Bank Deposit Scheme
Bank Deposit Scheme
Lending/deposit in the banks
is a commercial decision which is regulated by the banks as per their Board
driven policies in line with various guidelines of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Government has recently notified a deposit scheme viz, Sukanya Samriddhi
Account Yojana 2014 through banks.
RBI has advised banks to achieve a credit deposit ratio of 60% in respect of their rural and semi-urban branches separately on an all-India basis. The Banks should also ensure that wide disparity in the ratios between different States/Regions is avoided in order to minimize regional imbalance in credit deployment.
RBI has advised Banks to set up a Special Sub-committee (SSC) of District Level Consultative Committee (DLCC) for those districts having Credit Deposit Ratio (CDR) less than 40% to draw up Monitorable Action Plans (MAPs), monitor such action plan on a regular basis and initiate necessary action for improving CDR.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
*****
Department of Financial
Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance holds a Review Meeting today with all the
Public and Private Sector Banks about the banking services in Chennai and other
flood affected districts in Tamil Nadu;
All the Banks asked to restore banking services in affected areas as early as possible and provide ATM and other services to the people round the clock
All the Banks asked to restore banking services in affected areas as early as possible and provide ATM and other services to the people round the clock
Department of Financial
Services conducted a Review Meeting today with all the Public and Private Sector
Banks and reviewed the banking services in Chennai and other flood affected
districts in State of Tamil Nadu. All the Banks have been asked to restore
banking services in affected areas as early as possible and provide ATM and
other services to the people round the clock. They have been requested to
provide mobile ATMs/PoS Machine services through Bank Mitras mounted on boat or
other means. Banks have been asked to replenish cash in all the ATMs. All the
Banks in flood affected areas will remain open on Sunday and will also offer
extended business hours.
*****
Committee headed by the Chief
Economic Adviser Dr. Arvind Subramanian on Possible Tax rates under GST submits
its Report to the Finance Minister; On the Revenue Neutral Rate (RNR), the
Committee recommends the same in the range between 15 percent and 15.5 percent
(Centre and states combined) with a preference for the lower end of that range
based on the analysis made in the Report
Committee
headed by the Chief Economic Adviser Dr. Arvind Subramanian on Possible Tax
rates under GST submitted its Report to the Finance Minister here today.
The Committee in its concluding observations has stated that this is a historic
opportunity for India to implement a game-changing tax reform. Domestically, it
will help improve governance, strengthen tax institutions, facilitate “Make in
India by Making One India,” and impart buoyancy to the tax base. It will also set
the global standard for a value-added tax (VAT) in large federal systems in the
years to come.
Following are the highlights of the Executive
Summary of the Report submitted today:
The
GST has been an initiative that has commanded broad consensus across the
political spectrum. It has also been a model of cooperative federalism in
practice with the Centre and states coming together as partners in embracing
growth and employment-enhancing reforms. It is a reform that is long awaited
and its implementation will validate expectations of important government
actions and effective political will that have, to some extent, already been
“priced in.”
Getting
the design of the GST right is, therefore, critical. Specifically, the GST
should aim at tax rates that protect revenue, simplify administration,
encourage compliance, avoid adding to inflationary pressures, and keep India in
the range of countries with reasonable levels of indirect taxes.
There
is first a need to clarify terminology. The term revenue neutral rate (RNR)
will refer to that single rate, which preserves revenue at desired (current)
levels. In practice, there will be a structure of rates, but for the sake of
analytical clarity and precision it is appropriate to think of the RNR as a
single rate. It is a given single rate that gets converted into a whole rate
structure, depending on policy choices about exemptions, what commodities to
charge at a lower rate (if at all), and what to charge at a very high rate. The
RNR should be distinguished from the “standard” rate defined as that rate in a
GST regime which is applied to all goods and services whose taxation is not
explicitly specified. Typically, the majority of the base (i.e., majority of
goods and services) will be taxed at the standard rate, although this is not
always true, and indeed it is not true for the states under the current regime.
Against this background, the Committee drew a few
important conclusions.
· Because identifying
the exact RNR depends on a number of assumptions and imponderables; because,
therefore, this task is as much soft judgement as hard science; and finally
also because the prerogative of deciding the precise numbers will be that of
the future GST Council, this Committee has chosen to recommend a range for the
RNR rather than a specific rate. For the same reason, the Committee has decided
to recommend not one but a few conditional rate structures that depend on
policy choices made on exemptions, and the taxation of certain commodities such
as precious metals.
