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Govt reduces GST on bunker fuels India has reduced the goods and service tax (GST) on marine fuel oil, known as bunker fuel, to 5 percent for all vessels, the government said on Wednesday, which should help the country’s fuel sellers compete with other lower-tax ports in Asia.India’s nation wide GST taxed bunker fuel sales at 18 percent when it was implemented on July 1. The GST replaced state value-added taxes that were typically between zero and 5 percent. India’s GST Council decided to reduce the tax on the bunker fuel sales after an Oct. 6 meeting where it recommended assessing GST rates for the bunker fuel sales, natural gas transportation and for offshore oil and gas field services, according to the statement the Council posted on Twitter.“This would provide limited relief to the bunker fuel sellers that had seen their market shifting to Colombo,” a trade source said. Like Asian bunkering hubs in Singapore and Fujairah, Sri Lanka levies no taxes on bunker fuel oil. For the of

DeMo,GST Have Put Eco on Stronger Track: FM Defends govt's move to maintain secrecy over note recall, says transparency would have been "greatest instrument of fraud"Finance minister Arun Jaitley has defended the go vernment's decision to maintain secrecy over demonetisation, sa ying transparency in this case would have been the “greatest in strument of fraud“.Jaitley, on a week-long visit to the US to attend annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, said the series of reforms like demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) has put Indian economy on a “far more stronger track“. “These are institutional re forms. These are structural changes. And these structural changes, I think have put the Indian economy on a far more sound track so that we can look forward for a much cleaner much bigger India economy in the days and years to come,“ Jaitley said, addressing the students of Columbia University in New York.He said announcing the

Import of Oil-Drilling Rigs Kept Out of GST Purview Move to boost local exploration and production; tax rate cut on bunker fuel to 5% from 12%Import of oil-drilling rigs has been exempted from the goods and services tax (GST) levy to give a boost to domestic exploration and production, the government has said. The GST Council has also cut tax rate on bunker fuel to 5% from 12%.Nearly all deep sea drilling rigs are imported, and a bulk of the ones used in shallow waters to drill wells to probe and produce oil and gas are also of foreign origin. Petrol, diesel, jet fuel, natural gas and crude oil have been kept out of the GST regime, resulting in continuation of cascading effect of tax-on-tax.The issue had figured during the meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi held on Monday with CEOs of top international and Indian energy firms. They demanded the inclusion of fuels, especially natural gas, in the GST regime.The council has also decided that offshore works contract services with a

Scope of insolvency rules to be extended to individual businesses The government on Tuesday expanded the scope of the new insolvency rules to bring individual businesses under its purview.On Tuesday, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) published the draft rules dealing with insolvency resolution process of individuals and firms on its website(www.ibbi.gov.in); public comments can be submitted till 31 October. Once notified, even individual businesses such as proprietorships will come under the bankruptcy regime. This will enable an orderly bankruptcy resolution within the purview of a transparent rules-based regime. Currently, the existing code applies only to corporate defaulters.“These rules shall apply to matters relating to the insolvency resolution process for individuals and firms under Part III of the code,” said the draft rules issued by IBBI. Part III of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, deals with insolvency and bankruptcy of individuals and pa

MPS norms Non compliant companies to face stiff penalties Stock exchanges will impose a fine of up to Rs 10,000 on companies for each day of non- compliance with the minimum public shareholding requirements, according to a Sebi circular.Names of the non-compliant entities would also be disclosed on the websites of the exchanges concerned.Under the Sebi norms, listed entities are required to have a Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) of 25 per cent. Listing out the procedures to be followed by stock exchanges, Sebi in a circular today said that in case they find companies are not in compliance with MPS requirements, then notices should be issued to them within 15 days.In cases where the listed entity has failed to meet the MPS norms for more than a year, the bourse would slap a fine of "Rs 10,000 per day of non-compliance" and the penalty would continue to be imposed till the date of compliance. For other non-compliant entities, the fine would be Rs 5,000 per day."T

Attempts to derail GST have failed: FM India´s transition to the goods and services tax (GST) regime has been “fairly smooth” despite attempts by “illinformed” Opposition leaders to derail its implementation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said. Jaitley, who is on a week long visit to the US to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, said under the GST, the government has unveiled attractive schemes to ensure that the noncompliant in India become compliant. “Many attempts have been made by political groups to derail the GST, butIam glad that their own state governments are not listening to them because they know 80 per cent of the money is going to come to them.They don´t have to appease an illinformed central leader of the party and let the revenues of their own state suffer,” Jaitley said. “So, the state governments are being wiser,” he said in response to a question during an event titled India´s market Reforms: The Way Forward. The o

More penalties on firms not complying with MPS The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has imposed stringent penalties on companies which don´t comply with the minimum public shareholding (MPS) norms.On Tuesday, Sebi has asked the stock exchanges to imposeafine of Rs 5,000 per day on such companies.Depositories will also freeze the entire shareholding of the promoter group in such cases. The Business Standard, New Delhi, 11th October 2017