'It has also outlived its initial purpose of reducing physical gold imports.'
The Union government is expecting to rake in Rs 100-200 crore in additional revenue from Pillar Two, only under specific circumstances, a senior finance ministry official said requesting anonymity. It is proceeding cautiously, and is unlikely to implement rules anytime soon, the source said.
EY India chairman Rajiv Memani has expressed regret at not attending the funeral of a 26-year-old employee whose death was blamed on stress by her mother, and said he will not rest till achieving the goal of harmonious workplace. Anna Sebastian Perayil, who passed her CA exams in 2023 and worked at EY Pune office for four months, died in July. According to a letter her mother wrote to Memani, she was overworked with a "backbreaking" load as a new employee that affected her "physically, emotionally, and mentally".
EY said it would continue to improve and provide a healthy workplace in its offices throughout the country.
The Pune office of Ernst & Young (EY), in news after the death of a woman CA, was functioning since 2007 without a license under the Shops Act, which stipulates employees' welfare among other conditions, an official said on Wednesday. This is a violation of norms. A notice will be issued to the firm and based on its response, further action will be initiated, the official from the Maharashtra labour department said.
The FMCG industry hopes for a revival in consumption growth in 2025 with some 'green shoots' already visible, after having a challenging year amid escalating input costs and a double-digit rise in food inflation, which ultimately slowed down the pace of the urban market growth in the second half of 2024. Soaring prices of commodities such as palm oil, coffee, cocoa and wheat forced FMCG players to go for a hike of 3 to 5 per cent or resort to shrinkflation by reducing pack sizes and grammage to retain attractive price points, fearing a volume loss.
India's economy is likely to grow by 6.5 per cent in the current and the next financial year, an EY report said, attributing lower than anticipated expansion in the September quarter to fall in private consumption expenditure and gross fixed capital formation. Real GDP growth eased to a seven-quarter low of 5.4 per cent in July-September -- the second quarter of the current 2024-25 fiscal year.
The Ministry of Labour & Employment is investigating alleged "unsafe and exploitative work environment" days after the tragic demise of Anna Sebastian Perayil who worked with S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global. Perayil was a 26-year-old chartered accountant (CA) who died allegedly due to extreme work pressure at the firm. "Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Anna Sebastian Perayil.
The death of 26-year-old Anna Sebastian Perayil -- who worked on the audit and assurance team at EY Pune, due to 'overwork' her heartbroken mother noted in a letter to EY India chairman Rajiv Memani provoked best-selling author Rashmi Bansal to pen a poem on the perils of overwork in Corporate India.
It will be the second Budget of the Modi 3.0 government and eighth straight Budget for Nirmala Sitharaman, rare in Indian polity.
The gross GST collection increased 8 per cent to Rs 1.74 lakh crore in June, sources said on Monday. The government, however, has discontinued the official release of monthly GST collection data, they added. Sources said the gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection so far this fiscal (April-June) stood at Rs 5.57 lakh crore.
'The global median of whistle-blower complaints is 1.5 per cent of the total employees. India's reporting is far away from this average.'
With Donald Trump all set to become US president, Indian exporters may face high customs duties for goods like automobiles, textiles and pharmaceuticals if the new US administration decides to pursue the 'America First' agenda, opined trade experts. Experts also said that Trump could also tighten H-1B visa rules, impacting costs and growth for Indian IT firms. Over 80 per cent of India's IT export earnings come from the US, making it vulnerable to changes in visa policies.
In a development that may encourage increased investment in commercial real estate, the Supreme Court on Thursday gave the industry relief by permitting input tax credit (ITC) on construction expenses for buildings meant to be leased. "If the construction of a building was essential for carrying out the activity of supplying services, such as renting or giving on lease or other transactions in respect of the building or a part thereof, which are covered by clauses (2) and (5) of Schedule II of the CGST (Central Goods and Services Tax) Act, the building could be held to be a plant," said Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Sanjay Karol.
Amid a social media storm over the death of a young employee at tax consultancy major EY allegedly due to work pressure, Deloitte has formed a three-member external committee, which includes former revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj, to look into practices, policies and processes concerning employees, its South Asia CEO Romal Shetty said on Friday. Shetty said to manage the work pressure within the organisation and have an open work culture, Deloitte has a chief happiness officer and takes strictest action for any bad behaviour within the organisation. Deloitte is one of the four major global tax consultancy firms.
GST collections in July rose 10.3 per cent to over Rs 1.82 lakh crore, mainly driven by domestic transactions in goods and services, according to official data released on Thursday. This is the third-highest-ever monthly collection recorded since the indirect tax regime was rolled out 7 years ago on July 1, 2017. According to the data, total refunds stood at Rs 16,283 crore in July.
"There is a limit when it comes to tolerating abusive behaviour or working styles. Many (employees) find ways to quit," says career coach and rediffGURU Pradeep Pramanik.
The Big Four accounting firms have increased the hiring of people from technology backgrounds in India amid an increased focus of clients on digital transformation, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. EY India said that it has expanded its overall tech talent pool by 3x in the last three years across service lines including consulting, tax, assurance, and strategy & transactions. "Today over 50 per cent of our workforce is from STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and technology background," it said, adding that it continues to hire significantly in the areas of AI, cloud computing, data analytics and cybersecurity to help its clients in transformation.
The finance minister clarified that indexation benefits offered until April 1, 2001 would be protected. This means older properties, including legacy assets, would benefit.