The summary of recommended options is provided in
the table below.
|
Summary of Recommended Rate Options (in percent)
|
|||||
|
RNR
|
Rate on precious metals
|
"Low" rate (goods)
|
"Standard" rate
(goods and services)
|
"High/Demerit" rateor Non-GST excise (goods)
|
|
|
Preferred
|
15
|
6
|
12
|
16.9
|
40
|
|
|
|
4
|
17.3
|
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
17.7
|
|
|
|
Alternative
|
15.5
|
6
|
12
|
18.0
|
40
|
|
|
|
4
|
18.4
|
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
18.9
|
|
|
All rates are the sum of rates at center and states
· On
the RNR, the Committee’s view is that the range should between 15 percent and
15.5 percent (Centre and states combined) but with a preference for the lower
end of that range based on the analysis in this report.
· On
structure, in line with growing international practice and with a view to
facilitating compliance and administration, India should strive toward a
one-rate structure as the medium-term goal.
· Meanwhile,
the Committee recommends a two-rate structure. In order to ensure that the
standard rate is kept close to the RNR, the maximum possible tax base should be
taxed at the standard rate. The Committee would recommend that lower rates be
kept around 12 per cent (Centre plus states) with standard rates varying
between 17 and 18 per cent.
· It
is now growing international practice to levy sin/demerit rates—in the form of
excises outside the scope of the GST--on goods and services that create
negative externalities for the economy. As currently envisaged, such demerit
rates—other than for alcohol and petroleum (for the states) and tobacco and
petroleum (for the Centre)—will have to be provided for within the structure of
the GST. The foregone flexibility for the center and the states is balanced by
the greater scrutiny that will be required because such taxes have to be done
within the GST context and hence subject to discussions in the GST Council.
Accordingly, the Committee recommends that this sin/demerit rate be fixed at about 40 percent (Centre plus states)
and apply to luxury cars, aerated beverages, paan masala, and tobacco and
tobacco products (for the states).
· This
historic opportunity of cleaning up the tax system is necessary in itself but
also to support GST rates that facilitate rather than burden compliance.
Choices that the GST Council makes regarding exemptions/low taxation (for
example, on gold and precious metals, and area-based exemptions) will be
critical. The more the exemptions that are retained the higher will be the
standard rate. There is no getting away from a simple and powerful reality: the
broader the scope of exemptions, the less effective the GST will be. For
example, if precious metals continues to enjoy highly concessional rates, the
rest of the economy will have to pay in the form of higher rates on other
goods, including essential ones. As the table shows, very low rates on precious
metals would lead to a high standard rate closer to 20 percent, distorting the
economy and adding to inflationary pressures. On the other hand, moderately higher
taxes on precious metals, which would be consistent with the government’s
efforts to wean consumers away from gold, could lead to a standard rate closer
to 17 percent. This example illustrates that the design of the GST cannot
afford to cherry pick—for example, keeping a low RNR while not limiting
exemptions--because that will risk undermining the objectives of the GST.
· The
GST also represents a historic opportunity to rationalize the tax system that
is complicated in terms of rates and structures and has become an “Exemptions
Raj,” rife with opportunities for selectivity and discretion. Tax policy cannot
be overly burdened with achieving industrial, regional, and social policy
goals; more targeted instruments should be found to meet such goals, for
example, easing the costs of doing business, public investment, and direct
benefit transfers, respectively; cesses should be reduced and sparingly used.
Another problem with exemptions is that, by breaking up the value-added chain,
they lead in practice to a multiplicity of rates that is unpredictable,
obscured, and distortionary. A rationalization of exemptions under the GST will
complement a similar effort already announced for corporate taxes, making for a
much cleaner overall tax system.
· The rationalization
of exemptions is especially salient for the center, where exemptions have
proliferated. Indeed, revenue neutrality for the center can only be achieved if
the base for the center is similar to that of the states (which have fewer
exemptions—90 products versus 300 for the center). If policy objectives have to
be met, instruments other than tax exemptions such as direct transfers could be
deployed.
