winter session

The government today said that it would not be able to table the new Companies Bill that was expected to be enacted by the end of this year, in the Parliament's winter session. Failing to meet the earlier deadline of tabling the Companies Bill 2009 i Full Article

As a first step towards simplifying and bringing about structural changes in direct taxes, the new Direct Taxes Code („Code?) Bill 2009 has been released for public debate. This is expected to be presented in the winter session 2009 of the Parliament. The Code, once enacted, is proposed to be effective from 1st of April 2011. Full Article

A bill enabling the State Bank of India (SBI) to split its shares and issue bonus shares may be placed in the current winter session of Parliament. Besides, the amendments to the State Bank of India Act, 1955, envisage the preferential or private placement of shares. The SBI (Amendment) Bill also proposes to allow India’s No. 1 bank to bring down the government holding to 51 per cent, which is on a par with other nationalised banks. Full Article

With the mammoth task of garnering support on contentious issues like exempt exempt tax (EET) regime for savings and minimum alternative tax (MAT) still to be done, the Direct Tax Codes Bill, which will replace the archaic Income Tax Act, 1961, is not likely to be introduced in the ongoing Parliament session. According to official sources, the bill will be tabled in Parliament only in the Budget Session. Full Article

Major financial sector bills such as the Insurance Law Amendment Bill seeking to increase the FDI cap in private insurance firms and the Banking Regulation Amendment Bill to raise the voting rights of foreign entities in private sector banks are unlikely to be taken up in the Winter session of Parliament that begins today. Full Article

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the government's apex tax policy and collection body, has suggested that the new direct taxes code abolish Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) and continue to offer individuals tax exemptions on savings under the existing EEE (exempt-exempt- exempt) method. Full Article