Page 11 - Finance Ministry

GST evasion of Rs 55,575 cr detected in last 2 years, 719 persons arrested

GST authorities have detected GST fraud of Rs 55,575 crore over the last two years and arrested over 700 persons for causing loss to the exchequer, an official said on Thursday. Over 22,300 fake GST identification numbers (GSTIN) were detected by the officers of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI). The government on November 9, 2020, launched a nationwide special drive against unscrupulous entities for availing and passing on Input Tax Credit (ITC) fraudulently by issuing fake/bogus invoices, thereby evading Goods and Services Tax (GST). "In the two years of the special drive, GST/ITC fraud worth Rs 55,575 crore has been detected. 719 persons have been arrested, which include 20 CA/CS professionals," the official told PTI. Voluntary deposits of Goods and Services Tax (GST) worth Rs 3,050 crore have been made during the period. The official did not disclose the recovery amount in these cases, but said it would be a "sizeable amount". "Credible intelligence, coordina

Financial market regulators may rebuff EU counterpart's auditing demands

Under some recent European amendments to practices, which India has not signed up to, the ESMA is seeking rights to independently inspect clearing houses in India

Govt to finance green bond projects and initiatives under 9 categories

Proceeds will be deposited in the Consolidated Fund of India

Govt may release green bond framework today; financing under 9 categories

Proceeds from green bond issuances will be deposited in the Consolidated Fund of India

Forex cover for imports may fall to lowest this year under Modi govt

There could be $27.7 billion dollars of withdrawals in the next five months

Govt not to impose anti-dumping duty on Chinese metal cutter wheels

The government has decided not to impose anti-dumping duty on Chinese metal cutter wheels as the finance ministry has not accepted the recommendations of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) for imposing the levy. The commerce ministry's investigation arm DGTR had conducted a probe into the alleged dumping of "Resin Bonded Thin Wheels" from China, and in September it recommended the imposition of the duty. The product is used in various sectors ranging from welding, cutting, foundry to primary metal markets for nagging and cutting ferrous and non-ferrous materials. "The central government, after considering the final findings of the designated authority (DGTR), has decided not to accept the ... recommendations," an office memorandum of the Department of Revenue said. While the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) recommends the duty, the Department of Revenue takes the final decision to impose it. In international trade parlance, dumping happens when a country

Taxpayers should check AIS quarterly, report discrepancies: FinMin official

Taxpayers should check their annual information statement every quarter and flag any discrepancies to help curb instances of wrongful HRA deductions, a senior finance ministry official said on Monday. The income tax department had in November last year rolled out a new Annual Information Statement (AIS) on its portal that provides a comprehensive view of taxpayer information and an option to submit feedback. It includes additional information related to interest, dividend, securities transactions, mutual fund transactions and foreign remittance information. "You must keep on checking your AIS not only at the time of return filing, but quarterly. You should check your AIS and (report) if anything wrong is reported so that the other person who is wrongly claiming some kind of benefit should be caught," Joint Secretary in the finance ministry Kamlesh Varshney said at an event here. He said AIS has played an important role in ensuring voluntary compliance as it provides details of all

FM hints at possibility of Centre restorating of state status to J&K

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday hinted at the possibility of the Centre considering restoring state status to Jammu and Kashmir. She dropped the hint while talking about the distribution of funds to the states by the Centre as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission. Delivering a lecture on Centre-State relations here, Sitharaman said Prime Minister Narendra Modi without any hesitation had accepted the recommendation of 14th Finance Commission in 2014-15 that 42 per cent of all taxes-- an increase from 32 per cent till then-- should be given to the states. "That Finance Commission said now you raise it to 42 per cent...which means that Centre will have a lesser amount in its hand. Prime Minister Modi, without a second thought about it, fully accepted the Finance Commission and that is why today states get 42 per cent of the amount--now reduced by 41 per cent because Jammu and Kashmir is no longer a state. "It will soon become may be sometime...,

FM Sitharaman likely to begin pre-Budget talks from third week of November

FM Nirmala Sitharaman and senior officials will hold eight meetings in all with all stakeholders

Govt notifies enhanced financial support for Central, state PPP projects

Funding under IIPDF Scheme is in addition to Viability Gap Funding Scheme notified in December 2020