· The
Committee’s recommendations on rates summarized in the table above are all national
rates, comprising the sum of central and state GST rates. How these combined
rates are allocated between the center and states will be determined by the GST
Council. This allocation must reflect the revenue requirements of the Centre
and states so that revenues are protected. For example, a standard rate of 17%
would lead to rates at the Centre and states of say 8 percent and 9 percent,
respectively. The Committee considers that there are sound reasons not to
provide for an administration-complicating “band” of rates, especially given
the considerable flexibility and autonomy that states will preserve under the
GST (including the ability to tax petroleum, alcohol, and other goods and
services).
· Implementing
the GST will lead to some uncharted waters, especially in relation to services
taxation by the states. Preliminary analysis in this report indicates that
there should not be large shifts in the tax base in moving to the GST, implying
that overall compensation may not be large. Nevertheless, fair, transparent,
and credible compensation will create the conditions for effective
implementation by the states and for engendering trust between the Centre and
states; The GST also represents a historic opportunity to Make in India by
Making One India. Eliminating all taxes on inter-state trade (including the 1
percent additional duty) and replacing them by one GST will be critical to
achieving this objective;
· Analysis
in the report suggests that the proposed structure of tax rates will have minimal
inflationary consequences. But careful monitoring and review will be necessary
to ensure that implementing the GST does not create the conditions for
anti-competitive behavior;
· Complexity
and lags in GST implementation require that any evaluation of the GST—and any
consequential decisions—should not be undertaken over short horizons (say
months) but over longer periods say 1–2 years. For example, if six months into
implementation, revenues are seen to be falling a little short, there should
not be a hasty decision to raise rates until such time as it becomes clear that
the shortfall is not due to implementation issues. Facilitating easy
implementation and taxpayer compliance at an early stage—via low rates and
without adding to inflationary pressures--will be critical. In the early
stages, if that requires raising other taxes or countenancing a slightly higher
deficit--that would be worth considering.
· Finally,
the report has presented detailed evidence on effective tax burdens on
different commodities which highlights that in some cases they are inconsistent
with policy objectives. It would be advisable at an early stage in the future,
and taking account of the experience of the GST, to consider bringing fully
into the scope of the GST commodities that are proposed to be kept outside,
either constitutionally or otherwise. Bringing alcohol and real estate within
the scope of the GST would further the government’s objectives of improving
governance and reducing black money generation without compromising on states’
fiscal autonomy. Bringing electricity and petroleum within the scope of the GST
could make Indian manufacturing more competitive; and eliminating the
exemptions on health and education would make tax policy more consistent with
social policy objectives.
There is a legitimate
concern that policy should not be changed easily to suit short term ends. But
there are enough checks and balances in the parliamentary system and enough
pressures of democratic accountability to ensure that. Moreover, since tax design
is profoundly political and contingent, it would be unwise to encumber the
Constitution with the minutiae of policy that limits the freedom of the
political process in the future: the process must retain the choice on what to
include in/exclude from the GST (for example, alcohol) and what rates to levy.
The credibility of the macroeconomic system as a whole is undermined by
constitutionalising a tax rate or a tax exemption. Setting a tax rate or an
exemptions policy in stone for all time, regardless of the circumstances that
will arise in future, of the macroeconomic conditions, and of national
priorities may not be credible or effective in the medium term. This is the
reason India—and most credible polities around the world--do not
constitutionalise the specifics of tax policy. The GST should be no different.
The nation is on the
cusp of executing one of the most ambitious and remarkable tax reforms in its
independent history. Implementing a new tax, encompassing both goods and
services, to be implemented by the Centre, 29 States And 2 Union Territories,
in a large and complex federal system, via a constitutional amendment requiring
broad political consensus, affecting potentially 2-2.5 million tax entities,
and marshalling the latest technology to use and improve tax implementation
capability, is perhaps unprecedented in modern global tax history. The time is
ripe to collectively seize this historic opportunity.
*****
Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT)
in Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI)
Justice A.P. Shah Committee
has recommended that section 115JB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 may be amended
to clarify the inapplicability of MAT provisions to Foreign Institutions
Investors (FIIs)/Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs). Alternatively, a circular
may be issued clarifying the inapplicability of MAT provisions to FIIs/FPIs.
The Government has accepted the recommendation of the Committee and decided to carry out appropriate amendment so as to provide that MAT provisions will not be applicable to FIIs/FPIs not having a place of business/permanent establishment in India, for a period prior to 01.04.2015. An appropriate legislative amendment to the income-tax Act is proposed to be carried out.
