India will soon implement the free trade agreement (FTA) in goods with two more Asean countries — Indonesia, Cambodia — by slashing duties on hundreds of products including seafood, chemicals, apparel and tyres. In turn the two countries will also slash import duties on hundreds of Indian goods.
Non-Resident Indians can hope to cast votes in their home country as the Rajya Sabha today passed a bill to provide them voting rights. “We are not doing them any charity,” law minister M Veerappa Moily said, while replying to a brief debate on a bill that seeks to amend the Representation of Peoples Act.
Co-operative societies are covered by the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, and the fact that they are exempted by a notification of 1979 “is not absolute”, the Madras High Court has held.
“The mutual fund or the life insurer or the person responsible for making payment of the distributed income on its behalf, shall be liable to pay tax to the credit of the government within a period of fourteen days from the date of distribution or payment of such income, whichever is earlier,” said the DTC Bill.
Provisions of the proposed direct taxes code will strengthen India’s tax demands on cross-border acquisitions involving Indian companies. Section (5) of the code stipulates that tax is payable in India whenever a foreign company’s shares are transferred, if at least 50% of its assets are situated in India.
The new rules of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) take effect from September 1. Ulips, which contributed 80 per cent of the total premium collected by private companies, will see a dramatic change. Irda has capped the difference between net and gross yields during the policy term. Insurers will have to offer a minimum prescribed return even if a policyholder withdraws from the fund before maturity. For the fifth year, the cap is fixed at four per cent.
Works contract service made taxable with effect from 1 June 2007. Thus, services such as construction, erection, commissioning or installation, repair services provided prior to 1 June 2007, to be classified as a works contract service in case subsisting beyond 1 June 2007.
Union Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee made a statement in both the Houses of Parliament i.e., Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha today on the Protocol signed between India and Switzerland yesterday to amend the existing Agreement and Protocol for Avoidance of Double Taxation with respect to Taxes on Income. Text of the statement is given below:
Purpose of Arbitration Act is to provide quick redressal to commercial dispute by private Arbitration. Quick decision of any commercial dispute is necessary for smooth functioning of business and industry. Internationally, it is accepted that normally commercial disputes should be solved through arbitration and not through normal judicial system. Hence, the need of Alternate Dispute Resolution. (ADR).
The government today proposed to retain corporate tax at 30 per cent, but without the surcharge and cess that increase the current levy to over 33 per cent. The current tax rate for domestic companies, including surcharge and cesses, comes to about 33.22 per cent, while foreign companies pay over 40 per cent.
