The government is likely to revise downwards indirect tax collections target for the current financial year by at least Rs 20,000 crore.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Commerce Ministry proposes to scale back the Foreign Direct Investment ceiling for the tobacco industry from 100 to 74 per cent and insert a caveat that cigarettes manufactured in the new ventures or in upgraded facilities must be mainly for consumption outside India.Sources said the department, which is responsible for the policy on FDI, is finalising a cabinet note aimed at comprehensive review of the tobacco policy.
Unlikely to launch formal probe into IT firm's Maytas move.
During a verification of electronic returns, the department found that as many as 1,714 taxpayers under the self-assessment scheme (where tax-payers determine their tax liability and pay accordingly) had not paid their tax dues. In a few cases, the amount due was around Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion). The government made it compulsory for companies to file their returns online from 2006.
The Reserve Bank of India has started a review of the non-performing asset or bad loan classification norms to ease the flow of credit to corporate groups.The move follows a reference from the government and is aimed at relaxing the norms temporarily to enable companies to access funds during the economic downturn that is putting pressure on cash flows and repayment capabilities.The review has been sought by the finance ministry following appeals from various industries.
Secretaries' panel fails to arrive at a decision. Sources told Business Standard the commerce ministry felt that the delay would add to the cost for the government as more and more factories could shut shop.
The meeting comes ahead of a fresh stimulus package aimed at sectors not covered in the earlier measures announced by the central bank and the government.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has cleared a proposal by German plastic moulding major Ralf Schneider to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India, setting aside objections raised by its former Indian partner Larsen & Toubro under Press Note 1 of the Foreign Direct Investment policy.
The Centre and the state governments have agreed not to unilaterally change the tax rate on goods and services, once the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is implemented from April 2010.
Under the standard fire and special perils policy, everything is excluded other than whatever is named specifically in the cover. Removal restriction on an all-risk policy will also result in greater adoption of loss of profit insurance, which is a critical risk for any company. Insurance companies are likely to offer value-added services like a replacement car in case of a car breakdown and full compensation (without any depreciation) if the car is damaged.
Most private firms see lower pay-outs; govt banks save the day.
Ministry officials said the matter is being reviewed with the objective of bringing down the FDI cap from 100 per cent to 26 per cent in line with the limit for news media. This decision for the review was taken while discussing the proposal of US-based Dow Jones and Company for setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary to carry out publishing the facsimile edition of Wall Street Journal in India.
Asks lenders to make sure that end use of advances to commercial real estate.
Field formations may re-examine cases from 1997.
The finance ministry has now decided to extend the coverage of the scheme to tax deducted at source and service tax returns to provide round-the-year work to the TRPs, as majority of existing prepares had shown signs of disinterest due to seasonality of their job. Previously, the ministry was planning to create a separate set of tax preparers for filing service tax returns.
The government is pushing state-owned banks to offer interest rates on housing loans up to Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million) at pre-2004 levels.
The government aims to make highway projects more attractive to the private sector by raising the approved or sanctioned cost of all projects to be implemented under the private-public partnership mode by 15 per cent.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may be brought under the category of other regulators, who might have to park their funds with the government. Banking sources said the move would deal a final blow to the financial autonomy of regulatory bodies.
With banks apprehending large-scale defaults in the aviation sector, RBI is examining data from all lenders regarding their exposure to it. One of the options under consideration of the regulator is to extend the number of days for the banks to classify an asset as default.
The rate cuts are expected to infuse Rs 80,000 crore into the banking system.
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