Currently 489 applications are pending before the Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) for more than six months. Some of them may involve MAT issue besides other issues.
Government has created two new benches of AAR, one at Mumbai and the other at National Capital Region vide Notification No. 1/2-015 dated 20.3.2015. Further, vide Sanction Order No. 1/2015 dated 18.6.2015, necessary number of posts have been created for the newly created benches.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
The Government has accepted the recommendation of the Committee and decided to carry out appropriate amendment so as to provide that MAT provisions will not be applicable to FIIs/FPIs not having a place of business/permanent establishment in India, for a period prior to 01.04.2015. An appropriate legislative amendment to the income-tax Act is proposed to be carried out.
Currently 489 applications are pending before the Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) for more than six months. Some of them may involve MAT issue besides other issues.
Government has created two new benches of AAR, one at Mumbai and the other at National Capital Region vide Notification No. 1/2-015 dated 20.3.2015. Further, vide Sanction Order No. 1/2015 dated 18.6.2015, necessary number of posts have been created for the newly created benches.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
*****
Government Launches Three Gold
Schemes; India Surpasses China as the World’s Largest Gold Consumer
As per the (Gold Fields
Minerals Survey) GFMS Gold Survey in the third quarter of 2015 Review and
Outlook Report, published by Thompson Reuters, India has surpassed China as the
world’s largest gold consumer. According to the report, the consumption of gold
in the first nine months of the year 2015 in India has been 642 tonnes whereas
that in China has been 579 tonnes. A fall in the prices of gold in the recent
months has been one of the reasons for the increased demand for gold in India.
The Government has recently launched a Gold Monetization Scheme (GMS), Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) Scheme and Indian Gold Coin under gold monetization programme to reduce reliance n gold imports by encouraging households to monetize their gold. These three gold schemes were announced in the Union Budget 2015-16 and were accordingly launched on 5th November, 2015. The detailed guidelines of the Gold Monetization Scheme are available vide RBI’s Master Direction No. DBR.IBD.No.45/23.67.003/2015-16 dated October 22, 2015 which is available on RBI’s website. The detailed guidelines of the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme is available vide Government of India’s Gazette Notification F.No. 4(19)-W&M/2014 dated October 30, 2015. The Indian Gold Coin is the country’s first national gold coin of 24 karat purity with 999 fineness which is minted indigenously. It has the Ashok Chakra engraved on one side and the face of Mahatma Gandhi on the other.
The Government receives representations from various organization and individuals with suggestions to improve the existing schemes. These are taken note of and necessary changes made from time to time based on the review of the schemes.
The Gold Monetization Scheme does not provide tax amnesty. As per the guidelines issued by the Government of Gold Monetization Scheme which are available on the website of the Ministry of Finance, tax exemptions, same as those available under the earlier Gold Deposit Scheme (GDS) would be made available to the customers, as applicable.
The objective of the Gold Monetization Scheme is to mobilize the gold held by households and institutions in the country to put this gold into productive use and in the long-run to reduce the current account deficit by reducing the country’s reliance on the imports of gold to meet the domestic demand.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
The Government has recently launched a Gold Monetization Scheme (GMS), Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) Scheme and Indian Gold Coin under gold monetization programme to reduce reliance n gold imports by encouraging households to monetize their gold. These three gold schemes were announced in the Union Budget 2015-16 and were accordingly launched on 5th November, 2015. The detailed guidelines of the Gold Monetization Scheme are available vide RBI’s Master Direction No. DBR.IBD.No.45/23.67.003/2015-16 dated October 22, 2015 which is available on RBI’s website. The detailed guidelines of the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme is available vide Government of India’s Gazette Notification F.No. 4(19)-W&M/2014 dated October 30, 2015. The Indian Gold Coin is the country’s first national gold coin of 24 karat purity with 999 fineness which is minted indigenously. It has the Ashok Chakra engraved on one side and the face of Mahatma Gandhi on the other.
The Government receives representations from various organization and individuals with suggestions to improve the existing schemes. These are taken note of and necessary changes made from time to time based on the review of the schemes.
The Gold Monetization Scheme does not provide tax amnesty. As per the guidelines issued by the Government of Gold Monetization Scheme which are available on the website of the Ministry of Finance, tax exemptions, same as those available under the earlier Gold Deposit Scheme (GDS) would be made available to the customers, as applicable.
