Mutual fund distributors are set to approach the capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), seeking a central bureau of registry for all ‘know your client’ (KYC) documentation. The distributors will also lobby for an electronic or digital KYC till a comprehensive system is put in place. They maintain that this would bring down the volume of paper in the system that would otherwise be generated if the distributors were to send a copy of all supporting documents to AMCs with retrospective effect.
Eighteen months after introducing India’s volatility index, or VIX, market regulator Sebi has begun its groundwork to introduce derivatives contracts, with the index as the underlying. VIX is a measure of traders’ near-term expectations of implied volatility, or IV, based on the 50 stock options prices on the Nifty index. The regulator is believed to be talking to market participants about the possibility of introducing futures and options that traders can use to bet on the direction of the VIX.
One of the most favoured duty reimbursement schemes among exporters — the Duty Entitlement Passbook (DEPB) scheme — is likely to be scrapped, as the government gears up to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 1. The scheme, which was extended till December 31 in the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-2014, is widely viewed as one of the best incentive schemes by exporters.
Changes in regulations like the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Goods and Services Tax (GST), Direct Taxes Code and the new Companies Act are likely to spur business for consulting and audit firms.
The government may take the first step towards fiscal consolidation in Budget 2010-11 by partially rolling back tax cuts given to the industry last year. The service tax rate may be restored to 12 per cent, while excise duty could be increased marginally.
The Centre has suggested setting up a common dispute resolution scheme for settlement of cases in the proposed goods and services tax (GST). It is also suggesting sharing of service centres between the Centre and states, besides common registration facilities for traders. “It is proposed to prescribe a common registration form, common registration number, common return format, common service centres for acceptance of registration applications and return for Central GST and State GST, &” Sushil Solanki, commissioner, central excise, said at a seminar on GST regulations at the American Chamber of Commerce on Monday.
The Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has said that timely and pro-active monetary and fiscal measures have ensured that the growth process remain intact despite the adverse impact of global financial crisis. He was chairing the meeting of Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the Finance Ministry, here today.
The finance ministry is likely to keep the corporate tax rate unchanged at 30%, as it faces stiff resistance from companies to the draft direct tax code’s proposal to cut the rate to 25% and remove all exemptions. “Corporates are resisting the phasing out of exemptions even with a lower tax rate,” said a senior government official.
Driven by angry mortgage borrowers, RBI has once again nudged top banks to charge lower home loan rates to old customers instead of just using the lower interest rates to pull new borrowers. But lenders continued to resist the proposal, citing cost mismatch. The contentious issue cropped up when CEOs of large banks met senior RBI officials on Thursday to suggest possible measures that the central bank could consider for the January 29 monetary policy.
The Income-Tax authorities expect to raise nearly Rs 30 crore from Vidhu Vinod Chopra — the Bollywood film producer, whose recently-produced movie 3 Idiots emerged as the highest grosser in the history of Hindi cinema — for his income in 2009-10. An I-T official, who did not wish to be named, said Mr Chopra visited the I-T department last week to sort out issues related to his income tax payment. He is expected to pay the last installment of advance tax by March 15.
