Despite repeated appeals made to all the members of the income tax family, & despite the hard work put in by most of them, processing of refund cases is depressingly behind schedule. At the moment around 1.35 lac Returns are processed every day, out of which only 26% are refund cases. CBDT is conscious of the manpower constraints as also the huge pendency; it is accordingly advised that all refund Returns should be segregated, processed out of turn & all refunds of AY 09-10 & 10-11 be necessarily cleared by March 31 2011.
In my proposals for the Direct Taxes, for the year 2011-12, I had proposed to provide lower tax rate of 15 per cent on dividends received by Indian companies from foreign subsidiary companies in which the Indian company holds more than 50 per cent share capital. Several representations have been made requesting further relaxation in the ownership pattern of the foreign subsidiaries. I, therefore, propose to lower the holding requirement in the foreign company from 50 per cent to 26 per cent. This will enable overseas joint ventures with Indian partnership, to also avail this benefit.
The Union Finance Minister also announced the basic reduction of custom duty on raw silk (not thrown) from 30 per cent to 5 per cent ad valorem. This was done to augment domestic availability for weavers, both in the handloom and the power loom segments, Shri Mukherjee added. The Finance Minister said that a number of representations supporting and opposing this move have been received. Responding to them, the Finance Minister said that he would like to assure the House that the Government would keep a close watch on import volumes and domestic prices and respond, if required, to mitigate any adverse impact on the domestic sericulture sector.
The Enforcement Directorate is likely to summon sacked CWG Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi and some other officials for alleged violations of forex rules during last year”s Commonwealth Games. According to sources, the ED will issue show cause notices to Kalmadi and the others to ascertain their “exact” roles in financial dealings and other decisions related to fund transfers, especially for the Queens Baton Relay (QBR) that was held in London before the Games were held here.
LIST NO.1- LOK SABHA FINANCE BILL, 2011 (As Introduced in Lok Sabha) Notice of Amendments Dated: March 21, 2011. Amendment of section 40A- insert ‘ 7A In section 40A of the Income tax Act, in sub-section (9), after the words, brackets and figures under clause (iv), the words, brackets, figures and letter or clause (iva) shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of April, 2012.’.
In a bid to provide relief from high inflation, the government today increased dearness allowance (DA) by 6 per cent to 51 per cent, benefiting over 50 lakh central government employees and 38 lakh pensioners.
Under the revised norms, 10% excise would be levied on 45% of the tariff value of retail price on branded readymade garments as against 60% proposed in the Budget. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday eased some of the pressure on the readymade garment sector by increasing the abatement available for levy of taxes on retail price of some branded garments and textile made-ups.
The government today introduced a Constitution Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha with a view to create a common market for goods and services and replace the existing indirect taxation regime with a uniform Goods and Services Tax (GST) system.
Bowing to demand from all quarters, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today announced withdrawal of the proposed 5 per cent service tax on airconditioned hospitals with more than 25 beds and on diagonistic services.
The stock exchanges may consider shifting the trading in these securities to normal Rolling Settlement subject to the following: a) At least 50% of other than promoter holdings as per clause 35 of Listing Agreement are in dematerialized mode before shifting the trading in the securities of the company from TFTS to normal Rolling Settlement. For this purpose, the listed companies shall obtain a certificate from its Registrar and Transfer Agent (RTA) and submit the same to the stock exchange/s. However, if an issuer-company does not have a separate RTA, it may obtain a certificate in this regard from a practicing company Secretary/Chartered Accountant and submit the same to the stock exchange/s.