The objective of the Gold Monetization Scheme is to mobilize the gold held by households and institutions in the country to put this gold into productive use and in the long-run to reduce the current account deficit by reducing the country’s reliance on the imports of gold to meet the domestic demand.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
*****
Tax Relief Expenditure on
Serious Diseases
A deduction upto Rs. 40,000/-
on account of expenditure on medical treatment of specified diseases is allowed
from the total income of the assessee under the provisions of section 80DDB of
the Income-tax Act, 1961. The limit is increased to Rs. 60,000/- and Rs.
80,000/- if the amount is paid on the treatment of a senior citizen (an
individual of the age of 60 years and above) and very senior citizen (an
individual of the age of 80 years and above) respectively. The diseases are
specified in the Rule 11DD of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 which inter-alia,
include cancer, AIDS, hemophilia etc. In addition to the above, a deduction
upto Rs. 25,000 (30,000 in case of a senior citizen) is allowed under section
80D of Income Tax Act, 1961 on account of health insurance premium. In case of
a very senior citizen, the deduction of Rs. 30,000 on account of medical
expenditure is allowed under said section 80D if he does not have a health
insurance policy.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
*****
Credit Campaign to
give Push to Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (Mudra) Loan Under
PMMY
The Public Sector Banks (PSBs), Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) have started mega
credit campaign across the country to give a push to the Pradhan Mantri Mudra
Yojana for the benefit of weaker sections to become self-sufficient.
A credit campaign was organized from September 25 to October 2, 2015. Target
fixed by the Government of India for the current year for Micro Units
Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) loan under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana
is Rs. 1,22,188 crore (Rs. 70,000 crore was allotted to Public Sector Banks,
Rs. 30,000 crore to Private Section Banks/Foreign Banks and Rs. 22,188 crore to
Regional Rural Banks).
Details of number of accounts and
disbursement made from April 8 to November 27, 2015 are as follows:
|
Category
|
No. of Accounts
|
Disbursement (Rs.
in crore)
|
|
Total
|
7023176
|
44,501.87
|
|
Women
|
2645922
|
11429.97
|
|
New entrepreneurs
|
3401133
|
22011.84
|
As per Centralized Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS)
Database, 282 public grievances have been received concerning PMMY. Out of the
total, 17 grievances have been redressed and 265 are being taken up for
redressal with the concerned banks.
Mudra Bank has received 237 grievances/queries. Out of these 27 pertain to
security and 8 are with respect to restriction of loans within Rs. 50,000.
The information regarding rejection of loan applications, bank wise and state
wise, is not centrally maintained.
The Government has taken several steps to extend credit to aspiring
entrepreneurs in addition to PMMY which inter-alia include:
·
Setting up
India Aspiration Fund with a corpus of Rs. 2000 crore as a fund-of-funds to
pick-up equity start-ups.
·
Setting up
SIDBI Make in India Loan for Enterprises (SMILE) with a corpus of Rs. 10,000
crore to provide soft term loans and loans in the nature of quasi-equity to
MSMEs to meet debt-to-equity norms and pursue growth opportunities in existing
MSMEs.
·
Establishing
Small B Innovation branches to ‘assist/venture funded’ early stage enterprises
by way of venture debt/working capital.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha,
Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in
Lok Sabha today.
*****
Goods and Service Tax on
Alcohol and Products, Tobacco Etc.
The Government proposes to
impose Goods and Service Tax (GST) on alcohol products except alcoholic liquor
for human consumption. It is proposed in Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill,
2014 that tobacco will be subjected to GST along with the Central Excise Duty.
However, the rate of duty to be charged on this product will be decided by the
GST Council as proposed in the Article 279A of the Constitution (122nd
Amendment) Bill, 2014.
