Corporate and Professional Updates on 25th January 2019

 

Corporate and Professional Updates on 25th January 2019

Indirect Tax:

• The government’s decision to create a national Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal to adjudicate disputes is on the way. It will help in faster resolution and also bring uniformity in the redressal of GST disputes.
• The tribunal will act as a forum for second appeal and decide cases where there are divergent orders by the authority for advance rulings at the state level. This will reduce the burden on high courts that have a huge pendency of cases.
• Industry has been demanding the creation of a centralised authority for advance ruling. And the GST Council has seen merit in this demand. So, amendments needed to the GST Act should be done swiftly to remove any tax uncertainty for businesses. Appeals against contradictory rulings by the Authority for Advance Rulings should be disposed of quickly.
• The GST Council should make the tax rules simple for their transparent, consistent interpretation. Fewer and lower rates will minimise classification disputes, reduce the burden on the judiciary and boost GST collections, as well as direct tax collections.

 

FAQ on GST:

Ques. Are services supplied by a Bank to its branch / head-office outside India, which are neither intermediary services nor services to account holders, taxable under GST?

ANS. GST is a destination based consumption tax. Such services provided by a Bank or the branch of a foreign Bank in India to its offshore branch / head-office, which are neither intermediary services nor services to account holders, are inter-State supply of services between distinct establishments (as per section 7(5)(a) read with Explanation to section 8 of the IGST Act, 2017), and will be taxable in India, as the location of the supplier is in India and the place of supply is outside India. Such services will not be treated as exports in view of the sub-clause (v) of section 2(6) of the IGST Act, 2017 read with Explanation 1 to section 8 of the IGST Act, 2017.

Ques. Is the Nominated Bank, receiving gold on consignment basis, required to pay IGST on import of gold from the overseas supplier?

ANS. The dispatch of gold by the principal from a place outside India to the Bank in India is deemed to be a supply in terms of para 3 of Schedule I to the CGST Act, 2017. Accordingly, IGST will be payable on such import of gold by the Nominated Bank at the time of clearance of gold by the Customs.

RBI Updates:

• The Reserve Bank of India issued a policy paper on retail payment systems that proposes to ease norms for the entry of new players in a bid to boost competition and innovation.

Policy Paper:

• RBI, in its monetary policy announced that it would publish a policy paper on retail payment systems. The paper throws light on the concerns of increasing concentration of a single operator for retail payments. It also discusses the need for competition and innovation and the resultant impact on economic efficiency and financial stability.

Recommend:

• The policy paper proposes an open and keep-on-tap window for making applications to all payment systems. It also seeks to review entry-point norms for payment operators.

NPCI’s role in the payment system:

• RBI and the Indian Banks’ Association. It has a diversified shareholding with 56 banks and a 51% stake held by public sector banks. NPCI operates retail payment systems such as National Financial Switch, Immediate Payment Service, and Unified Payments Interface including Bharat Interface for Money, National Unified USSD Platform and RuPay. It processes nearly 48% of transactions by volume, aggregating 15% in terms of value. RBI manages and operates the National Electronic Funds Transfer system and the Electronic Clearing Service.

Other Updates:

• Kocchar got Rs 64 cr bribe through her husband, reveals CBI.
• SBI defers sale of Essar Steel loans to February 11.
• Bharti Infratel settles tower exits for Rs 3,800 Crore.
• Piyush Goyal to meet heads of PSU banks on Monday.
• PNB’s $45 million fraud claim dismissed by English court.
• Tata Motors to bid adieu to Nano from April 2020.
• Ravneet Gill to take over from Rana Kapoor as YES Bank’s MD & CEO.
• Etihad wants to end exclusivity for Jet Privilege as part of rescue deal.
• Oil rises after US threat of sanctions on Venezuelan crude exports.
• Steel industry’s capital expenditure to rise to Rs 75,000 cr, says study.
• Domestic crude output down 4.3% in December.
• Sops for agriculture to top Govt. priority list.
• R Power net down 32.5% to 189 cr in December quarter.
• Coal India reports 8% increase in supplies to power sector.
• Wheat production may cross record 100 mt in 2018-19.
• Supreme Court to hear Vedanta’s plea to reopen Sterlite plant on 29 January.
• Global business leaders raise concerns over e-commerce policy changes in India.
• Ultra Tech December quarter consolidated net falls 14% on higher fuel, input costs.
• CBI files FIR against Kochhar’s, Dhoot over the Videocon loan issue.
• MSCI may reduce India’s weight in the Emerging Market index.
• Irdai to pick systemically important insurers.
• Arcelor Mittal, Ruias’ ding-dong battle for Essar Steel continues.
• Investment through P-notes rises to Rs 79,513 cr till December-end.
• Cabinet clears $400-m standby swap facility for SAARC nations.
• NMPT targets 44 mt of cargo handling in 2018-19.
• HAL to outsource ALH to domestic private sector companies.

Key Due Dates:

• TDS return for Purchase of Property For the month of December 2018 is 30th January 2019.
• The due Date of GSTR-1 for the Quarterly Return Filler of taxable supplies is 31st January 2019.

Quote of the Day:

They copied my product, they copied my strategies yet they failed miserably in the business, because they couldn’t copy my professionalism

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