'In India, managers and the leadership almost glorify overworking.'
Domains spoofing the legitimate Olympics Web site, while fake mobile apps masquerading as transport, booking, or other planning apps are also certain to be leveraged by fraudsters during the event, cybersecurity firms say, which puts Indian users also at risk.
'Any finality in such matters requires political views. We will review it closer to the full Budget.'
The government is contemplating changes to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to deal with environmental claims and liabilities of defaulting companies to make the law future-ready and meet climate action goals, sources told Business Standard. Currently, the IBC has various categories of claims and creditors, including those related to environmental liabilities.
Paytm, the country's leading fintech player which had to shut its payment bank business following regulatory action, is revisiting its business strategy including partnership with lenders. Also, the company's founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma has decided to oversee the day-to-day operations with all the major verticals reporting directly to him now. "The thing on top of everyone's agenda is getting the core businesses back on track," a person in the know said.
96 per cent is being collected through TDS, advance tax, self-assessment tax, and other receipts.
The Union government is projected to share about 32 per cent of central taxes with states during the financial year 2024-25 against the 15th Finance Commission's recommendation of 41 per cent. The Revised Estimates (RE) for FY24, too, show a similar share of states in the central taxes at 32 per cent. In absolute terms, however, there has been an increase in the amount devolved to states compared to the Budget Estimates (BE) for FY24 at Rs 11 trillion.
Generative AI (GenAI) has the potential to add a cumulative $1.2-1.5 trillion to India's GDP over the next seven years, according to a report by EY. The report titled 'AIdea of India: Generative AI's potential to accelerate India's digital transformation' says that in 2029-30 alone, GenAI can contribute an additional $359-438 billion to India's GDP. The report said that around 69 per cent of the overall impact of GenAI on India's GDP is expected to be derived from sectors such as business services (including IT, legal, consulting, rental of machinery and equipment, and others), financial services, education, retail, and healthcare.
Taking both direct and indirect taxes, the gross collection is expected to grow 10.45 per cent to Rs 33.61 trillion in 2023-2024.
The critical information in the first quarter (Q1) gross domestic product (GDP) data relates to the proximity of real and nominal GDP growth rates at 7.8 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively. The implicit price deflator (IPD)-based inflation is only 0.2 per cent. This phenomenon has repeated after fifteen quarters.
'There is a need for an innovation sandbox where the PSBs can collaborate and then they can do their own innovation on top of it.'
The central government has given banks and credit card entities six to eight months to put in place the requisite reporting mechanism and related features to collect tax at source on international credit card transactions, a senior bureaucrat told Business Standard. According to the bureaucrat, the plan to bring overseas credit cards under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) has not been mothballed and is simply being deferred so that banks get adequate time to get the system up and running. The official expects the reporting mechanism to be ready in the given time, and the rule could be implemented in the next financial year (2024-25, or FY25).
Global professional services organisation Ernst & Young Services on Thursday said it will hire about 9,000 new workforce in India in 2021, in various technology roles across all member firms. These hires will be from the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) background and in areas including artificial intelligence, machine learning, cyber security, analytics and other emerging technologies, EY said in a statement.
'It is nice that the banking system is in good shape.' 'It is a little early to call it too good because I think it was too bad in the past.'
The average salary received by students during campus placements for 2021-2022 was Rs 21.48 lakh per annum. The highest salary offered was $250,000.
PEs and VCs are taking a closer look at their bouquet of investments. Leading voices in the sector are categorical that cash-burn rates -- that's blowing up equity to acquire market share -- as a business model can't continue to be the polestar.
Recently, Slice, a payment app, acquired a 5 per cent stake in North East Small Finance (NESF) for $3.42 million - the first such deal by a fintech in a small finance bank. Slice (valued at $1.5 billion, and backed by Tiger Global, Blume Ventures and Axis Bank) will technically get a toehold in a scheduled commercial bank if NESF were to get a licence to morph into one down the line Such a transition is well within the banking regulator's declared framework. The transaction has to be seen in a larger context.
The Centre has increased the premium rates for its flagship insurance schemes, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), for the first time in seven years due to "long-standing adverse claims experience", and to make them economically viable. The premium for PMJJBY would increase from Rs 330 to Rs 436 a year effective June 1, and the PMSBY premium would rise from Rs 12 to Rs 20, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. PMJJBY provides life insurance cover worth Rs 2 lakh to all account holders aged 18-50 years.
India witnessed 22 initial public offers worth over $2.5 billion in the first three months of 2021 amid "high momentum" in the country's capital markets and the trend is likely to stay bullish in the current quarter also, according to a report. Leading consultancy EY India's IPO (Initial Public Offer) report released on Wednesday showed that consumer products and retail, diversified industrial products, automotive and transportation were the most active sectors in terms of the number of IPOs in the 2021 first quarter. The IPOs include both in the main as well as SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) markets.
Initial public offerings (IPOs) have attracted droves of retail investors to the stock market in CY22. But these applicants have lost money on 40 per cent of the fresh issues this year - a trend that may impact sentiment towards maiden share sales during the remaining part of the year. Of the 14 companies that have listed this year, five have closed below their issue price.
Among manufacturing companies that went to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), chemicals and metal firms witnessed more resolutions while companies in the labour intensive (employment friendly) leather and textile sectors mostly get liquidated, reports Abhishek Waghmare.