After introduction of GST, the VAT imposed by the states, Central Sales Tax, Excise Duty, Service Tax along with other indirect taxes would be subsumed into Goods and Service Tax. GST will simplify and harmonize the indirect tax regime in the country. It is also expected that introduction of GST will foster a common seamless Indian market and contribute significantly to the growth of the economy. Further, GST will broaden the tax base, and result in better tax compliance due to a robust IT infrastructure. Due to the seamless transfer of input tax credit from one stage to another in the chain of value addition, there is an in-built mechanism in the design of GST that would incentivize tax compliance by traders.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
After introduction of GST, the VAT imposed by the states, Central Sales Tax, Excise Duty, Service Tax along with other indirect taxes would be subsumed into Goods and Service Tax. GST will simplify and harmonize the indirect tax regime in the country. It is also expected that introduction of GST will foster a common seamless Indian market and contribute significantly to the growth of the economy. Further, GST will broaden the tax base, and result in better tax compliance due to a robust IT infrastructure. Due to the seamless transfer of input tax credit from one stage to another in the chain of value addition, there is an in-built mechanism in the design of GST that would incentivize tax compliance by traders.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
*****
Amendment in CBEC Prosecution
System
The Government has noted that
the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has reviewed the monetary limits
for assets and its guidelines for prosecution in matters relating to offences
punishable under CBEC.
Revised guidelines for arrest and bail and for launching prosecution, in relation to offences punishable under the Customs Act, 1962, the Central Excise Act, 1944 and the Finance Act, 1994 (Service Tax cases) have been issued vide Circular No. 27/2015-Cus., and 28/2015-Cus., both dated 23.10.2015, for Custom’s related cases, and Circular No. 1009/16/2015-CX and 1010/17/2015-CX, both dated 23.10.2015 for Central Excise and Service Tax related cases.
The limits in offences relating to evasion of tax or wrongful utilization of input tax credit in case of Central Excise and Service Tax have been revised to Rs.1 crore from Rs. 25 lakh and Rs. 10 lakh, respectively. For evasion of tax under the Customs Act, 1962:
i) In cases related to importation of trade goods (i.e., appraising cases) involving willful mis-declaration in description of goods/concealment of goods, the value of goods is revised to Rs. 1 crore from Rs. 50 lakh.
ii) In cases of fraudulent availment of drawback or attempt to avail of drawback or any exemption from duty, such amount or drawback or exemption is raised to Rs. 1 crore from Rs. 50 lakh.
iii) In cases involving un-authorized importation in baggage/cases under Transfer of residence rules and outright smuggling of high value goods, such as, precious metal, restricted item or prohibited items or offence involving foreign currency, the value of such offending goods has been retained as Rs. 20 lakh. However, there shall be no lower limit for arrest and prosecution in cases of smuggling of Fake Indian Currency Notes, arms, ammunition and explosives, antiques, art treasures, wild life items and endangered species. The objective is to utilize the available manpower items and resources efficiently and to focus n larger cases f evasion and smuggling.
It is too early to assess any impact of the said revision in excise offences and smuggling.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Revised guidelines for arrest and bail and for launching prosecution, in relation to offences punishable under the Customs Act, 1962, the Central Excise Act, 1944 and the Finance Act, 1994 (Service Tax cases) have been issued vide Circular No. 27/2015-Cus., and 28/2015-Cus., both dated 23.10.2015, for Custom’s related cases, and Circular No. 1009/16/2015-CX and 1010/17/2015-CX, both dated 23.10.2015 for Central Excise and Service Tax related cases.
The limits in offences relating to evasion of tax or wrongful utilization of input tax credit in case of Central Excise and Service Tax have been revised to Rs.1 crore from Rs. 25 lakh and Rs. 10 lakh, respectively. For evasion of tax under the Customs Act, 1962:
i) In cases related to importation of trade goods (i.e., appraising cases) involving willful mis-declaration in description of goods/concealment of goods, the value of goods is revised to Rs. 1 crore from Rs. 50 lakh.
ii) In cases of fraudulent availment of drawback or attempt to avail of drawback or any exemption from duty, such amount or drawback or exemption is raised to Rs. 1 crore from Rs. 50 lakh.
iii) In cases involving un-authorized importation in baggage/cases under Transfer of residence rules and outright smuggling of high value goods, such as, precious metal, restricted item or prohibited items or offence involving foreign currency, the value of such offending goods has been retained as Rs. 20 lakh. However, there shall be no lower limit for arrest and prosecution in cases of smuggling of Fake Indian Currency Notes, arms, ammunition and explosives, antiques, art treasures, wild life items and endangered species. The objective is to utilize the available manpower items and resources efficiently and to focus n larger cases f evasion and smuggling.
