Corporate and Professional Updates on 12th February 2019

Indirect Tax Updates:

FAQ’s on GST:

Ques. Is a “Bill of Supply” to be issued by a bank for exempt services like interest on loans and advances, inter-sale or purchase of foreign currency amongst banks?

ANS. As per clause (c) of sub-section (3) of section 31 of the CGST Act, 2017 read with Rule 49 of the CGST Rules, 2017, there is a requirement for issuance of bill of supply for supply of exempt services by Banks. It may be noted, however, that there is no need to issue a separate bill of supply in case any invoice or document has already been issued in accordance with the provisions of any other law. Further, in view of the provisions contained in sub-rule (5) of rule 54 of the CGST Rules, 2017, banks may issue any other document in lieu of bill of supply.

Ques. Where a Bank takes a separate registration for a separate business vertical, say for Bullion business, whether the requirement for reversal of 50 percent will also apply to bullion purchased by the Bank?

ANS. In terms of Section 2(94) read with Section 25(4)&(5) of the CGST Act, 2017, a person required to obtain more than one registration within a State or more than one State shall be treated as a distinct person for each such registration. Section 17(4) of the CGST Act, 2017 is applicable qua each registration and not for the Bank as a whole, provided each of the business verticals is separately registered. Therefore, a bank engaged in trading in bullion may not opt for 50 percent reversal in respect of its purchases of bullion, where it is separately registered as a business vertical.

RBI Updates:

• The Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das needs to work overtime to reassert the central bank’s independence to the markets

Assessment of our new governor’s monetary policy:

Currently food inflation has been low, core inflation has been high and RBI targets headline inflation. Of course, the way Urjit Patel left didn’t look good for the central bank independence, and it is important the RBI establishes itself as independent in the eyes of the market. I think there will be a long path ahead of India if the institutional independence of RBI is questioned.

SEBI Updates:

• SEBI relaxes norms for non-residents to transfer shares to relatives.
• SEBI to look into sale of pledged shares of Reliance Group’s 3 listed firms.
• SEBI proposes circuit filters for F&O segment to curb price volatility.
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India has proposed price bands for all futures & options stocks, seeking to curb excessive price volatility in equity scrips that have derivative instruments available for trading. The capital-markets regulator said an examination of the price movements of F&O stocks in the past six months showed that 40 scrips witnessed intra-day movement of more than 20%.
• SEBI said the benefit of imposing price bands on such scrips is that the move may help arrest abnormal movements beyond a certain limit. It may also afford some opportunity to listed companies and their promoters to assess the movement of the stock, and enable them to make market announcements that may restore the price to a normal range. The challenge of implementing this proposal is that at present only those stocks satisfying the enhanced eligibility criteria are being permitted in the derivatives segment.

Other Updates:

• No-deal Brexit ‘could cost 600,000 jobs worldwide’ Study.
• SUUTI to sell up to 3% stake in Axis Bank via OFS
• 22 IL&FS group firms allowed to service debt obligations
• EPFO likely to retain interest rate at 8.55% for FY19.
• not looking at any other proposal for PSB merger.
• Venezuela oil czar courts India after $20 bn hit from US.
• India’s farm exports down 46% by volume, over 50% by value in Apr-Dec 2018.
• 23,779 hectares of SEZ development land lying vacant.
• Tata Steel, ThyssenKrupp set to get EU warning on steel JV.
• Bankrupt RCom arm to develop 132-acre land in Navi Mumbai as fintech center.
• UK economy posts slowest growth ahead of Brexit.
• Spice Jet Q3 net profit plunges 77% to Rs 55 cr.
• India could be second-largest economy by 2030.
• India Cements’ Q3 net down on price and cost pressures.
• DHFL receives notice on its books of accounts.
• Govt may exempt DPIIT-certified startups from angel tax.
• NSE launches trading in weekly options on Nifty 50 Index.
• NTPC signs pact with SBI for 5,000 crore term loans.
• Zinc hits 2-week low on worries about China-US trade.
• Corporation Bank swings into the black with 60.53 crore profit in Q3.
• MTNL seeks Rs 500 crore claims from government.
• REC takeover PFC to draw Rs 10K crore from own reserves lending to power projects to be hit.
• IMF warns of global economic ‘storm’ as growth undershoots.
• UAE wants to store crude oil in India; keen to invest in refining, petrochemical projects.
• Cement demand expected to grow 1.2 times of GDP growth rate.
• S&P affirms IOB’s ratings, keeps outlook stable.
• Reliance Insurance files fresh IPO papers removes Edelweiss as merchant banker.
• India seeks German investments in food processing, infra, pharma.

Key Due Dates:

• ISD Return for the month of January 2019 is 13^th February 2019.
• Payment of ESI of January 2019 is 15^th February 2019.
• Due Date of GSTR 3B for the month of January 2019 is 20^th February 2019.

Professional Quotes:

“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”