Corporate and Professional Updates on 29th January 2019

 

Corporate and Professional Updates on 29th January 2019

Indirect Tax Updates:

• The various structural changes and demand pressures over the past two years, the real estate sector is expecting the upcoming Interim Union Budget for 2019-20 to rationalize the Goods & Services Tax rates for under-construction properties, further incentives for affordable housing, and convergence of stamp duties within the GST rates.
• Changing farm incomes and adding job opportunities are the main objective for Union Budget 2019-20. The real estate and construction industry fit into the Budget 2019-20 schemes as the second-largest employer after agriculture and contribute close to 10% of GDP.
• GST and personal income tax so as to boost homeownership is a strategic option that government may well consider exercising,” as per the president of CREDAI.
• The regulatory approval being in place for quite some time, REITs, a potent instrument of change in the real estate industry, have been held back. For making Real estate more attractive for Investors experts are suggesting making it more tax-efficient for investors.
• With the liquidity pressure created by fears of defaults by realty developers and non-banking finance companies following the IL&FS default in September 2018, experts are also seeking to re-finance NBFCs by raising their limits.
• For the industry at large, one of the most critical steps that this budget can take is to increase the finance limits for NBFCs.
• Proposal to encourage taxmen to file GST profiteering complaints.

RBI Updates:

• The Reserve Bank of India has asked all registered peer-to-peer lenders to furnish details about borrowers, lenders, their financial profiles, total exposure of participants and the financial health of the platforms themselves as it looks to assess the overall wellbeing of the sector.
• RBI is now devising this quarterly reporting feature for the P2P lending space as well, showing that they are keeping a close eye on the space,” added this person. The move follows several NBFCs losing registration in the past few months as the regulator has clamped down on those not adhering to the rules.
• The regulator will use the data to see if the limits they have imposed are being adhered to and devise ways to prevent violations,” said the founder of a P2P startup. “They have asked for details about borrowers’ overall exposure and how much exposure each person has to one loan.
• By Hoping that the regulator will take this data point and look at the need for caps to be relaxed a bit so that the business can expand and we manage to get lenders easily

SEBI Updates:

• The Regulator of capital Market SEBI has put out a consultation paper on Index Commodity Design, to change derivative market in indices. Index-based commodity products should shore up institutional participation and raise liquidity in futures and options, for instance, to arbitrage across index products, and use one product to hedge their position in another.
• SEBI did approve a framework for foreign portfolio investors to trade in commodity derivatives. It would provide inward access and foreign participation in onshore markets.
• But there remain onerous capital controls, rigid position limits, adhoc margin requirements and questionable tax policy that come in the way of a vibrant domestic market for commodity derivatives.
• The paper calls for transparency in index parameters, comprising commodities from more than one sector. But there remain regulatory constraints on mutual funds and banks to participate in the commodity derivatives market.

Key Due Dates:

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

Quote of the Day:

“Be creative while inventing ideas, but be disciplined while implementing them.”

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