It is too early to assess any impact of the said revision in excise offences and smuggling.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
*****
Clarification on Media Reports
on Gold Monetization Scheme
Some sections of
the media have reported that Government will directly intervene to monetize the
gold held by charitable, religious and other institutions. It is clarified that
this is complete misinformation. The Gold Monetization Scheme is entirely
voluntary and it is for individuals, institutions and others to take their own
decision to monetize the gold held by them under the Scheme. The objective of
the Scheme is to monetize the idle gold held within the country and promote
financial savings. A good part of the monetized gold will also be made
available to meet the domestic requirement of gold. This will help in reducing
our gold imports and save foreign exchange and deal with the problem of Current
Account Deficit.
It is once again reiterated that the Gold Monetization Scheme is purely voluntary. It is expected that individuals and institutions will consider the merits and advantages of the Scheme and participate in it.
It is once again reiterated that the Gold Monetization Scheme is purely voluntary. It is expected that individuals and institutions will consider the merits and advantages of the Scheme and participate in it.
***********
Finance Minster and Governor
(RBI) Attend the First Meeting of the Governing Council of the BRICS Contigent
Reserve Arrangement; Governing Council Approved the Governing Council
Procedural Rules and Standing Committee Procedural Rules
The first meeting of the
Governing Council of the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement was held on
September 4, 2015 at Ankara, Turkey. India is represented by Hon’ble Minister
of Finance Shri Arun Jaitley as the Governor and Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan,
Governor, RBI as the Alternate Governor in the Governing Council. During the
meeting, Governing Council approved the Governing Council Procedural Rules and
Standing Committee Procedural Rules. The decisions at the above meeting were
taken by consensus.
With the approval of the Procedural Rules, most of the foundation work relating to setting up the Contingent Reserve Arrangement is over. The establishment of the Contingent Reserve Arrangement will help India and other signatory countries to forestall short-term liquidity pressures in case of exigencies, provide mutual support and further strengthen financial stability. It will also ensure equity and inclusiveness by providing a backup safety net arrangement in place that will allow Government of India to go ahead with necessary policy decisions without being much worried about international economic developments.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
With the approval of the Procedural Rules, most of the foundation work relating to setting up the Contingent Reserve Arrangement is over. The establishment of the Contingent Reserve Arrangement will help India and other signatory countries to forestall short-term liquidity pressures in case of exigencies, provide mutual support and further strengthen financial stability. It will also ensure equity and inclusiveness by providing a backup safety net arrangement in place that will allow Government of India to go ahead with necessary policy decisions without being much worried about international economic developments.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
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E-Sahyog Project; Aims at
Reducing Compliance Cost, Especially for Small Taxpayers
The Government has launched
‘e-Sahyog’ project on a pilot basis. It is aimed at reducing compliance cost,
especially for small taxpayers. The objective of ‘e-Sahyog’ is to provide an
online mechanism to resolve any mismatch or discrepancy in information as per
Income-tax return of the tax payer viz-a-vis information received through AIR,
CIB, TDS Statements etc., without visiting the Income Tax Office. Under this
initiative the Department will provide an end to end e-service using SMS,
e-mails to inform the taxpayers of the mismatch. The taxpayer has to login to
the e-filing portal with his user-ID and Password to view mismatch related
information and submit online response on the issue. The responses submitted
online by the taxpayers will be processed and if the response is found
satisfactory, the issue will be treated as closed. The taxpayer can check the
updated status by logging into the e-filing portal. The tax payers shall also
be informed of closure of cases through SMS and e-mail.
The Government has taken steps to address the genuine problems being faced by the tax payers and to reduce the unnecessary harassment meted out to them by the tax authorities.
The Government has set up PAN camps at some selective remote areas in the country. These PAN Camps have been organized through PAN services providers NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited (NDDL e-Gov) and UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Limited (UTIITSL).
NSDL e-Gov has organized PAN Camps at 23 locations across India in the months of October and November 2015. In these PAN camps, blank PAN forms have been made available alongwith instructions and guidelines for filling these forms. Duly filled-in forms along with prescribed documents are also collected in these camps.
UTIITSL has organized PAN camps at 30 locations across India in the months of October and November 2015. Organizing such camps is an ongoing process. The service providers will continue to hold more camps during the year to facilitate obtaining of PAN by persons residing in remote and semi urban areas.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
The Government has taken steps to address the genuine problems being faced by the tax payers and to reduce the unnecessary harassment meted out to them by the tax authorities.
The Government has set up PAN camps at some selective remote areas in the country. These PAN Camps have been organized through PAN services providers NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited (NDDL e-Gov) and UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Limited (UTIITSL).
