The government allows the oil companies to sell only a quarter of the total quantum of bonds they hold at any time during a quarter, so as to ensure that the market is not flooded with oil bonds. It has not yet decided on how the subsidy burden will be shared across stakeholders, how much of the subsidy from the government account will be given in cash and how much in the form of bonds, says an official.
The government is studying suggestions on checking instances of double non-taxation and 'treaty shopping'
The international crude oil price of Indian Basket was $60.10 (Rs 3,765.27) per barrel on December 15, down from $60.58 (3,782.62) per bbl on December 12.
The Finance Ministry on Friday cautioned banks to be on guard for subversion of lending processes by some "undesirable parties", as in the case of the recent bribes-for-loans scandal, in the context of the "burgeoning" non-performing assets of some lenders.
Jayalalithaa had accused Finance Minister P Chidambaram of having a vested interest in jeopardising India's security and sponsoring economic terrorism in India, who was turning a blind eye towards the inflow of terror funds through participatory notes. She also said that 'dirty' money was finding its way into the country through PNs while demanding invoking of provisions of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act to find out the genuineness of these p-notes.
The steel ministry has asked its finance counterpart to expedite the implementation of the measures that have been decided but not implemented yet to contain steel prices.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has passed strictures against the finance ministry for the delay in introducing the draft direct tax code for legislation to replace the voluminous Income Tax Act, 1961.
The EPFO pays rate of return to its subscribers on the basis of returns it generates from its investments.
The Finance Ministry ruled out introduction of Advance Pricing Agreement programme for deciding tax liability of the companies in advance in the near future, saying that in the absence of an institutional mechanism such system would not be effective. An Advance Pricing Agreement is a binding contract between a taxpayer & the tax authority under which the 2 parties agree on the transfer pricing policy for specified transactions of the taxpayer over a given period of time.
Despite only Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) mopped in the first half through disinvestment, the finance ministry said on Tuesday it is 'confident' of meeting the Rs 40,000-crore (Rs 400-billion) target for the current fiscal, as there is enough appetite in the market.
The Finance Ministry, late Thursday night, came out with draft guidelines on General Anti Avoidance Rule -- a budgetary proposal to check tax evasion.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in its draft Cabinet has proposed to further tighten the rules for foreign direct investment in brownfield pharmaceutical sector.
Rajan Committee has evoked divergent reactions from the states.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has been pursuing hawkish monetary policy stance to keep inflation under check.
The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday surprised the markets by saying it will continue with its monthly $85-billion bond buying programme and wait for more evidence of growth recovery.
Indian government has hiked the import duty on refined gold three times since January 1 and it now is at a record 10 per cent.
Among the other demands in its pre-Budget Memorandum 2008, the IT industry body has also suggested broadening the eligibility criteria for the large tax payer unit scheme, foreign tax credits, advance pricing agreements to provide upfront tax certainty, and refund of service tax paid on services utilised for export of computer software and BPO services.
The Union finance ministry has endorsed the views of Gajendra Haldea, infrastructure advisor to the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, who had objected to recent changes in bidding norms by the National Highways Authority of India.
Several PE investors have appealed to the ministry to bring them at par with the foreign institutional investors as far as tax treatment is concerned.
The finance ministry has opposed the proposed airport at Greater Noida, and has instead favoured upgrading infrastructure at Delhi airport, which it says makes more economic sense. This has come as a shot in the arm for the GMR group, the private sector developer of Delhi airport, which has been opposing another airport so close to the existing one.
Deposit rates stood at 8-9.50 per cent, compared to 6.25-8 per cent as on August 18, 2006, the report for the month of August stated.
Power Minister Anant Geete said on Tuesday that the finance ministry is considering a proposal to restart the Dabhol Power plant, now lying idle for nearly two years.
The official said the finance ministry will impress upon rating agencies the resolve of the government to contain fiscal deficit at 4.1 per cent this year and lower it to 3 per cent by 2016-17.
The Ministry of Finance may seek the Union Cabinet's approval for the proposed 10 per cent stake sale in state-owned Coal India Ltd by the end of this month, a senior Coal Ministry official said
The finance ministry has suggested easing of the rules for calculating foreign investment in a company. The proposed rules, which take out sundry entries of indirect investment, will make life easier for companies, which have high foreign institutional investment and face the risk of breaching sector-specific caps.
With services contributing around 57 per cent to the economic growth, finance ministry advisers have made a case for allowing FDI in the retail sector and selling government equity in PSUs, including telecom firms BSNL, MTNL and TCIL, to achieve high GDP expansion.
The ministry has sought information on posts for which regular recruitment is made; expected parameters for the said posts; subjects for tests; and training modules.
Central Board of Excise and Customs chairman V Sridhar has also said the realty sector would not attract 10 per cent service tax in effect.
The Finance Ministry on Thursday said it does not anticipate any backlash from PSU employees against divestment in state-run companies and the target of Rs 40,000 crore under this head next fiscal is 'modest' and achievable.
The Finance Commission (task force) had recommended an overall GST rate of 12 per cent 'but it is likely to be higher than that', revenue secretary Sunil Mitra said at a Confederation of Indian Industry seminar in New Delhi.
The government during 2009-10 is estimated to forego revenues of over Rs 5 lakh crore, which amounts to 50 per cent of its annual expenditure due to various tax concessions given to the prop up the industry hit by the global financial turmoil.
The FM's proposal on new banks and a Financial Stability and Development Council could spark tension with RBI.
Earlier, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said he thought the figure was 262 tonnes.
Gold and silver imports during April, 2013 jumped by 138 per cent to $7.5 billion against $3.1 billion in the year-ago period.
The department of economic affairs in the Union finance ministry has suggested aggressive sterilisation of foreign capital inflows, tightening of government expenditure and intervention in key farm produce markets like wheat.
The finance ministry has turned down a proposal for shifting the exporters' tax refund plan to the commerce ministry, which has been lobbying hard to take charge of the duty entitlement pass book scheme.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is set to present the Budget next month.
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