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MF Industry welcomes Sebi move to abolish extra commission for distributors The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) decision to abolish the extra commission for mutual fund distributors in 15 more cities and towns — from Guwahati in Assam to Raipur in Chhattisgarh — has been received well by India’s Rs 22-trillion mutual fund industry. According to sector officials, the move will help to bring 30 cities on a par and arrest the churn rate in these regions.  Further, they added the 15 cities were not small ones and mutual fund distribution could grow on its own without additional incentives. Effective from April 1, 2018, mutual fund distributors (MFDs) in cities such as Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Patna, Coimbatore, Rajkot, Indore, Bhopal, and Varanasi will not be given an extra 30-basis-point (bps) commission. Sundeep Sikka, chief executive officer (CEO) of Reliance Nippon Life Mutual Fund, said, “The special incentives for B-15 cities had certain objectives to help pene

Natural gas and real estate may come under GST net, says FM Arun Jaitley  Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said natural gas and real estate, which are currently exempt from the goods and services tax (GST), could be brought under its purview first, followed by petrol and diesel and potable alcohol at a later date. Speaking at an event organised by industry body FICCI, Jaitley also said there would be some two-or three anti-evasion measures put in place with regard to the GST, to ensure better compliance. “So far the mood of most of the states is not in favour of including petrol and diesel. But I’m sure as the GST experience moves on, natural gas and real estate (which includes land)… these are areas which are to be brought in and then probably at some stage we will try for petrol and diesel and potable alcohol,” Jaitley said. These four items, along with electricity, are currently out of the ambit of GST, and both the Centre and states continue to levy duties on

Taxing times for IPOs: LTCG tax from April 1 promts issuers to expedite market launch but ongoing correction could play spoilsport The reintroduction of the long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax has placed companies coming up with initial public offerings (IPOs) in a quandary. According to sources, about half-a-dozen companies are planning to launch their IPOs before the end of this fiscal year to avoid the tax. However, the downturn in the stock market provides little comfort to bankers and issuers over listing. Besides the 10 per cent tax outgo, the eligibility for the grandfathering benefit for companies that list after April 1 is bothering promoters. Tax experts say it is unclear how the new regime will apply to companies that were unlisted on January 31, 2018, the cut-off date for grandfathering. Over two dozen companies have filed IPO documents with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to raise a cumulative Rs 337 billion. More than half have already obtained ap

SEBI may allow metal ETFs to attract retail investors Market regulator Sebi is considering allowing exchange-traded funds (ETF) based on metals like silver and platinum to encourage participation of retail and institutional investors in these market instruments, senior officials said. In global markets ETFs are based on equities, commodities and metals but in India these funds are based on equity and gold only. The move is expected to help investors participate in a market upside with lower risk and volatility, and spread their risk better. Senior officials said that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is planning to permit ETFs based on metals such as silver and platinum. "In a growing economy like India which is likely to become commodity intensive with policy push on infrastructure creation and initiatives such as 'Make in India', the launch of metal ETFs would provide access to retail and institutional investors to track economic growth of commodi

I-T Dept Issues FAQs on LTCG Tax Levy only on shares sold after April 1, 2018 The income tax department has issued a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) to clear doubts about the long-term capital gains tax levied on shares in the budget, clearly providing that the tax will be levied on shares sold after April 1, 2018. "The new tax regime will be applicable to transfer made on or after 1st April, 2018, the transfer made between 1st February, 2018 and 31st March, 2018 will be eligible for exemption under clause (38) of section 10 of the Act," it said. There had been confusion that the regime will apply to shares sold on or after February 1, the day of the budget. This also means there could be pressure on stock prices as investors sell shares to take advantage of the earlier regime till March 31. By the same reasoning, the long-term capital loss arising from transfer made on or after April 1, 2018 will be allowed to be set-off and carried forward in accordance w

Pre-2016 Startups may Get Breather from Angel Tax Finmin sends proposal to DIPP; tax officials asked not to pursue cases against startups New Delhi : India could shield startups floated prior to 2016 from the socalled angel tax to boost entrepreneurship in the country. The finance ministry has started discussions with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on the certification of genuine startups to help with this. The government has also asked tax officials not to pursue cases against startups.“We had (earlier) said we will recognise startups only after 2016. We have sent a proposal to the DIPP. If DIPP agrees, then we will not make any adjustment for startups set up before 2016,” finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia told No Levy on Startups Recognised by DIPP“Somebody has to examine it if it is a genuine case of valuation... If they are recognised by the DIPP, we will accept,” Adhia said. Introduced by then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in 2012, the angel t

DoT to float new draft telecom policy within a week The Department of Telecom (DoT) is likely to float draft of the National Telecom Policy 2018 within a week for public comments, an official source said. "The draft (of the NTP 2018) is very likely to be issued within a week," the source, who is closely associated with policy draft formulation, told PTI.The NTP 2018 is expected to present a growth road map of the Indian telecom sector, which is reeling under a severe financial stress, for a period of next five years. The Economic Survey 2017-18 tabled in Parliament last week noted the telecom sector is going through stress due to a huge debt pile, tariff war and irrational spectrum costs and called for policy measures to minimise over-bidding of assets during auctions. The survey said auctions in case of spectrum as also coal and renewables led to transparency and avoided rent-seeking, although they "may have led to a winners' curse, whereby firms overbid f