NSDL e-Gov has organized PAN Camps at 23 locations across India in the months of October and November 2015. In these PAN camps, blank PAN forms have been made available alongwith instructions and guidelines for filling these forms. Duly filled-in forms along with prescribed documents are also collected in these camps.
UTIITSL has organized PAN camps at 30 locations across India in the months of October and November 2015. Organizing such camps is an ongoing process. The service providers will continue to hold more camps during the year to facilitate obtaining of PAN by persons residing in remote and semi urban areas.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
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Instructions/Guidelines on
Credit Card/Debit Card/Pre-Paid Card
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) through its Master Circular dated 1.12.2015
(available on its website www.rbi.org.in) has issued consolidated
instructions/guidelines on credit card, debit cards/pre-paid card operations of
banks. The said instructions contain detailed terms under which a debit card
may be issued, inter-alia, advising banks as under:
·
The terms shall put the
cardholder under an obligation to take all appropriate steps to keep safe the
card and the means (such as PIN or code) which enable it to be used.
·
The terms shall put the
cardholder under an obligation not to record the PIN or code, in any form that
would be intelligible or otherwise accessible to any third party if access is
gained to such a record, either honestly or dishonestly.
·
The terms shall specify that
the bank shall be responsible for direct losses incurred by a cardholder due to
a system malfunction directly within the bank’s control. However, the
bank shall not be held liable for any loss caused by a technical breakdown of
the payment system if the breakdown of the system was recognizable for the
cardholder by a message on the display of the device or otherwise known.
The responsibility of the bank for the non-execution or defective execution of
the transaction is limited to the principal sum and the loss of interest
subject to the provisions of the law governing the terms.
Further,
with a view to reducing the instances of misuse of lost/stolen cards, banks may
consider issuing cards with photographs of the cardholder or any other advances
methods that may evolve from time to time.
This
was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance
in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
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Tax Revenue Loss due to
Avoidance and Tax Planning by Companies
The Government of India is
aware of the potential loss of revenue from tax avoidance, and has been taking
all necessary measures for preventing it.
As a part of these measures, India has actively participated n the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project undertaken by the OECD and G-20 countries, which is aimed at aligning taxation of income with the place where economic activity is performed and value is created, including by ensuring that Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) are not used for tax avoidance. These measures also include the implementation of General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR), which have already been provided in the Income-tax Act, 1961 in Chapter X-A. The GAAR provisions shall apply for the Assessment Year 2018-19 and subsequent years.
Some of the DTAAs entered into by India with other countries provide for taxation of capital gains on equity shares only in the country of which the taxpayer is a resident. The government is aware that some of the investments coming from such countries may be influenced by this provision. The Government has already initiated the process of negotiation with such countries for amending the provisions on capital gains taxation in DTAAs with such countries.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
As a part of these measures, India has actively participated n the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project undertaken by the OECD and G-20 countries, which is aimed at aligning taxation of income with the place where economic activity is performed and value is created, including by ensuring that Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) are not used for tax avoidance. These measures also include the implementation of General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR), which have already been provided in the Income-tax Act, 1961 in Chapter X-A. The GAAR provisions shall apply for the Assessment Year 2018-19 and subsequent years.
Some of the DTAAs entered into by India with other countries provide for taxation of capital gains on equity shares only in the country of which the taxpayer is a resident. The government is aware that some of the investments coming from such countries may be influenced by this provision. The Government has already initiated the process of negotiation with such countries for amending the provisions on capital gains taxation in DTAAs with such countries.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
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World Rankings of Indian
Economy Improved to 55th in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI)
India’s ranking has improved
to 55th in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI). The improvement in India’s
ranking in the GCI can be attributed to recent improvements in macroeconomic
fundamentals, continuation of ongoing reforms process and improvement in
business sentiments with innovative steps taken by the Government to facilitate
‘ease of doing business’. With sustained efforts of the Government, there has
been improvement in budget and current account deficits.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
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Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
The number of accounts opened
upto 31.10.2015 under Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana across the country is 76,
19,668. The amount collected under these accounts is Rs. 2838.73 crore. The
scheme was notified on 2.12.2014 and the maturity period of accounts opened
under the scheme is 21 years. The scheme has completed one year. In this short
time, the impact is that 76, 19, 668 girl children got Rs. 2838.73 crore
deposited in their name
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
This was stated by Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
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