"Since December last year, we started focusing on TDS and regular assessment to increase tax collections, and it has paid off," said a senior revenue department official. According to the latest data, TDS collections increased by 25 per cent to Rs 1,304.56 billion in fiscal 2009, compared to Rs 1,046.95 billion in the previous fiscal. However, advance tax collections under two major heads -- corporation tax and income tax -- dipped by 7 per cent to around Rs 1,680 billion.
The country's economy is expected to grow by around 6 per cent in the current fiscal, even in the worst-case scenario of global recession prevailing till March 2010, according to Arvind Virmani, chief economic adviser in the Ministry of Finance.
India's information technology sector is likely to post a single-digit growth rate of 9 per cent in fiscal 2008-09, as measured in gross domestic product calculations, according to a senior government official. The IT sector, which constitutes 3.5-4 per cent of India's GDP, grew at an average rate of around 25 per cent in three years up to March 2008. Thus, the sharp fall in growth rate is cited as one reason for drop in growth rate of the Indian economy in fiscal 2009.
He went on to explain that it is standard practice for developers to have development agreements under which the land-owner cannot sell his land to any other entity or individual.
Demand for special economic zones (SEZs) appears to be reviving even as realty developers are shying away from developing these tax-free enclaves due to liquidity crunch, according to experts who are tracking SEZs.
In the three months since the scam, Satyam's employee strength has reduced from 53,000 to 50,000, said a senior ministry of corporate affairs official. "Satyam continues to have strong revenues. The difference between its turnover and the next highest is around 10-15 per cent," he said. He did not disclose his idea of the revenue and net profit, saying it would interfere with the ongoing process for selling a strategic stake in Satyam.
Overall exports in 2008-09 grow at slowest pace in 7 yrs.
India has bilateral tax agreements with more than 70 nations.
India can either impose anti-dumping duties or safeguard duties to tackle import surges.
In fact, only two out of India's top five export destinations witnessed an increase in exports during the period. Total exports from the country had expanded 17.5 per cent during the period and stood at $118.25 billion.
This would bring between 20,000 and 25,000 firms under the ambit of cost audit. At present, only 44 industries and specific products within an industry come under cost audit. This covers around 6,000 firms but cost audits are conducted in only about 2,200 of these. The proposed change will have a major positive impact on the profession because more firms will have to mandatorily appoint a cost auditor and have cost accounting records audited on an annual basis.
Proceedings for imposing safeguard duty on Chinese Nylon Tyre Cord Fabric have already been initiated by the DGS on February 6 this year. Significantly, these moves to protect the domestic industry come at a time when India's industrial production contracted for two consecutive months ending January, 2009.
With orders drying up from the overseas markets, the council projects an export growth of 15 per cent in 2008-09 to nearly $38.8 billion, against the 27.4 per cent rise ($33.72 billion) seen in the previous year. This will be the lowest expansion in engineering goods exports in seven years. A sample survey of about 30 SMEs conducted by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations points towards the job losses in the sector.
India may not charge import duty on personal artefacts of Mahatma Gandhi, which were bought by liquor baron Vijay Mallya in an auction at New York. Moreover, the country is also going to relax import restriction on all items of historical significance of Indian origin.A pair of steel-rimmed spectacles and sandals, a Zenith pocket watch, an eating bowl and a plate went under the hammer in New York and the UB Group chairman successfully bid for them for $1.8 million.
India's sea ports do not have equipment to detect radioactive or contaminated consignments, exposing the country to security and safety risks, besides damaging reputation of goods manufactured in the country.
The Budget estimate of fiscal deficit for the next financial year has been underestimated by nearly 0.9 percentage point of Gross Domestic Product, or about Rs 51,000 crore. This is because the estimates for revenue collections in the Interim Budget for 2009-10 do not reflect the full impact of the duty concessions announced by the government since December 2008. The Budget estimate for fiscal deficit in 2009-10 put it at 5.5 per cent of GDP.
A draft report prepared by Members of the European Parliament could potentially derail negotiations between India and the European Union, the country's largest trade partner, on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement involving duty-free trade of goods, services and investment. The report has called for the inclusion of human rights and democracy issues in the CEPA talks and an international investigation into "extra judicial killings" in Jammu & Kashmir.
"The fact that not many FTAs were sealed shows the cautious approach of the policy makers," said Ram Upendra Das, fellow, Research and Information System for Developing Countries. "But India has recognised that these duty-free agreements are the order of the day as other countries are engaging in similar deals. Indian exporters will be left out if the nation does not engage in these types of agreements with its trading partners," he added.
The second phase of reforms was expected to address areas like extending 'national treatment' to foreign banks, which means that foreign banks would be treated on a par with Indian ones under the World Trade Organisation agreement. Other items that are to be considered include permitting listing foreign banks' wholly-owned subsidiaries in India and the acquisition of sound Indian banks by foreign banks.
More time for fulfilling export obligations also likely.
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