The Government on Friday said there was “near unanimity” among all stakeholders to raise the ceiling of payment on gratuity for private sector employees from Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh and hoped a decision in this regard will be taken before the forthcoming Budget session. “We have already prepared legislation and it remains to be ap...

The Supreme Court has dismissed the Centre's plea challenging the Bombay High Court ruling that restrained it from levying service tax from Indian National Shipowners Association for services received abroad between March 2002 and April 2006. The high court had held that services received by vessels and ships outside India prior to April ...

The government has written to the RBI asking it to consider classifying loans to the infrastructure sector as secured lending to increase the flow of funds to the sector, a finance ministry official told. As per RBI guidelines, loans given to infrastructure sector specially, road, construction, telecom and ports, fall under the unsecured ...

Direct to Home [DTH] operators will have to cough up five per cent of their gross receipt as entertainment tax to Orissa government’s coffer. This was decided in the cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister, Naveen Patnaik on Thursday. State finance minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadei said the government will amend the entertainment tax ...

Airports Authority of India require panel of chartered accountants firms for verification of annual fees for Joint venture Projects. The criteria of the Firm is to have past president ICAI as active(?)partner of the Chartered Accountant firm. It clearly states that the firm shall have a Past President of ICAI for the last twelve years as ...

The Income Tax department is giving special attention to tax deducted at source (TDS) as it aims to turn in the highest ever collection from the segment this financial year. During the last five years, the contribution from TDS had gone up from 33 per cent to 38.5 per cent of the net direct tax collection with an annual average growth of ...

The Core Group, constituted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for convergence of Indian Accounting Standards with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) from April, 2011, that held its meeting on 11th January 2010 agreed that in view of the roadmap for achieving convergence, there will be two separate sets of Accounting Sta...

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has sought a detailed report from the field formation in Mumbai over the reported “income- tax refund scam” in that jurisdiction. “The Government has called for a report. We are monitoring the situation,” sources in the CBDT told today....

The Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises has been implementing a plan scheme of Assistance to Training Institutions , commonly known as the EDI scheme since 1993-94. Under the scheme assistance is provided to existing and new training Institutions for establishment of Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) and strengthening...

The credit taken on common inputs is very small but the demand is very huge. The authors of this article have come across the situation where the credit taken on common inputs was only Rs. 30,000 but the demand raised was around Rs. 65 Lakhs. Thus, it has created havoc in the minds of industrialists. Even the defenses taken in reply of su...