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Profiteering check now picking up Kerala panel seeks action against 335 merchants The antiprofiteering mechanism under the goods and services tax (GST) has picked up, with Kerala proposing action against 335 traders for not passing on to consumers a reduction in price under the new set of levies.The screening committee of the state has written to the standing committee at the Centre, providing a list of these merchants and evidence, demanding action. Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Bihar, among others, say they´ve started with awareness campaigns, price information collection and investigation.“We collected information and found some were collecting GST while not being registered.Some others were additionally collecting value added tax (VAT) from consumers. Some were charging GST above the MRP (printed Maximum Retail Price).We have demanded strict action against these entities, to discourage others from these malpractices,” said a Kerala official, on condition of anonymity.Kerala´s sc

Shell companies deposited, withdrew Rs 17,000 crore after demonetisation  As the government nears completion ofayear after demonetisation, the data shows suspected ´shell´ companies deposited and withdrew Rs 17,000 crore in the days after the note ban.The data, issued by the government, is from 56 banks for 35,000 companies, which had around 58,000 bank accounts. One company had a negative balance before demonetisation but deposited and withdrew Rs2,484 crore after November 8, 2016, the government said.These companies´ bank accounts have been frozen.And, state governments told to restrict sales and transfers of real estate assets owned by these entities. The statement issued by the Centre gives a summary of recent decisions to check the suspected money laundering via such companies —such keeping a check on ´dummy´ directors by connecting the director identification number with Aadhaar, the citizen identification number, and the permanent account number.Existing directors and ne

GST Overhaul on Cards to Make it Less Taxing Changes may be with regard to input credit, place of supply and valuation provisions The goods and services tax could be in for a revamp that's more comprehensive than the tweaks that have been made thus far to iron out kinks to make compliance less on erous. The GST Council has set up a new advisory group that includes industry representatives to look into such changes. Experts said these may apply to input credit apart from place of supply and valuation provisions. The group will give its report to the law committee of the council by November 30. This will be reviewed by the committee and forwarded to the council for speedy action. “A group has been set up to give feedback about the issues faced by industry with regard to laws, rules and procedures,“ said a government official. This is in addition to changes proposed to the composition scheme to bring relief to small businesses and traders that could be taken up by the GST Coun

Food majors deliver Rs 68000 crore MoUs World Food India, spread across India Gate and Vigyan Bhawan, turning Lutyens´ Delhi into a traffic nightmare, started Friday morning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inviting investors to tap the “unlimited opportunities´´ in India´s food sector.Soon after, top executives of global food and retail majors from PepsiCo to CocaCola and Amazon to Metro, along with domestic biggies such as ITC and Patanjali, lined up to ink investment MoUs, totalling Rs 68,000 crore over multiple years. The MoUs, 13 of them, formalised the investments promised earlier by these companies.Others such as Nestle offered to help the government in food safety, while making a reference to the Maggi ban debacle in India two years ago.In investments, PepsiCo led the pack withacommitment worth Rs 13,340 crore, followed by rival CocaCola (Rs 11,000 crore).PepsiCo had earlier announced its plan to invest Rs 35,000 crore in India and the latest commitment is part of the to

Five judge Bench to deal with pleas on depositing scrapped notes  A five judge Constitution Bench, which would decide the validity of the Centre´s November 8, 2016, decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, would also deal with the pleas seeking to deposit the demonetised currency, the Supreme Court said on Friday. ABench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra disposed of as many as 14 petitions, seeking its nod to deposit scrapped currency notes on the ground that they could not be deposited during the window period provided by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) due to compelling reasons. It asked the petitioners to file interlocutory pleas in the pending petition to be dealt with by the Constitution Bench.“We think it appropriate that the writ petitioners shall file interlocutory pleas in the pending writ petition before the Constitution Bench,” the Bench, also comprising AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, said. The top court said it has not opined on the merits of the validity of the or

Insolvency rules for corporate guarantors firms soon The insolvency rules for corporate guarantors and individual firms under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) are likely to be notified by December.“It will come in a phased manner.At this point, we are trying to cover corporate guarantors.That is our main issue In the first phase, we are dealing with corporate guarantors and individuals having businesses like proprietorship firms,” Ranjita Dubey, deputy general manager, Insolvency &Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), said. Dubey was speaking on the sidelines ofaround table on draft insolvency regulations on individuals and firms, organised by the IBBI in association with ICSI Insolvency Professional Agency and Merchants´ Chamber of Commerce &Industry (MCCI). Mamta Binani, chairperson, standing committee on corporate law and governance, MCCI, said so far the rules were only in respect of the corporate insolvency resolution process and the rules concerning individual

Hallmarking to become mandatory for gold jewellery by January Under the proposed rules, hallmark will also mention the carat of gold used in the jewellery The government is planning to make hallmarking along with carat count mandatory for gold jewellery sold in the country, food and consumers affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Friday.“At present people don’t get to know quality of gold jewellery that they buy. We are planning to make hallmark for gold jewellery mandatory. It should be done by January,” Paswan told reporters at an event organised by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). He said BIS mark is used on some jewellery but that does not sufficiently convey quality of jewellery to consumers. Under the proposed rules hallmark will also mention the carat of gold used in the jewellery, Paswan said. “It will be done for jewellery in three categories — 14 carat, 18 carat and 22 carat,” he said. The Mint, New Delhi, 04th November 2017