Parliamentary panel to seek explanation over EPFO plan rejection

A Parliamentary panel will seek explanation from the finance ministry for turning down the labour ministry's proposal to increase the pension of EPFO subscribers from the current Rs 1,000 per month. The quantum of increase proposed by the labour ministry could not be ascertained. Top officials from the labour ministry and Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Thursday briefed Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour chaired by BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab on operation of the EPF pension scheme and management of its corpus fund. The finance ministry had not agreed to the labour ministry's proposal for any enhancement in the monthly pension, the officials informed the panel. The panel has now decided to call top officials from the finance ministry to seek explanation behind the move. The labour ministry has constituted a High-Empowered Monitoring Committee for complete evaluation and review of the Employees Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995. The committee in its report had ...

Unprofitable, growing bad assets: The tale of existential crisis at RRBs

They are mostly loss-making, with growing bad assets so the agricultural sector prefers commercial banks

Maharashtra appoints liquidator to wind up Rupee Cooperative Bank

Over 200 employees risk losing their jobs

Define game of chance, game of skill to decide on taxation: GST law panel

The law panel has informed the group of Ministers (GoM) that a clear definition will clear confusion and reduce scope for multiple litigations

FM Sitharaman lists climate finance, crypto regulation as key G-20 agenda

Nirmala Sitharaman says India will push for the voice of developing and low-income nations

Vivek Joshi takes charge as secretary of dept of financial services

Senior bureaucrat Vivek Joshi on Tuesday took charge as the Secretary of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) under the Ministry of Finance. Joshi replaced Sanjay Malhotra who is slated to take over as Revenue Secretary. Prior to this appointment, Joshi, a 1989 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, was the Registrar General and Census Commissioner under the Ministry of Home Affairs. DFS keeps a tab on the functioning of banks, financial institutions, insurance companies and the National Pension System.

FinMin extends query submission deadline for IDBI stake sale till Nov 10

The finance ministry on Thursday extended the deadline for potential bidders to submit queries on IDBI Bank privatisation by 13 days till November 10. The ministry on October 7 had floated the Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) inviting bids for selling about 61 per cent stake in IDBI Bank. The deadline for raising queries and submission of bids by interested bidder was October 28 and December 16, respectively. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) on Thursday issued a corrigendum to the PIM and extended the deadline for submission of queries till November 10. The government is expecting to get the financial bids for IDBI Bank by March and complete the process of privatisation in the first half of next fiscal beginning April 2023. After the stake sale, the government's and LIC's stake jointly will come down to 34 per cent, from currently 94.72 per cent. LIC and the government currently holds 49.24 per cent and 45.48 per cent stake respectively in

Finance Ministry extends ITR filing deadline for companies till Nov 7

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday extended the deadline for filing income tax returns for the assessment year 2022-23 by businesses till November 7. The last date for filing ITR by companies who are required to get their accounts audited was October 31. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex decision-making body in matters of income and corporate tax, in a notification said since it had last month extended the deadline for filing audit reports, hence the ITR filing due date too is extended. "CBDT... extends the due date of furnishing of Return of Income under sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Act for the Assessment Year 2022-23, which is October 31, 2022... to November 7, 2022," the CBDT notification said. Domestic companies are required to file their income tax returns by October 31, 2022, for the Financial Year 2021-2022. The due date to file ITR will be November 30, 2022, for companies which are subject to transfer pricing norms. AMRG & Associates Director ...

FM asks AIIB to scale up investments in clean energy, infrastructure

India on Wednesday asked Beijing-based multilateral lending agency AIIB to scale up investments in priority areas like clean energy and infrastructure sector with a special focus on education and health. Addressing the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India has embarked on the path of a self-reliant economy and therefore has been successful in mitigating the negative effects of the pandemic. As regards AIIB, she said, it needs to scale-up investments in key priority areas, including clean energy and energy efficiency, disaster resilient infrastructure, social infrastructure with a special focus on education and health, and digital infrastructure in order to ensure a meaningful impact is achieved and resources are not scattered in multiple areas. As public resources alone are insufficient to meet the vast infrastructure needs of the members, she advised that the bank should not only .

Not a pre-election Budget, please!

The forthcoming Budget should plan a faster fiscal deficit reduction, instead of embarking on a spending spree