Fraudulent home loan seekers and habitual defaulters will have a tough time now as lenders have a ready pool of information available on them, with the launch of the country”s first electronic centralised database of mortgage information called Cibil Mortgage Check. Cibil Mortgage Check would help banks and financial institutions share and access mortgage information, exercise better due diligence, and thus help reduce fraudulent property transactions.
The new direct taxes code has provisions to restrain public sector undertakings and the tax department from taking their disputes beyond a certain level, a move aimed at curbing wasteful litigation.
Pension products offered by insurers and mutual funds could be included in the long-term savings schemes eligible for tax concession available to individual under the new Direct Taxes Code provided they meet the norms laid out by the government.
The government may allow the Leave Travel Allowance (LTA) to be exempted from taxation once the Direct Tax Code (DTC) comes into effect. The directive to this extent will figure in the rules to be framed by the finance ministry after the DTC is passed by Parliament.
Concerned over Rs 38,000 crore in tax revenue being locked up in legal disputes, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today asked the authorities to step up efforts to realise the taxes. “Rs 28,046 crore is blocked in appeal before CIT (Appeal) and Rs 10,010 crore before Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT),” Mukherjee said after meeting Revenue Department officials here.
A Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended raising the limit of donations a company can make to the political parties in a year from 5 per cent to 7.5 per cent of the average net profits in three immediate past financial years.
Advanced economies must pursue long-term policy reforms to reduce public debt levels over the coming decades and ensure future fiscal sustainability, according to three papers published today by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In order to protect the fragile economic recovery, support growth and job creation and provide reassurance to capital markets, fiscal adjustment plans must be clearly defined—but with a focus on the medium term rather than seeking a quick fix.
The Life Insurance Corporation of India has made a strong case for continuing tax breaks on life insurance policies bought with an investment objective. Referring to the Direct Tax Code proposal that extends tax-breaks to only those policies that have a sum insured of at least 20 times the premium paid, LIC chairman TS Vijayan said the important thing was that life insurance investments were long-term and protection-oriented.
It is official now. The country may miss the April 1, 2011 deadline for adopting a dual goods and services tax (GST) system. The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, has now conceded that it may not be possible to introduce GST from April 1 next year. The main bottleneck in achieving this major tax reform is the absence of consensus between the Centre and the States on the required Constitutional Amendment for introduction of GST.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee asked on Wednesday commissioners of the income tax departmentand customs to focus on low growth in service tax, the high level of arrears and amounts locked in litigation and adjudication.
