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Uniform Petro Tax may Not Remain a Pipe Dream States agree to cap VAT on natural gas at 5%, lower it on other petro goods for industry States have agreed to cap value-added tax (VAT) on natural gas at 5% and lower it on other petroleum products such as petrol and diesel used by the manufacturing sector as an input. That could mark a significant breakthrough toward uniform nationwide prices of petroleum goods. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will take up the scheme once it is formulated by the states. “The council will take a final call on the proposal,” a senior government official told ET. “There have been discussions between the Centre and states at the officials’ level.” The council had previously discussed the issue and it was decided to ask the states to work out a scheme. Another government official said the ball was in the states’ court. Petroleum products aren’t covered under GST. The Centre had been keen to bring petroleum products under ambit of GST, which was im

Ministerial panel on GSTN to meet on Saturday to iron out glitches Aim to fix operational and technical issues of new tax regime's IT infra, subject of diverse complaints   With a slew of reported glitches in the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN, the ministerial panel on the subject will meet on Saturday in Bengaluru to examine the information technology (IT) challenges plaguing the uniform tax regime. The committee, chaired by Sushil Modi, deputy chief minister and finance minister of Bihar, was constituted earlier this week. It was a sequel to the GST Council's decision last week at Hyderabad, to oversee technical and operational issues pertaining to the IT infrastructure. GSTN will give a presentation to the ministers of the work done, challenges and the strategy. The meeting will be attended by its officials and those of IT major Infosys. "We will try to understand the IT infra issue from a 360-degree perspective. We will review the issues faced by traders an

Budget likely on Feb 1 The finance ministry on Wednesday issued an official circular to begin the process of drafting the Union Budget for 2018-19. While no date was given as to when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley would table the Budget in Parliament, the document stated the final estimates for schemes and other expenditures should be decided by January 15, 2018. The Budget is likely to be presented on February 1, 2018, officials confirmed to Business Standard. According to the circular, work begins on September 30, with the preparation of tentative Budget Estimates based on the mediumterm expenditure framework, (MTEF) which gives estimates three years out. The MTEF for the current financial year provides spending estimates for 2018-19 and 2019-20. These numbers will be the basis, or the starting point rather, for 2018-19 Budget Estimates, an official said. There will be meetings with various central government ministries and departments, as well as industry bodies and civil society

Jurisdiction-free I-T assessment of taxpayers on the anvil The Income Tax Department is working on a new system of jurisdiction-free assessment, where a taxpayer would be assessed by a taxman based in any part of the country as part of measures to reduce instances of corruption and harassment. Officials said the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), that frames policy for the tax department, has constituted a special team of officers to prepare modalities for this path- breaking initiative and abolish the age-old prevalent system of a taxpayer being assessed in a specific circle of the city or town where he or she is based. "This first-of-its-kind initiative will totally change the relationship and dealing between an assessee and his Assessing Officer (AO). The income tax returns, scrutiny cases and all other I-T related correspondence of a taxpayer will go to a officer chosen randomly by the database system who is working in any I-T office of the country," a senior offic

Sebi asks exchanges to frame new outsourcing policy The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked stock exchanges and clearing corporations  to prepare a framework for appointing of third-party vendors. The market regulator has directed the  so-called market infrastructure institutions to not outsource core and critical operations such as  trading information, infrastructure and surveillance. Industry players say the move will help in better risk management and safeguard the markets and  investors from unforeseen risks. There have been instances in the past where the promoter of an exchange has also acted as a service  provider, potentially creating a conflict of interest situation. Although the regulator has allowed the exchanges and clearing corporations to outsource activities to  associate or group companies, it has asked for a clear demarcation of such dealings and an arm's- length relationship. Sebi has also allowed outsourcing of certain core activi

States not releasing duty drawback refund: Exporters State governments have effectively stopped paying tax refunds under the duty drawback scheme,  compounding problems of exporters. Exporters alleged that since the goods and services tax (GST) was introduced, refunds for the state  component of taxes had dried up under the duty drawback scheme because the requisite mechanism was not  in place. “While it is still possible to get states to pay their share of refunds under the integrated GST,  refunds to be paid fully by them are not materialising,” said Ajay Sahai, directorgeneral of the  Federation of Indian Export Organisations. The problem was spread across the country, he added. The duty drawback scheme seeks to rebate duty on any imported or excisable material and service used  in the manufacture of goods for export. Customs, excise and service tax in respect of inputs are neutralised under the scheme. The Central Board of Excise and Customs, which administers the s

Time-bound listing plan fails to take off The ‘ time-bound listing’ for public sector undertakings (PSUs), announced in this year’s Union  Budget, isn’t being met. A state- owned unit was to list within 165 days after its initial public offer of equity (IPO) got  approval by its parent ministry or department and by the department of investment and public asset  management (Dipam). The idea was to help the Centre with its ambitious disinvestment target of over Rs 70,000 crore for the  current financial year. However, PSUs have repeatedly missed the schedule set under the guidelines,  which had deadlines for each task in the IPO process. Examples are General Insurance Corporation (GIC  Re), New India Assurance, IRCTC and Ircon. For instance, the Centre had allowed 90 days for the company to file an offer document with market  regulator Sebi, from the day of board authorisation for the IPO. Within this period, 45 days were  allotted for investment bankers to do the duediligence