Author: harjinder1991

In a move to regulate the cryptocurrency market in India, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today cleared that it is not legal tender and it will discourage its use.

However, he mentioned that the government will look at the utilisation of blockchain technology.

During the run-up to the budget, there have been talks that the government could come out with a roadmap to regulate the cryptocurrency market. There has been rising craze among investors to put in their hard-earned money into the highly volatile cryptocurrency market setting off alarm bells in the government.

Even before the budget Jaitley had already said that the Cryptocurrency is not legal tender in India.

There have been reports that several banks have frozen account cryptocurrency exchanges in India, while the registrar of companies (ROC) has stopped registering companies intending to act as such exchanges.

There have also been fears that devious fly-by-night operators would take advantage of the greed among those looking for quick, short term gains and disappear after collect money, causing headache for the government.

Also, there are fears that those with black money, such as the underworld, could be using the cryptocurrency route to invest their tainted money to register gains.

Digital currency, led by the Bitcoin, which has been the most popular among the plethora of options, has gained immense popularity globally. However, the underlying assets have been highly volatile with price movements swinging wildly on news flow.

Globally, there has been a move to clamp down on crypto trading, with countries such as South Korea banning anonymous trade in such currency.

There have also been issues on safety of investors’ accounts against hackers. There have been several instances where accounts of investors have been hacked into by criminal elements who have fled with investor wealth. Currently, there is no way to retrieve such money lost to hackers.

Read more at: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/personal-finance/budget-2018-arun-jaitley-says-cryptocurrency-is-not-legal-tender-government-will-discourage-its-use-2491099.html

The finance ministry has sought a report from GSTN, the IT-backbone provider for GST, on glitches in the system that derailed the anti-tax evasion electronic way bill system on the very first day of launch.

It wants GST-Network to detail system readiness before re-introducing the requirement for transporters to carry an electronic waybill or e-way bill for moving goods between states, Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia told PTI.

The e-way bill provision of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced yesterday but its implementation put on hold after system developed glitches in generating permits.

Adhia said there is no going back on e-way bill, which is a tool for preventing tax evasion, and it will be reintroduced in “next few weeks” after the system is fully ready. Under GST, e-way bill is an electronic way bill required for movement of goods more than Rs 50,000 in value and can be generated on the GSTN.

Adhia said by deferring the implementation of the e-way requirement the government has shown to the industry that it is willing to accommodate their demands so that they do not suffer. “I have told AB Pandey (GSTN Chairman) to give an assessment of what went wrong, how much time would be required to set it (e-way bill system) right and make it fool proof,” Adhia said.

The e-way bill portal was developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and its implementation is being looked after by GSTN, the company which developed the IT backbone for the new indirect tax regime.

Adhia said states were “very insistent” on introducing e-way bill as early as possible and when the GSTN conducted trail runs the system was working well. “But, unfortunately when the load became too much some of the server started responding slowly and we didn’t want traders to suffer because of our technological glitches, so we said we will give few more days to the system to improve and this time we will make sure that there is no further glitch,” he added.

The e-way bill system was rolled out after GSTN conducted trial runs for a fortnight. However, it could not sustain the load and businesses faced difficulties on the rollout day. Following complaints, the government deferred its implementation.

Asked if the system would be put in place by the middle of this month, he said, “They (GSTN) will try to do it as early as possible, around that time (mid February). I want to make sure that this time there is no mistake. I have told already A B Pandey that he should ensure (that). ”

Adhia, who is also the Revenue Secretary, said that even as trial runs went off well, but when the load of a hefty 2–3 lakh e-way bill per hour was generated on the portal yesterday, the server suffered glitches.

“So, immediately we changed (deferred e-way bill implementation). Technology sometimes fails us, despite putting all the best people. But, we have taken care to see that trade does not suffer because of our mistake. So, we have immediately changed and said let’s take few more days, let’s recheck,” he added.

Adhia said states, which have already issued notification stating implementation of e-way bill from February 1, have to make required changes. Also, a decision on implementing intrastate e-way bill requirement will be taken based on GSTN’s response on settling the system.

The all-powerful GST Council had on December 16, 2017, decided to implement the e-way bill mechanism for intra-state movement of goods from June 1 and from February 1 for inter- state movement.

Read more at: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/finance-ministry-asks-gstn-to-come-out-with-foolproof-e-way-bill-system/article22634106.ece

Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia on Friday said that the ‘grandfathering’ provision for long-term capital gains tax is equally applicable to foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) after some experts expressed concern over the wording of the amendment in the Finance Bill.

The Income-Tax Department also tweeted that ‘grandfathering’ will be applicable to FPIs. 

The fear was that due to the way the amendment was made in the Income-Tax Act, it could mean that FPIs may have been excluded from ‘grandfathering’ longterm capital gains tax. “As far as ‘grandfathering’ and the limit for levy of tax (LTCG) is concerned, it applies to both residents and non-resident investors,” Adhia said. 

