In addition to the Seven Central Government SEZs and 12 State/ Private Sector SEZs set up prior to the enactment of SEZ Act, 2005, formal approval have been accorded to 571 proposals out of which 348 SEZs have been notified. A total of 105 SEZs are already exporting.
The Economic Survey presented to Parliament on 25.02.2010 says that the economy has bounced back from the global economic slowdown and is on its way to the growth path of 9 per cent. The CSO estimate of 7.2 per cent GDP growth for 2009-10 reflects the fast paced recovery given the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) posting a record 16.8 per cent year-on-year growth during the month of December 2009.
The Bombay High Court has held that an application under Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) can be withdrawn before the employer accepts it. Division bench of Justices S A Bobade and Vasanti Naik held in the recent judgement that even though the VRS rules do not provide for withdrawal of application, it can be allowed.
Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has recommended amending the rules to widen the scope of levying service tax on the entertainment business.This recommendation has been made for the coming Budget (2010-11). Entertainment is currently taxed separately by states and as service tax by the central government.
The Centre-appointed core committee, dealing with the transition from the Indian Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (IGAAP) to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), is expected to come out with fresh guidelines for implementing the new standards by the end of this month.
A YEAR after the Satyam scandal, the accounting regulatory body, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), has recommended setting up of a whistleblower system within all audit firms.
Barely two months after Mahindra Satyam agreed to pay $70 million to the UK-based mobile payment services firm Upaid in an out-of-court settlement, a fresh row has erupted between the two firms over a tax dispute. Seeking legal help this time, Mahindra Satyam, in a preemptive move, has moved a US court over the tax liabilities of the settlement amount.
Electronic payment of Service Tax has been made mandatory for assessees whose total Service Tax payment including utilization of CENVAT credit for the preceding financial year is Rs. 10 lakh or more as against the existing threshold of Rs. 50 lakh or more.
1 Sultanpur-Mumbai Express (via Nihalgarh) (Weekly), 2. Sultanpur-Ajmer Express (via Nihalgarh) (Weekly), 3 Asansol-Digha Express (Weekly), 4. Howrah-Katpadi(Vellore)-Puducherry Express via Bhubaneswar, 5. Kishanganj-Ajmer Express (Weekly), 6 Kolkata-Ajmer Express via Singrauli-Katni-Bhopal-Nagda-Ratlam, (Weekly)
Government proposes to come out with standard input and output norms for service tax and excise Official sources said such norms form the benchmark of costing, which helps in working out the price of inputs required for manufacturing or producing a certain quantity of output. This is important, since most business entities or companies claim refund or get Cenvat (central value added tax) credit for the value of inputs used in producing the output.
