The bill to nullify retrospective taxation offers a fair solution within the framework of Indian law and Parliamentary sovereignty to companies which have been subjected to such demands, Finance Secretary T V Somanathan said on Thursday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced 'The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021' in the Lok Sabha that seeks to withdraw tax demands made using a 2012 retrospective legislation to tax the indirect transfer of Indian assets. The Bill provides for the withdrawal of tax demand made on "indirect transfer of Indian assets if the transaction was undertaken before May 28, 2012 (i.e. the day the retrospective tax legislation came into being)."
Finance ministry officials said they were scrutinising many deals, but the actual tax liability would depend on many factors, including the kind of payment (royalty, interest, stake sale) and the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement with the country where the foreign company was based.
But the road map of telecom will be decided by one thing: Whether Jio sticks to its ambitious plan and whether incumbents have enough financial muscle or ability to raise money every year to ensure that Jio does not reach its target, says Surajeet Das Gupta.
India Inc's quarterly net profit reached a record high of Rs 1.64 trillion in the third quarter ended December 31, 2020, mainly due to gains from higher commodity prices and a big swing in banks' earnings. The combined net profit of 3,323 listed companies that have declared results so far was up 68.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY). In comparison, earnings were up six times (534 per cent) in the second quarter and 6.5 per cent in the corresponding period last year.
Pranab Mukherjee's stewardship of the economy will stand out as much for the manner in which he managed controversies as for creating quite a few of them, says A K Bhattacharya.
"Kraft's acquisition of Cadbury is a global acquisition, where some value is attributable to India. This is different from Vodafone, where the transfer of a single share of the offshore company by Hutch resulted in the Indian business getting transferred to Vodafone," said Pranay Bhatia, associate partner at legal firm Economic Laws Practice.
Reputations, especially in Bollywood, took a beating when people such as Tanushree Dutta and Vinta Nanda named Nana Patekar and Alok Nath for alleged misconduct years ago.
Revenue decline has left the operators with little money to service their mostly 3G and partly 4G infrastructure leading to poor data and voice quality.
India offers good long-term investment opportunities.
Sources at the department of telecommunications confirmed that Bharti Airtel has submitted application to bid for airwaves frequencies at pan-India level.
'I hope the trend is sustainable and that economic activity accelerates going forward.'
Analysts at rating agency ICRA say the debt level of the telecom companies is very high and the ecosystem for the premium band is not in place.
Bharti Airtel called the prices exorbitant while Vodafone Idea wants the auctions take place in 2020. The auctions need to happen when the infrastructure is ready for the roll out, be it in terms of fiberisation levels, or optimisation of equipment and software etc. Spending a hefty amount on a technology (airwaves) that at present offers limited returns is not going to be a priority for the incumbent telcos.
Jio is in a neck and neck battle with Airtel, which added a similar number of subscribers as Jio in the 15 months from February 2017 to April 2018
These circles account for 23 per cent of Bharti's revenues and armed with additional spectrum, it will eat into rivals' share
DoT officials said instructions have been issued to Idea and Vodafone to provide the requisite information to IB at the earliest.
In a most perverse example of tax bullying, someone I know has got by three such notices reopening his assessment minutes before the midnight deadline of June 30, reveals Debashis Basu.
DoT's proposal to impact many, including Vodafone
After initial success, data use is stagnating and getting consumers to spend additional money for high-speed internet is proving to be difficult for telcos.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your stock market queries.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Severe jolt to Sahara Group, strict scrutiny of mining activities and scrapping of licences for 2G spectrum dominated the corporate legal battle in 2012 in the Supreme Court which gave a decisive victory to telecom major Vodafone in a Rs 11,000 crore tax case.
Total subscriber base at the end of November 2011 stood at 663.78 million users.
Given the many policy areas where the Centre and the states have not been seeing eye to eye in the last few years, it is time the Modi government convenes a meeting of the Inter-State Council, recommends A K Bhattacharya.
However, the government is readying a relief package and it could include a cut in the licence fee to 5 per cent, two years' moratorium on paying spectrum charges with interest, and referring the GST tax refund issue to the Council.
Just to promote govt's policy of Make in India, BSNL said, it cannot afford to procure sub-standard equipment from inexperienced companies, not having proven technology. BSNL complained that when competitors were procuring world-class 4G equipment from experienced vendors, why should BSNL be compelled to procure locally.
Stage is set for Mumbai's motorsports fans to witness Formula One star Lewis Hamilton scorching the roads of the Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai on Sunday.
The organisers of the September 16 Vodafone Speed Fest featuring British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton have shifted the event from Marine Drive to Bandra Kurla Complex following objections from the residents of the picturesque south Mumbai venue.
The main Opposition party suggested that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee were not on the same page with regard to the retrospective amendment to tax laws against the backdrop of Vodafone case, leading to the current precarious situation.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
The top three operators - Airtel, Vodafone and Idea - which account for over 67 per cent of the GSM market, lost over 2.17 million users in September.
Airtel operates as Airtel-Vodafone in Jersey and Guernsey to offer Vodafone trademarks in the British Channel Islands.
Around 1,200 protesters demanding scrapping of the amended citizenship act were detained on Thursday when they defied prohibitory orders imposed by the Delhi Police in Red Fort area. Internet, voice and messaging services by Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Reliance Jio were suspended in parts of Delhi-NCR, in perhaps for the first time that the national capital experienced such restrictions.
Idea tops list of companies with high percentage of active subscribers.
Experts explain the distinction between the rights of small and minority shareholders in public-listed and private companies.
The big advantage that Jio is able to garner currently is its low cost of operations.
Arun Sarin is the chief executive officer of Vodafone Group Plc, the United Kingdom-based global mobile operator.
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have communicated to the telecom department that they will not pay AGR dues of Rs 88,624 crore, the deadline for which ended on Thursday, and will wait for the outcome of modification petition listed for hearing before the Supreme Court next week, according to official sources. Reliance Jio on Thursday paid Rs 195 crore to the telecom department to clear all adjusted gross revenue dues accounted till January 31, 2020, according to an official source.
Do a straw poll of any business friends and you will laugh and weep at what they go through, points out Rahul Jacob.
Apart from the Google team led by AI scientist Manish Gupta, the company will also partner with the research community across the country to focus on tackling challenges in fields like healthcare, agriculture, and education.
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