ICAI
ICAI: Big 4 must not take over small audit cos
Accounting regulator ICAI has asked the Big Four auditing and consulting firms – KPMG, E&Y, Deloitte 
and PwC – to share any information sought by various committees of the institute and has asked them not to engage in “shopping for small firms”. “There are a lot of issues in which the information is sought from …
Revised Structure of Question Papers for November, 2010 Examination
It has been decided to revise the structure of question papers for the PCE, IPCE and Final (old and new course) examinations as under, from November, 2010 examination onwards: One question will be compulsory. Among other questions, one choice will be provided uniformly in all the papers. In addition, in one of the questions, one …
Empanelment of Members to act as observers in the examinations centres
The Institute intends to draw a Panel from amongst its Members for acting as Observer at the examination centres in various cities during the examination days. Members who are interested to act as Observer …
Income Tax
Vodafone move SC challenging a Bombay HC order on tax issue
Britain’s Vodafone moved the Supreme Court challenging a Bombay High Court order that upheld the Income Tax Department’s demand of Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) tax on the company’s over $11 billion deal with Hong Kong-based Hutchison in 2007. “Vodafone remains convinced that there is no tax to pay on the Hutchison transaction and …
Corporate advance tax up by 15% in June-Sept qtr
Buoyed by earnings growth in banks, financial services and manufacturing firms, Corporate India has paid 15% higher advance tax in the June-September quarter over the year-ago period. Among the top companies whose advance tax payment for the three months have shown a marked rise are Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) , Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), ICICI …
SBI pays advance tax of Rs 1,924 cr for July-Sept qtr
State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, has paid Rs 1,924 crore as advance tax for the July-September quarter, an income tax department source said. The firm had paid an advance tax of Rs 1,832 crore a year ago, the source said.
Tax officials scrutinising cross-border deals like Vodafone
Tax officials are scrutinising other cross-border mergers like the Vodafone-Hutchison deal for possible tax evasion after the Bombay High Court rejected a petition against imposition of tax on the deal, a key Finance Ministry official said today. “We are in the process of investigating other cases. They are also in various stages of processing,” Central …
DTC
In new DTC deductions to be linked with tax incentive
To maintain the balance of savings and investment in an economy, it is vital for any state administrative machinery to have necessary incentives in place. Incentives work best when they are linked to payment of taxes. Indians unlike western counterparts by and large love to save and invest for the future and all the more …
DTC: NPS may be the next preferred tax saving investment
The New Pension Scheme (NPS) has so far not seen too many takers after the government opened the scheme to the public in 2009. However, the investment scenario will most likely change in favour of NPS once the proposals under the latest Direct Taxes Code (DTC) are implemented. This is because the DTC has proposed …
GST
Finmin indicates GST could be introduced in next fiscal year
After it has become clear that GST cannot be introduced right at the start of the next fiscal, the Finance Ministry today indicated that the proposed indirect taxes regime may still be rolled out sometime during 2011-12. “Unlike DTC (Direct Taxes Code), GST is a transaction- based tax. So for GST, it is not that …
States says no to single GST rate
The overhaul of country’s indirect taxes regime faces more hurdles with many states opposing the Centre’s road map that envisages a single rate of goods and services tax, or GST, in three years of its rollout. “I am opposed to it…It is unethical to tax luxury cars and sugar at the same rate,” Kerala finance …
Service Tax
CBEC ask telecom dept for service-tax records
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has asked the telecom department for copy of special audits that were undertaken on the books of all leading telecom companies to examine the service tax angle. Last year, the government ordered special audits on the books of all telcos beginning with Reliance Communications(RCOM) after the Cellular …
SEBI
NSE launches new facility of stock updates on mobile phones
The National Stock Exchange launched a new facility to provide stock updates on mobile phones, which the country’s leading bourse hopes will help it reach out to more customers. “For the first time in India, getting market data on a mobile will no longer be the preserve of a privileged few. From September 14, the …
Audit
New Co’s Bill to make Auditors compensate for corporate fraud
The new Companies Bill could contain a provision that will make auditors compensate retail investors in cases of corporate fraud, a measure aimed at bringing in more accountability into audit profession. In a representation made before the parliamentary standing committee on finance, the ministry of corporate affairs has suggested several such measures to restore investors’ …
General
UIDAI will be strict on issuing 12-digit unique identification numbers
The 12-digit unique identification (UID) number, or Aadhaar, will not have special numbers like 1947 or 1111 that can make the number susceptible to theft or misuse. Apart from reserving two special values for the first and the last digits, the remaining digits of the number will be generated randomly when one requests a new …
PSU extend deadline for setting up TPA
The four state-owned general insurers have extended the application deadline by three weeks to September 24 for setting up a common Third Party Administrator (TPA), even as impasse over the suspension of cashless facilities continue. The four PSU insurers — National Insurance Company, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance — had invited …
Amendment of the Multi-state Co-operative Societies Act, 2002
The Union Cabinet approved the introduction of the Multi-State Co¬operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2010 in the Parliament. These amendments are intended to enhance the public faith in the cooperatives and to ensure better accountability of the management towards its members and the law of the land. It is proposed to define active member to ensure …
Cabinet approves simplified labour law
The decision by the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to stop paying interest on accounts that have not been operated for 36 months or more is expected to cover 60 per cent of the accounts. According to EPFO estimates, there were 30.5 million inoperative accounts across 120 offices. In all, the agency had 47.1 million …
No interest for PF accounts idle for 36 months or more
The decision by the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to stop paying interest on accounts that have not been operated for 36 months or more is expected to cover 60 per cent of the accounts. According to EPFO estimates, there were 30.5 million inoperative accounts across 120 offices. In all, the agency had 47.1 million …
PF rates hiked to 9.5%, windfall for the salaried
In what may be a windfall for crores of employees in public and private sector, the Provident Fund Trustees decided to give a higher interest rate of 9.5 per cent for 2010-11 on their retirement savings. The steep one percentage points increase has taken the interest on PF deposits of 47 million organised sector workers to a five-year high from the current level of 8.5 per cent.
No progress on political donation rules by govt
More than a year after the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government (UPA) proposed 100% tax exemption for political donations to ‘electoral trusts’, it is yet to notify the definition of such trusts and make rules to govern them, leaving in limbo a key attempt to reform the system of funding political parties. Three state assembly …
