CA Online

Exporters will now have to shell out the goods and services tax (GST) at 12 per cent when  selling scrips of export incentive schemes such as the Merchandise Export from India Scheme  (MEIS). The government on Thursday clarified that scrips received by exporters under the Services  Exports from India Scheme and the Incremental Export Incentivization Scheme, apart from the  MEIS, will be taxed. Exporters earn duty credits through the form of scrips at fixed rates of 2 per cent, 3 per cent,  and 5 per cent, depending upon the product and country. The earned scrips can be freely transferred to others or sold. Exporters have continued to maintain that more government help is needed to sustain India´s  falling outbound trade. “MEIS etc fall under heading 4907 and attract 12 per cent GST,” the Central Board of Excise and  Customs (CBEC) said in its frequently asked questions on the GST. The GST is based onacategory of goods and services based on the harmonised system number (

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said public sector banks needed the Banking  Regulations Ordinance in order to be able to take decisions without fear of being subjected to  investigation later. Replying to a debate on amendments to the Banking Regulations Act, Jaitley, who also holds the  defence and corporate affairs portfolios, said the decision to take defaulters through the  bankruptcy process was not a political one, and that such a move was necessary to start clearing the  Rs 7 lakh crore toxic assets in the banking system. The amendments were passed by Lok Sabha and the Bill will now move to the Upper House of  Parliament. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) allows creditors to file insolvency cases against  defaulters, which are given 180 days for restructuring. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) can offer a company an extension of 90 days but  if are solution plan is not finalised by then, its assets will be liquidated. All financial creditor

Sandesh, with or without chocolate, will be taxed at 5 per cent, the government clarified on Thursday along with the goods and services tax (GST) rates for other  items, including rakhis,  idlidosa batter and kulfi. However, ambiguity persisted over whether the tax for plastic furniture would be 28 per cent as furniture or 18 per cent as plastic items. The sharp jump in tax on car leasing is also expected to be taken up in the GST Council meeting on Saturday. “Sandesh, whether or not containing chocolate, will attract 5 per cent GST,” the government clarified on Thursday. The clarification comes amid reports that sweet shops have discontinued chocolate barfis and chocolate sandesh. The GST rate on chocolates is 28 per cent Indian sweets  are at 5 per cent. Although milk is exempt in the khoya, or milk, 5 per cent GST. “Sweet shops in Kolkata were in panic over different GST rates based on the types of sweets and ingredients. Now the government has clarified that the GST

It’s not unusual to form an investment company for buying an expensive residential apartment. But in the case of a city Golf Link Road apartment, the ultimate beneficiary was found to be  director in an investment company —living in a modest house in Seelampur, earning less than Rs 1  lakh a year and not owning a car or a credit card. Income-tax officials suspected it to be a  benami transaction, a property bought by a businessman in his driver’s name.  Uncovering the culprit would take them through a confounding maze of data — phone records,  credit card and PAN details, tax returns and even social media platforms. Here’s where data  analysts and number crunchers come into play. “It’s virtually impossible to go through various  structured and unstructured data sources and make sense of them,” said an official. “But data  collected via various sources leaves a pattern and analytics can raise red flags that tax  officers can investigate further.”  Rise of number crunchers Am

Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said there is scope to rationalise goods and services  tax (GST) and rolling 12 per cent and 18 per cent slabs into one as implementation of the  country’s most comprehensive indirect tax reforms progresses.  “I do concede that as it (GST) moves forward, there will be scope for rationalising the rates.  There, probably, will be scope that the two standard rates of 12% and 18 per cent, after some  time, could be clubbed into one. That is a fair possibility and a suggestion,” Jaitley said  replying to debate on the two bills related to GST in J&K.  Central Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Bill, 2017 and the Integrated  Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Bill, 2017 were later passed by a voice  vote.  The current GST has 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent rates, plus one for  luxury and sin goods. There are some that are zero rated, or nil rate.  Jaitley said if the t

Failure to do so will lead to cancellation of the provisional ID after the statutory three  months As many as 2.7 million of the 7.1 million who were assessed under the pre-goods and services tax  (GST) system and have activated their accounts on the latter portal, are yet to complete the  entire enrollment process. As a result, they are yet to file returns, said GST Network, the body handling the system's  information technology backbone. "If you have activated your provisional ID for migrating to GST but not completed all the  enrolment formalities, you might be heading for a dead end at the time of filing GST returns,"  GSTN said. After the initial process of activation of the provisional ID, a taxpayer has to fill Part-B of  the enrolment form at the GST portal, providing relevant information regarding the business,  including the authorised signatory. Submission of the completed form with digital signature  certificate or electronic verification code enti

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) is looking into a complaint that some  professional service firms were acting as insolvency resolution professionals (IRPs) to help banks  manage and restructure insolvent companies.  Under law, professional entities can't enrol themselves as an insolvency professional or become a  member of another agency registered with the IBBI to do the job. According to an official aware of  the matter, an independent IRP had written to the board accusing some firms of breaking this rule.  The complainant alleged that invoices were raised by these firms and not the insolvency  professionals, who in most cases were employees of the firms, the official said.  There are about 800 individuals who are registered as IRPs. While professional service firms are  barred from becoming an IRP, their executives can do so in their individual capacity. Most banks  stay away from appointing people with no firm to back them as IRPs.  "The let