CA Online

  Niti Aayog Panel Moots Jewellery Parks, Lower Import Duty on Gold A Niti Aayog panel suggested lowering of import duty on gold, setting up of jewellery parks to encourage local manufacturing, making mining viable and “financialisation” of the metal’s holding among steps to transform India’s gold market. The Economic Times, New Delhi, 27th March 2018

Finmin to Review Performances of State-run Insurance Companies The finance ministry will soon hold a performance review meeting of all state-run insurers, including LIC. The review of general insurance companies will also set the pace for consolidation The Economic Times, New Delhi, 27th March 2018

RERA Creates a Rs10k-cr Business for Cover Firms   TITLE INSURANCE for all projects was made compulsory for builders under the Realty Act   The Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) has made it compulsory for developers to get title insurance for all projects, opening a new segment of over Rs 10,000 crore for insurance companies.   Insurance companies have so far not covered land transactions and they say the reason for missing cover is unreliable land records, which can be challenged.   After the implementation of Rera, it is mandatory for developers to provide written affidavit to the buyer stating that the legal title to the land contains legitimate documents of ownership. This policy covers buyers of property against loss and settlement costs, litigation funds arising from problems in the land title discovered after purchase. HDFC Ergo and SBI General are working on launching title insurance policy.   “As per Rera, every builder will have to buy title insurance an

Realty developers get notices for inflated credit claims under GST   About 400 real estate developers, including listed companies, have received notices from the indirect tax department for inflated credit claims under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), said two people aware of the development.  The developers have been asked to pay a fine of 100% and interest of about 18% on the wrongly claimed credit, according to the notices. Many developers, especially those with a substantial presence in commercial property and retail malls, have been served with the notices, tax officials said.  “About 20 developers from Mumbai, including some of the listed players, have submitted input credit claims for raw material that had already been used when GST was rolled out. These companies will now face steep fines,” said a tax official.  The companies had claimed credit on input costs such as steel, cement and sand used for under-construction buildings to offset future GST liabilities, tax offi

SEBI board to vet National Stock Exchange colocation probe report The regulator has completed the investigation against 20 brokers, who allegedly gained unfair access to NSE's trading facility The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has completed its investigation of 20 brokers in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) colocation (colo) controversy. The regulator in August last year had ordered a joint forensic audit to probe the brokers, who had allegedly gained unfair access to trading data feed between December 2012 and May 2014. According to sources, the investigation report has a detailed analysis of brokers using the colo facility to churn out thousands of trades and make huge profits. “There is a high probability that some brokerages who were using dark fibre connections received preferential treatment from bourse officials,” said a person privy to the development. However, he refused to give further details of the findings. The report is likely to be tabled in

 Minister arrives today: India to push on huge trade deficit India's import from China was Rs 61.3 bn and exports stood at a much lesser Rs 10.2 bn, leaving in its wake a massive Rs 51.1 bn trade deficit in 2016-17 Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan reaches New Delhi on Monday for official trade talks. In the backdrop of a possible trade war between the United States and China, India is looking to get China to reduce tariffs on our export, senior government officials suggested. The bilateral engagement, under the aegis of the India-China joint economic forum, will be significant for India since Beijing has decided to discuss India’s ballooning trade deficit, commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu said. India’s import from China was Rs 61.3 billion and exports stood at a much lesser Rs 10.2 billion, leaving in its wake a massive Rs 51.1 billion trade deficit in 2016-17. The government has been worried by increasing friction between the US — India’s largest export des

Businesses with nil tax liability may get to file GST returns bi-annually Businesses having zero tax liability for six consecutive months under GST may soon get relief once the proposal to allow such entities to file returns only twice a year gets the GST Council's nod. According to recent data, as much as 40 per cent of return filers under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime have nil tax liability and will not have to file monthly returns once the new simplified return filing procedure is finalised. The GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising his state counterparts, will at its next meeting consider the proposal to simplify the GST return forms. "Taxpayers whose liability is nil for six consecutive months will be required to file six-monthly return," an official told PTI. As per the proposal prepared by the revenue authorities, the return filing date would be spread out. Businesses having annual turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore wil