ICAI
ICAI unearths cases of forged signatures of auditors on financial statements
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has unearthed cases of financial statements and audit reports of certain companies with forged signatures of auditors, sparking off fear of a larger menace that may have hit the country’s auditing fraternity. At a time when the government is going all out to set right the audit profession, cases of forged audit reports have put the regulator on the defensive.
Breach of Regulations 65 & 78 – Non submission of Form 112
The appropriate Committee of the Institute in its recent meeting in view of the difficulties being faced by students decided that the following course of action be adopted for dealing with the cases of
condonation of Regulation 65 w.e.f. 1st April 2010. It is also clarified that the cases for condonation of breach of Regulation 65 and 78 received upto 31st March, 2010 would be dealt with in terms of the Announcement dated 8th January, 2010 i.e. general amnesty.
ICAI President: Companies can’t keep assets secret
Companies may have to provide detailed information including details of financial assets, the complete list of shareholders and directors to ICAI if the government accepts the amendments to Chartered Accountants (CA) Act 1949 suggested by the institute. The institute has sought powers to summon information from companies. Under the laws, ICAI has the powers to call for information only from its members and not from companies directly. The government is reviewing amendments to the CA Act, 1949.
Income Tax
Pranab: Tax rates in revised draft DTC are indicative & not final
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee rejected criticism of the revised draft Direct Taxes Code over the proposal to restore exemptions in income tax, saying the tax rates are indicative and not final. Changes (made in the revised draft Code) cannot be presumed as “progressive or regressive”, he said while making clear that final tax rates are the prerogative of Parliament to decide.
No tax exemptions for donations to religious bodies
The donations you make to religious bodies is not going to earn any tax exemptions, but the income of these entities will continue to get tax breaks, subject to certain exemptions. While the finance ministry had earlier proposed to restrict the benefit, the revised discussion paper on the Direct Taxes Code has suggested that donations be made taxable in the hands of the donor. At present, 50 per cent deduction is allowed on the donations made to religious institutions.
I-T Dept to monitor carbon trading activities for non-payment of taxes
Corporate earnings from trading in certified emission reduction or carbon credits have caught the eyes of income-tax department. Tax authorities plan to closely look at companies found active in carbon trading after finding non-payment of taxes on such earnings. The issue was flagged at the recent conference of the chief commissioners and director generals of income-tax, a department official said.
I-T Dept decides to “clean up the mismatched TDS database”
Admitting that many Income Tax refunds were still pending, the I-T Department decided to “clean up the mismatched TDS database” due to which the refunds were held up. I-T Dept release said, “The Income Tax Dept has taken the initiative to clean up the mismatched TDS data base. Many refunds are pending with the IT Department due to the mismatch of tax paid by the assessee, but the same is not being reflected in the computer software of the department.”
Ordinary investors will not benefit from reduction in STT
The government released the redone discussion paper of the Direct Tax Code. It incorporated a rethink on 11 areas that had identified as contentious based on the feedback that the government had received on the original discussion paper that had been released back in August 2009. One of these contentious areas is the capital gains tax that is levied on equity and equity-backed investments that have been held for more than one year. Investors in India have become used to not having to pay any…
I-T Dept may raise over Rs 8,500 cr tax from transfer pricing audits
The Income Tax Department is likely to slap a demand of Rs 8,500 crore on foreign companies and their domestic subsidiaries that allegedly transferred profits to other countries to reduce tax liability. “The Income Tax Department is likely to raise over Rs 8,500 crore from transfer pricing audits. There has been scrutiny of 8,105 such cases,” finance ministry sources said.
e-filing of I-T returns to increase this year
3i Infotech is expecting to see prominent adoption in e-filing (electronic filing) of Income-Tax returns this season. The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (Consumer Services Division), Mr Ravi Jagannathan, attributed the expected increase in e-filing to the awareness among youngsters in being environment friendly (paperless processing).
Understanding revised Direct Tax Code
Under the direct taxes code (DTC) regime, what happens if a salaried employee withdraws money from hisher approved Provident Fund (PF) Superannuation fund (SF) Gratuity and other retrial benefit schemes? How will the DTC affect pension plans? In the initial draft of DTC, the government has proposed to move to the EET basis of taxation for long-term saving schemes. That is, exemption granted at the time of contribution (making an investment) and accrual on such investments.
