The Reserve Bank of India may de-license or leave it to banks to open branches in rural and semi-urban centres, in a step towards liberalising its branch authorisation policy.
Taxmen are opposing proposals to cut personal income and corporate tax and scrap taxes on various transactions.
The Reserve Bank of India has said Indian companies merging with overseas firms will continue to be treated as entities resident in the country under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). There is no provision for such a merger under the current Companies Act. But a Bill to amend the Act tabled in the Budget session of Parliament proposes to allow Indian companies to merge with overseas companies, under section 205, a move that could introduce greater flexibility in
The decision will come into effect on September 19. In the notification issued by the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, three weeks was given for so reducing the stock.
A silent revolution is taking place in the country's airports and ports -- one that will alter India's notoriously troublesome Customs clearance procedures, both at entry and exit points.Export consignments will no longer have to undergo the drudgery of long Customs clearance procedures. And the facility will be extended to courier services or even passengers after some time. Such a system exists for imported goods and has met with a huge success.
These companies struck joint ventures with foreign partners before the government relaxed FDI sectoral limits by issuing Press Notes 2 and 4 in February this year, and had approached FIPB for approvals later. FIPB sent a note to this effect to the RBI a month ago, advising the central bank to deal with such cases.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes has advised its field formations to scrutinise all cases in which companies have amortised foreign exchange losses under the one-time discretion allowed by the government through an amendment to Accounting Standard 11 (AS-11).
The ministry of company affairs (MCA) intends to insert a clause in the Companies Act that will make audit firms also liable to prosecution as against the existing provisions that limits penal action only to chartered accountants.
In a major relief to over 3,000 companies all over India seeking arbitration in tax cases with the Settlement Commission, the Bombay High Court has termed as "unconstitutional" the government's decision to suggest a cut off date of March 31, 2008, for all cases filed before June 1,2007.
Housing finance companies are currently regulated by NHB, which is, in turn, regulated by RBI. NHB is wholly-owned by RBI.
Authority for Advance Ruling dispenses with complex forex indexation requirement.
Looking to raise OMO limit, borrowing cap for primary dealers.
At the same time, banking sources close to the development said the central bank could raise its growth target from 5-6 per cent to 6.5 per cent to accommodate the impact of an improving monsoon and the growth impetus provided through various fiscal and monetary stimulus packages earlier in the year. The cautious outlook on interest rates is primarily to accommodate rising inflationary expectations in the economy.
Client executives and relationship managers -- so far confined to the private sector and especially service providers -- have now made an entry into the tax department, too. Just like the relationship manager at your bank, the 'client executive' will coordinate all the tax requirements of a company, which could range from income tax to central excise and service tax.
Officials close to the development said the I-T department's suggestion is to amend Section 11, which specifies the manner in which income from charitable bodies is exempt from income tax. The I-T department has said charitable organisations enjoy a double deduction by claiming tax breaks through both depreciation and capital expenditure write-offs.
Officials explained that the basic condition for charitable bodies to claim exemption is that the income should be derived from property held under a trust and the income should be applied to charitable or religious purposes in India.
The income tax department has recommended that TDS rates should be structured in three slabs of between one and five per cent for any stream of income. At present, there are multiple tax rates for TDS, starting from one per cent to over 30 per cent. Also, some rates are specified in individual sections that deal with the tax treatment of a particular income; others are included in separate schedules, making TDS payments difficult to monitor.
The income tax department has recommended that TDS rates should be structured in three slabs of between one and five per cent for any stream of income. At present, there are multiple tax rates for TDS, starting from one per cent to over 30 per cent. Also, some rates are specified in individual sections that deal with the tax treatment of a particular income; others are included in separate schedules, making TDS payments difficult to monitor.
Data show manufacturing still down, unlike banking
Official sources said the government was of the view that while de-regulating, the rates on small savings' interest rates could either be cut 25 to 50 basis points or linked to the sovereign rate, which is the interest rate on government securities for a specific maturity. The move follows demands from banks and suggestions from RBI.