CA Online

P-note investors return to Mauritius as FPIs Even as participatory notes (P-notes) become unattractive for taking positions, many investors are now looking to enter India using the foreign portfolio investment (FPI) route either through Mauritius or directly.  P-notes are overseas derivative instruments with Indian stocks as their underlying assets. Industry trackers say some P-note holders are looking to directly invest in India without setting up an investment arm in a buffer country .However, some of the other investors could route their investments through Mauritius.  The persons cited earlier said the newly registered FPIs will fall under category-III definition of the government and could start attracting higher taxes, going ahead.  Many P-note holders invest in In dian futures and options (F&O) on which they did not pay any tax until recently. Also the instrument provided anonymity to these investors. However, the market regulator recently took two steps that force

RBI identifies 40 more large loan defaulter accounts for clean-up Along with the 12 cases where bankruptcy proceedings have already started, these would account for 60-65% of the bad loans clogging the banking system The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has identified 40 large defaulters as the next lot of firms where banks will push for an early resolution, a government official said on condition of anonymity.  Along with the 12 cases where bankruptcy proceedings have already started, these would account for 60-65% of the bad loans clogging the banking system, this person added.  An RBI spokesperson declined comment. A speedy resolution of these cases “will keep the banking system running”, the government  official said. He added that invoking the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code won’t be the  default option for resolving these accounts and lenders will also look at other mechanisms  such as joint lenders’ forums. Indian banks are sitting on a stressed asset pile of more than R

Filing a revised tax return is quite easy The revision has to be done before the prescribed deadline or before completion of  assessment, whichever is earlier If you are one of the last-minute filers of income-tax returns, it is quite possible that  mistakes have crept in some computation or other. For instance, you might have incurred  capital losses but haven’t offset it against capital gains or there could be some  additional income, such as bank interest income which you have forgotten to show. In such  cases, despite the final deadline of August 5 being over, you have the option to file a  revised return. After you have filed your return, the Central Processing Centre (CPC) in Bengaluru carries  out electronic processing of returns. It then issues an intimation which could convey the  demand due, refund payable, or it may simply say that nothing more is required. “In recent  times, the scope of matters that the CPC can look into has been widened. For instance, in  case of

Black money drive: Govt to weed out dormant LLPs After cracking its whip on suspected shell companies, the government has turned its focus  on the growing number of Limited Liability Partnership (LLPs) firms. In suchapartnership, partners can´t be held liable for another´s misconduct or negligence. As a first step, the government is in the process of identifying and deregistering inactive  LLP firms. “The Registrar of Companies (RoC) is onaspree to strike off inactive LLPs from its  register,” says Vikas Gupta, partner, Nangia &Co. The government has been onadrive against generation of black money and money laundering  through use of shell companies. In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the government had  identified over 300,000 shell companies and registrations of 175,000 such firms had been  cancelled. Experts point out, just like shell companies, inactive LLPs could be used for tax evasion  and money laundering. The trend of c

Insolvency regulator empowers property buyers, puts the monapar with creditors The insolvency regulator has brought inaspecial provision to protect the homebuyers of  beleaguered real estate companies such as Jaypee Infratech and Amrapali. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), which is implementing the Insolvency  and Bankruptcy Code, has said owner of undelivered properties can become part of the  committee of creditors and stakeaclaim equivalent to the amount they have paid to realtors Their claims, according to the regulator, would be treated onapar with claims of other  financial and operational creditors and would not be pushed to the bottom of the list. Homebuyers can now file form ´F´, introduced by the insolvency regulator, for claims. “Such entities should submit proof of their claims to the interim resolution professional  or resolution professional,”anotification issued by the IBBI on Wednesday said. This  section of homebuyers, however, would not

Govt extends GST return filing deadline for cos who want to claim credit for past taxes The deadline for first GST Return, GSTR- 3B, has been extended (states are still coming up  with Notifications) to August 28 from its original deadline of August 20. However, one must  keep in mind that this is only for taxpayers who opt to use the opening balance of pre-GST  credit in the current month. Those who do not wish to claim opening credit in the current  month or those who have no credit; the deadline continues to be August 20.  The extended deadline also allows the taxpayers to file form TRAN 1 by August 28, which is  a pre requisite as per the strict interpretation of law to claim the opening credit.  “Interestingly, TRAN 1 filing system is not up and running yet on GST portal. The industry  raised the working capital issue as without filing TRAN 1 they could not have taken the  benefit of the opening credit, resulting in adverse cash flow impact in the first month of  GST imple

RBI minutes show MPC members flagged upside risks to inflation Concerns about economic growth and easing inflation prompted five of the six monetary policy committee  (MPC) members to call for a cut in the repo rate, but most warned that prices could start  accelerating, show the minutes of the panel’s last meeting, released on Wednesday. The comments reflected a tone of caution and flagged upside risks to inflation from farm loan waivers,  rise in food prices, especially vegetables, price revisions withheld ahead of the goods and services  tax, implementation of house rent allowance under the 7th pay commission and fading of favourable base  effect, among others. On 2 August, the panel chose to cut the repurchase rate—the rate at which the central bank infuses  liquidity in the banking system—by 25 basis points to 6%. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. Pami Dua, professor at the Delhi School of Economics, wrote that her analysis showed “a fading  econo