I-T Dept will launch Internet-based grievance redressal system for taxpayers
The Income Tax department will soon launch an Internet-based grievance redressal system for taxpayers to lodge their complaints with taxman.The new online facility will also enable taxpayers to register their complaints and put applications to the I-T Ombudsman present in 12 cities. Currently, taxpayers can file their tax returns online by logging on the official website of the department – www.Incometaxindia.gov.in.
Revised DTC needs more time for discussion
The time offered for putting up public comments on the revised discussion paper on the direct tax code (DTC) is too inadequate to evoke proper response from people, say experts. The new draft code, which was released on June 15, has been put up for public comments till end June. “They have given a time period of just 15 days which is too inadequate to evoke response or for any sort of representations from people,” said Mr Amitav Kothari, FCA, Managing Partner, Kothari and Company.
Service Tax
Service Tax levy on 8 new services effective from July 1, 2010
The Finance Ministry has specified July 1 as the date from which service tax levy would be applicable on the eight new services brought under the tax net in Budget 2010-11. The eight new services include services of promoting, marketing or organising of games of chance, including lottery, health services undertaken by hospitals for employees of business organisation and health services provided…
Service Tax waived on power supply within ports & airports
The government has decided to exempt distribution of electricity, services provided within ports and airports, international passengers in transit and those travelling to and from the North-East from the ambit of service tax while bringing in more services in the tax net from July 1. In addition, construction services under specified government schemes and tournaments and championships organised by specified bodies would be exempted from the tax, the finance ministry said in separate…
Service Tax rates effective from 1st July 2010
[TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY, PART II, SECTION 3, SUB-SECTION (i)] G.S.R. (E).- In exercise of the powers conferred by clauses (A) and (B) of section 76 of the Finance Act, 2010 (14 of 2010), the Central Government hereby appoints the 1st day of July, 2010, as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force.
Sales of under-construction houses from July 1 will attract service tax
Those looking to book a house should do so before July 1. All sales of under-construction houses from July 1 will attract service tax with the finance ministry notifying tax on new services. However,service tax on rail freight has been further put off till January, 2011. The government has also exempted electricity distribution from service tax.
Indirect Tax
Filing of returns as per the periodicity displayed on web site for 2010-11
All the registered dealers are expected to file the returns under the MVAT Act and Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 as per the applicable periodicity. The principles regarding the periodicity have been explained in the trade Circular No 26T of 2009 dated 1st October 2009. For the ease and convenience of the dealers, the periodicity has been generated through the automated system and displayed on the department’s web site for the year 2010-11. It may not be out of place to point out that mandatory…
Centre & States may agree on common threshold for GST
In a move that should get more traders into the ambit of the proposed goods and services tax, the Centre and states may settle for a common threshold of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) for imposition of the levy. At present, the threshold prescribed for imposition of Value Added Tax – which will be abolished when GST comes into effect – differs from state to state.
SEBI
SEBI gives MF’s more time to implement debt valuation rule
Capital market regulator SEBI has given mutual funds a breather to implement a norm for valuing money market and debt securities with maturity of over 91 days in their schemes. The market regulator has stretched the deadline for its implementation to August 1 from July 1 earlier, a SEBI circular said. The move has come as a temporary relief to MFs, as liquid plus schemes, which comprise nearly 40% of the industry’s assets under management (AUM) of Rs 8 lakh crore.
General
President Promulgates Ordinance for Ulips case between IRDA & SEBI
The President of India has promulgated an Ordinance amending the RBI Act 1934, Insurance Act 1938, SEBI Act 1992 and Securities Contract Regulations Act 1956, thereby clarifying by way of an explanation that Life Insurance business shall include any Unit Linked Insurance Policy or scripttts or any such instruments. This would set at rest all the issues regarding ULIPs between two financial regulators i.e. SEBI and IRDA.
Source >>> https://www.forum4finance.com/
Link >>> https://www.forum4finance.com/2010/06/26/week-21st-to-26th-june-10-highlights/
CAclubindia
