This follows a recommendation by the Income Tax department after the Satyam accounting fraud issue broke in January following founder Ramalinga Raju's confession. I-T officials said since the returns were e-filed, there was no provision to check whether or not the tax audit reports were certified by the chartered accountant.
Officials said the IBA had three major agendas to discuss, the most important being to persuade the unions to accept the new pension scheme, otherwise known as the contributory pension scheme, for new bank employees. Currently, the bank unions are vehemently opposing it since unions of no other sector has accepted it to date.
According to official sources, complaints were received by the department that TDS was being collected arbitrarily by the payers. Another reason for this decision is that refunds from the department have also gone up. Sources said it should not affect the assessee who may be paying a high rate of TDS and is not compensated even after the employer or broking firm or any other organisation gets a refund on higher rate of TDS which may not be applicable to such income.
Members of the Securities and Exchange Board of India have suggested a phased reduction of the securities transaction tax, as part of a package of measures to develop the capital markets that was discussed with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee last week.
Assessment reports will be shared with all employees
In the first move of its kind in the country, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has decided to finance investor associations that propose to fight collective suits - which resemble US or European-style class action suits - in Indian courts
The clauses on corporate debt restructuring (CDR) are being reworked in view of the huge foreign exchange exposure of several companies, which have already opted for restructuring debt or are on their way to seeking approval for one.
Failed attempt to acquire stake in Kolhapur-based bank seen as trigger.
Demand on capital gains on Idea share sale by Mauritius subsidiary; Fema and telecom regulation violations also alleged
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided "in principle" to bring under its regulatory ambit holding companies floated by business groups and companies that also own non-banking finance companies (NBFC).
The department had sent a notice to the company seeking details and clarifications on a host of issues besides the original agreement between Hutch and Vodafone to establish the jurisdiction of the tax authorities to determine the tax liability. This follow an SC order in January 2009 to the effect that Vodafone should present its case to the tax authorities first and submit a copy of the share purchase agreement, the deadline for which expires by the end of this month.
Internal assessment follows banks' worries over systemic risks.
Sources said a notification to this effect will be released soon. Indian arms of foreign firms make it a rule that audits must be conducted by their foreign partners for Indian companies approaching the overseas markets for any reason. No such rule exists, the source said, although the practice is common. "We are screening partnership agreements of all these firms to analyse the legal basis on which the foreign firms audit Indian companies," the source added.
The central bank will send its comments to the finance ministry shortly. Sources close to the developments said a better way could have been worked out to increase the sectoral caps. The sources said while a cap was meant to protect the interest of the Indian shareholders in sensitive sectors, the new mode of calculation of indirect foreign holding provided for a circuitous way.
Issue tied in with review of foreign bank operations in India. RBI had earlier proposed to defer the review, which is meant to provide guidelines for the presence of foreign banks in India from April 2009 onwards, given the current economic meltdown globally and in the domestic markets.
International hoteliers operating in the country through sales agreements with Indian hotels can expect some relief after the Delhi High Court ruled on January 30 that income paid by the Indian partner to its foreign counterpart is exempt from tax since it cannot be considered royalty or technical fees. The ruling in favour of US-based Sheraton International Inc was in response to an appeal filed by the Income Tax Department challenging the service agreement.
When AS-15 became operative in 2006, the initial estimate for additional pension provisioning was estimated at Rs 6,000 crore. However, the latest wage revision may bring in an additional 275,000 bank employees who opted for PF. Banks may also provide for the pension liabilities of 65,000 employees who have retired but have been seeking resort to the defined pension scheme since 1996. This will require additional provisioning of Rs 6,000 crore.
While the ministry sources clarified that the overall policy for fax editions is still under review, this proposal has been given approval on a case-to-case basis in FIPB's meeting held last week. The proposal was turned down twice earlier pending the review but the company had applied to FIPB under deferred proposal agenda in its meeting on January 9.
Official sources said the 2000-01 acquisitions -- notably the high-profile purchase of web portal India World Communications from Rajesh Jain for Rs 499 crore (Rs 4.99 billion) -- by Satyam Infoway could mark the start of the company siphoning funds overseas under the guise of acquiring companies. Satyam Infoway was merged with Satyam Computers in 2002.
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