The long-pending issue of seizure of Indian generic drugs by European Union countries has been resolved, with the EU accepting India's position and agreeing to amend the rules to plug the loopholes that led to the seizure of shipments.
A recent decision of the high court in Chennai on the levy of service tax on software sale has made the Union finance ministry hopeful of a similar verdict in the case of copyright services.
The empowered committee of state finance ministers has approved the position paper of the Centre on the information technology network for the proposed indirect tax regime.
The income-tax department intends to bring individuals under the ambit of the proposed controlled-foreign companies (CFCs).
In a counter affidavit filed in the court, the department has said that temporary transfer of rights to copy in a limited manner will be chargeable to service tax.
Four persons privy to the discussions told Business Standard that the deal is close to finalisation, and that regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) had been kept in the loop. Indiabulls holds 40 per cent stake in the exchange, which started operations less than a year ago.
In an attempt to get states to implement the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by next April, the Centre has softened its stance on most proposals in the draft Constitutional Amendment Bill that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee hopes to pilot in the monsoon session.
Says banks strong enough to tackle the problem on their own
But contentious areas like special economic zones, capital gains and Ulips may see changes
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had asked officials in his ministry to finalise the draft by August 20 so that it could be in Parliament before the session concluded on August 27, said a finance ministry official.
Various options, including expanding the scope of some of the existing tools, were being considered to provide a financial safety net.
The changes to the original draft of the Direct Taxes Code are going to cost taxpayers, with the government planning to significantly alter the slabs.
The finance ministry introduced the tax for the first time on July 1, 2010. PVR Pictures, in its petition, alleged that copyrights are treated as goods and the transfer of copyrights are treated as sale of goods, which falls within the domain of taxation by states under Article 246, and not the Union.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has urged Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to allow the Securities and Insurance Laws (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance 2010 to lapse, since it could affect the autonomy of all regulators, including the central bank.
Ravi Kapoor, head of global banking at Citi India tells that the success of the Centre's divestment programme hinges on attractive valuations
While saying money was due from Suzuki, the HC told the tax department to determine an appropriate arm's-length pricing mechanism in this case.
A senior government official said the issue had come up during the foreign secretary-level talks earlier this week and Pakistan expressed its willingness to re-engage in the discussion.
Manmohan Singh also says there are greater risks of deflation, than inflation.
Government officials said the system proposed by the finance ministry, which would be akin to the mechanism followed for auction of investment rights in bonds, would result in Mint Road losing control over overseas fund raising by companies and that was RBI's major concern.
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