The Centre has turned down the proposal of the empowered group of state finance ministers to keep alcohol out of goods and services tax. The government has in fact suggested that both alcohol and tobacco, which are demerit goods and considered harmful for health, should be kept under GST, with the states getting the power to levy excise duty over and above GST on alcohol. The Centre would have the same power in case of tobacco.
India will not tax foreign funds at their point of entry as the government believes the economy is resilient enough to absorb the dollar deluge. Such a tax on foreign inflows — called the Tobin tax, after its proponent, 1981 Economics Nobel winner James Tobin of the US — is being fiercely advocated by the EU and the UK, while Brazil has already imposed a 2 per cent levy. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, however, does not favour a tax on finances entering India. He told Parliament today that “the market mechanisms have sufficient resilience and have been functioning normally”.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday indicated the government could rewrite the new direct tax code to make it acceptable to all stakeholders. On the tax code, he said, the government would attempt to build consensus on the proposals. “I have laid a certain proposal in the form of a direct tax code. But it is not the Bhagwad Gita and it cannot be said that it cannot be changed,” he added.
Government proposes to extent benefits of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) to food parks so that the country could quickly emerge as a regional hub for food processing and SEZ benefits are available only to SEZ Developers and units. Mega Food Park Scheme presently operates under different set of guidelines framed by the Government.
ALL practicing chartered accountants in the country may now have to keep a close tab on their clients, as the accounting rule-maker , the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), is considering a proposal to devise a set of know your customer (KYC) norms to be followed by its members before taking up business.
The Government has set up a Market Research and Analysis Unit in the Serious Fraud Investigation Office with the objective of improvements in the regulatory system in Corporate Sector. Giving this information in the Lok Sabha today Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister of Corporate Affairs said the unit will inter-alia perform following main functions:
With airlines deep in red and reports of dues to employees and vendors becoming common, the government may soon subject them to a detailed financial audit. Aviation minister Praful Patel on Thursday told Parliament that the DGCA had recommended such an exercise for airlines “in deep financial distress”.
Can residential premises be used for professional or business office purposes? It is generally believed that only a part of the flat can be used for professional purposes and that no part of the flat can be used for business office purposes. However the decided case laws on the subject speak otherwise.
Income-tax arrears against assessees — of Rs 2,01,276 crore as on March 31, 2009 — have once again become an issue, as Parliament’s standing committee on finance has asked the Department of Revenue and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to put in place a Management Information System (MIS) within three months for collating and retrieving data concerning appeals, pendency disposal and recovery.
The government today shot down a suggestion in the Lok Sabha for setting up a committee under the Member of Parliament in respective constituencies for monitoring disbursement of loans by banks to priority sector like agriculture, small and medium enterprises.