Before the clarification, tax experts were of the opinion that the Income-Tax Act amendment allowing LTCG tax to be imposed at 10% appeared to leave out FPIs from the ‘grandfathering’ benefit. This would have meant that foreign investors would have had to pay tax on gains exceeding Rs 1 lakh in a financial year from the sale of shares and equity mutual funds. Other classes of investors are exempt from the levy for such gains made up to January 31.

Earlier on Friday, foreign investors went into a huddle with tax experts amid concerns that they may not get the benefit of ‘grandfathering’ — or exemption from — of the LTCG tax proposed in the Budget. 

Tax advisors of FPIs rushed to New Delhi to meet senior tax officials and get clarity on the matter. Some experts said the exclusion of FPIs from the ‘grandfathering’ benefit may not have been intentional.

Industry experts said they expect the government to issue a clarification in the coming days. Many FPIs will now have to shell out 10% LTCG tax on their investments unless they move their base to the Netherlands or France to take advantage of tax arbitrage. 

Tax-treaty shopping, a practice where foreign investors shift to a country to obtain the benefit of lower or no tax, is set to return to the Indian capital markets following the introduction of LTCG tax, ET reported on Thursday. 

While India’s tax treaties with Mauritius, Singapore and Mauritius have been amended to make investors liable to pay tax on their gains, such agreements with the Netherlands and France have not been similarly revised. Many FPIs may now consider setting up a pooling or investment vehicle in the Netherlands or France to obtain the tax advantage. 

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/grandfathering-fears-shake-up-fpis/articleshow/62765377.cms

Budget 2018 brings about the following changes under the Miscellaneous Provisions of Finance Bill, 2018

Source: Page 28 http://www.indiabudget.gov.in/ub2018-19/cen/dojstru1.pdf

Finance minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley unveiled the Union Budget 2018 in Parliament on February 1, 2018, amid expectations of increased spending to boost growth in the Indian economy. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley delivered his government’s last full year Budget speech for financial year 2018-19. He began his speech by highlighting the government’s economic reforms undertaken in the last four years and its achievements. Mr. Jaitley said that this year’s Budget will focus on strengthening agriculture and rural economy and the government was committed to double the farmers income by 2022.

Being a populist budget, there were minimal changes in taxation front. With GST subsuming Service Tax and Excise, Indirect taxes mainly saw changes in Customs Act and Tariff.

For  understanding key highlights of the Budget, Mr. Bimal Jain has recorded a Video Presentation on Union Budget, 2018, discussing the various amendments brought/proposed in Indirect Taxes along with suggesting the GST roadmap which could have been the part of Budget.

The video can be accessed at : https://youtu.be/4JNkzNuE_Qk

Trust you will find this video helpful for easy digests of Union Budget, 2018.

PHD Chamber of Commerce is organizing a post budget Interactive session on the Implications of Union Budget 2018 with special presence of Revenue secretary, Dr. Hasmukh Adhia. You are all requested to attend this session for fruitful discussion.

Finance minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley unveiled the Union Budget 2018 in Parliament on February 1, 2018, amid expectations of increased spending to boost growth in the Indian economy. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley delivered his government’s last full year Budget speech for financial year 2018-19. He began his speech by highlighting the government’s economic reforms undertaken in the last four years and its achievements. Mr. Jaitley said that this year’s Budget will focus on strengthening agriculture and rural economy and the government was committed to double the farmers income by 2022.

Being a populist budget, there were minimal changes in taxation front. With GST subsuming Service Tax and Excise, Indirect taxes mainly saw changes in Customs Act and Tariff.

For  understanding key highlights of the Budget, Mr. Bimal Jain has recorded a Video Presentation on Union Budget, 2018, discussing the various amendments brought/proposed in Indirect Taxes along with suggesting the GST roadmap which could have been the part of Budget.

The video can be accessed at : https://youtu.be/4JNkzNuE_Qk

Trust you will find this video helpful for easy digests of Union Budget, 2018.

Finance minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley unveiled the Union Budget 2018 in Parliament on February 1, 2018, amid expectations of increased spending to boost growth in the Indian economy. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley delivered his government’s last full year Budget speech for financial year 2018-19. He began his speech by highlighting the government’s economic reforms undertaken in the last four years and its achievements. Mr. Jaitley said that this year’s Budget will focus on strengthening agriculture and rural economy and the government was committed to double the farmers income by 2022.

Being a populist budget, there were minimal changes in taxation front. With GST subsuming Service Tax and Excise, Indirect taxes mainly saw changes in Customs Act and Tariff.

For  understanding key highlights of the Budget, Mr. Bimal Jain has recorded a Video Presentation on Union Budget, 2018, discussing the various amendments brought/proposed in Indirect Taxes along with suggesting the GST roadmap which could have been the part of Budget.

The video can be accessed at : https://youtu.be/4JNkzNuE_Qk

Trust you will find this video helpful for easy digests of Union Budget, 2018.

Budget 2018 brings about the following changes under the Miscellaneous Provisions of Finance Bill, 2018

Source: Page 28 http://www.indiabudget.gov.in/ub2018-19/cen/dojstru1.pdf