerial deliberations. Prin

Amendment empowers the Custodian of Enemy Property to sell such assets which wasn't permitted under the old Enemy Property Act, 1968 The passing of the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill 2016 by both houses of parliament paves the way for the government to monetise assets worth more than `1lakh crore, which will come as a nice cushion at a time when the government is looking at ways to control the fiscal deficit. The amendment now empowers the Custodian of Enemy Property (CEP) to sell such assets, which wasn't permitted under the old Enemy Property Act, 1968. The official, appointed under the 1968 Act, was entrusted with the custody, management and administration of assets deemed enemy property after the India-China war of 1962 and the wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971. The authority, under the home ministry, can now sell these properties. Data provided in the report of the parliament select committee on the bill released in May last year reveals that there

All five Bills cleared, paving way for new indirect tax regime rollout from July 1 DILASHA SETH &INDIVJAL DHASMANA New Delhi, 16 March The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Thursday clearedaproposal to cap the cess on luxury cars and aerated drinks at 15 per cent over the peak rate of 28 per cent. The ceiling for the cess on “sin” goods would be much higher. An official said for paan masala, the cap would be 135 per cent. On tobacco and cigarettes, the cap would be 290 per cent, or Rs.4,170 per 1,000 cigarette sticks. Acall is yet to be taken on whether or notacess would be imposed on bidis. The cess on coal and lignite (environment cess) would have an upper limit at Rs.400 per tonne, the official said. However, the actual cess would be much lower —equal to the current indirect taxes on these goods. The cap would give headroom to the authorities to increase the cess in the future. After the meeting of the Council in New Delhi on Thursday, Union Finance Minister Arun

The consumer affairs ministry has drafted a fresh consumer protection Bill after incorporating suggestions of a parliamentary standing committee and hopes to introduce it in the ongoing session. The ministry has accepted some of the recommendations of the panel and finalised the draft bill,which has been vetted by a group of ministry, headed by Arun jaitely. Business Standard New Delhi,16th March 2017

The government has issued show-cause notices to 1,018 companies for non-compliance of CSR norms even as a parliamentary panel has suggested putting in place a “stricter monitoring and compliance mechanism“.Under the Companies Act, 2013, a certain class of profitable entities is required to shell out at least 2% of their three-year annual average net profit towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in a particular fiscal. As many as 84 companies out of 226 PSUs and 411out of 7,108 private entities have reported no expenditure on CSR in 2014-15. Moreover, companies that have reported CSR have not been spending it as per the guidelines. The Economic Times New Delhi,16th March 2017

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council’s approval to key Bills on Thursday will play a crucial role for their passage in the current session of Parliament. This would also set the stage for tabling of the state GST (SGST) Bills in the respective state Assemblies, but the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Assembly will need to pass even central GST (CGST) and integrated GST (IGST) Bills as well. According to the Constitution, constitutional amendments do not directly apply to J&K, as it gets a special treatment. Government sources pointed out that CGST and IGST will appear in different forms in the case of J&K. Service tax for instance, which is a central levy, does not apply to J&K. But central excise is applicable. J&K Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu told Business Standard that no Act of the government of India can directly apply to J&K. Hence, it will have to follow a process to implement GST. “Unlike other states, which will need to get just SGST passed by thei

The securties and exchange board of India (Sebi) on wednesday issued guidelines for mutual fund(MF) advertisements,allowing use of celebrities to increase awareness of the Rs. 17.9 lakh crore industry."Celebrity endoreement shall be allowed only at industry level for the purpose  of incresing awareness of MFs as a financial product category.such endoresement should not promote a scheme of a particular fund or be used as a branding exercise of a MF house,"the regulator said in a circular.Prior Sebi approval Will be needed for MF advertisements featuring celebrities,The circular said. The regulator also tweaked the performance disclosure requirement for MF advertisements. Business Standard New Delhi,16th March 2017