by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Economy, News
Kolkata:(IANS) Justifying the imposition of one percent excise duty on gold jewellery, union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said a luxury item like gold should not be exempted from the manufacturing tax when the country is moving towards Goods and Services Tax.
“There is no reason why a luxury item like gold should be kept out of the ambit of a manufacturing tax like excise duty. Since the manufacturing tax is levied on essential commodities like steel, cement, jute, cotton and others, why not on gold.
“The country is to move towards Goods and Services Tax (GST). Gold will also follow towards GST. Most states levy value added tax on gold,” he said.
He also noted that if gold is kept out of GST ambit, tax rate on rest of the goods will have to be increased. “There is no reason why a luxury item should be exempted from the tax and a higher rate of tax be imposed on other goods,” he said.
The government, in the Budget for 2016-17, had proposed one percent excise duty on jewellery without input credit or 12.5 percent with input tax credit on jewellery excluding silver other than those studded with diamonds and precious stones.
Jewellers went on strike opposing one percent excise duty on gold jewellery. The strike enters 40th day on Sunday.
The central government subsequently clarified even for one percent excise duty, manufacturers were allowed to take credit of input services, which could be utilised for payment of duty on jewellery.
It further said that only jewellers, whose turnover in the preceding financial year was more than Rs.12 crore, will be liable to pay the excise duty and those having turnover below Rs.12 crore would be eligible for exemption unto Rs 6 crore during next financial year.
“Jeweller’s private records or records for state value added tax or records for Bureau of Indian Standards (in the case of hallmarked jewellery) will be accepted for all central excise purposes,” it clarified.
Also, there is no requirement to file a stock declaration to the jurisdictional central excise authorities, it added.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate finance, Finance, News
New Delhi:(IANS) The government has been probing the cases of some “prominent people” hiding their taxable income as agricultural earnings, but there is no proposal for taxing the farmers, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
His statement came after members expressed concern over the issue, citing a report that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has now been inquiring into the genuineness of farm income claims exceeding Rs.1 crore made by people in their income tax (I-T) returns.
“Tax is not being paid and black money is being generated in the name of agriculture. Government should do something; this is a serious issue,” said Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav, raising the issue soon after the house convened.
“In my village, several businessmen are saving tax by doing agriculture,” Yadav said.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati said that a high level inquiry should probe the allegations.
“There should be a high-level inquiry and those who have made black money in the name of agriculture should be caught,” she said.
This, however, should not be used as an excuse to tax farmers, cautioned Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav.
Jaitley clarified that the government has no intention of taxing agricultural income, but if someone is misrepresenting non-agricultural income as farm earnings, it will be probed.
“Seeing the situation of agriculture sector, there is no proposal for levying income tax on farmers,” Jaitley assured the hosue.
“If someone misuses this provision and shows a non-agricultural income as agricultural income, we will probe the individual case.”
“I will also tell you, there are many prominent people who have done this and probe is on against them. When the probe is over and the facts are revealed, don’t call it political victimisation,” said the minister.
That statement irked Digvijay Singh and a few other Congress members.
“Let him come out with the names of the black money holders. He has misled the country and again he is misleading the country,” Digvijay Singh said.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
Arvind Kejriwal
New Delhi(IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resignation for ordering the CBI to raid his office, even as Modi declared that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley would come out in flying colours from the DDCA corruption charges.
Addressing a special session of the Delhi assembly, Kejriwal launched his most scathing attack on Modi while simultaneously asking him to sack Jaitley from the cabinet for his involvement in the financial bungling in Delhi’s cricket board – a charge Jaitley has denied.
The Congress also sought Jaitley’s resignation from the cabinet for the sake of his “dignity and honour”.
“I demand Prime Minister Modi’s resignation for the fraudulent raid he ordered to save Arun Jaitley,” the AAP leader said to thumping of desks by his party colleagues.
“He should feel ashamed,” Kejriwal thundered, referring to Modi and the December 15 raid by the Central Bureau of Investigation, which has denied searching Kejriwal’s office and said that it only targeted his principal secretary Rajendra Kumar for corruption.
The Delhi High Court meanwhile issued notice to Kejriwal and five other Aam Aadmi Party leaders in a defamation suit filed by Jaitley, who headed the Delhi and District Cricket Association for 13 long years and who has sought Rs.10 crore in damages from the AAP leaders.
The court sought replies from Kejriwal, Kumar Vishwas, Raghav Chadha, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh and Deepak Bajpai by February 5. Jaitley will then file his reply in two weeks.
The court also asked Kejriwal and other leaders to file original documents relating to the allegations they have made against Jaitley.
Jaitley has also filed a criminal defamation complaint, saying the AAP leaders’ statements would cause “irreversible damage” to his reputation.
Addressing BJP MPs earlier in the day, Modi said Jaitley would come out in “flying colours” from the episode — just as veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani did when he was charged in the hawala case in the 1990s.
Modi said the Congress was unable to digest its electoral defeats since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and was raking up manufactured allegations to defame his government.
BJP MP Kirti Azad, who has been alleging major corruption in the DDCA for years, did not attend the parliamentary party meeting, saying he had prior engagements. There is speculation the BJP was set to suspend Azad.
The prime minister’s comments came a day after Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah described Jaitley as a man of honesty and integrity.
The Rajya Sabha’s working was repeatedly disrupted on Tuesday — four times before lunch — over the DDCA affair as Congress MPs shouted slogans against the government. The Lok Sabha’s proceedings too were marred.
Kejriwal told the Delhi assembly that the CBI raided his office – the CBI denies this happened – because he claimed it was looking for a file on the DDCA severely critical of Jaitley.
If Jaitley was indeed innocent, he should prove this to the Commission of Inquiry set up by the Delhi government, he said.
“The CBI said the chief minister was not raided… Only his principal secretary’s office was. If this is true, why did they enter my office?”
Kejriwal also accused Modi of constantly interfering in the functioning of the AAP government through Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung.
He alleged that despite 50 hours of interrogation spread over six days, the CBI had not been able to build a case of corruption against Rajendra Kumar. “They are mentally torturing him.”
Kejriwal poked fun at Modi for wearing a Rs.10 lakh suit last year, and demanded to know how a “chai wala” (tea seller) could afford such a costly suit.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Economy, News
Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting, Arun Jaitley
Kolkata:(IANS) Terming the recent relaxation of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 15 sectors of the economy as union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s “Diwali gift”, the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) on Wednesday said it was expecting more such moves in the “times to come”.
“This is a clear and strong message that reforms are not only on track but are going to be aggressive. For the markets and for industry, there could not have been a better Diwali gift,” CII director general Chandrajit Banerjee said in a statement.
The association said the relaxation comes at a time when the country needs to attract as much investment as possible to create jobs and move the economy to a higher growth trajectory.
It opined that the move will be “immensely helpful” in boosting the investment environment in the country.
“We understand that the crux of these reforms is to further ease, rationalize and simplify the process of foreign investments in the country and put more and more FDI proposals on the automatic route instead of the approval route, and that is most welcome as an approach,” said Sumit Mazumder, the industry body’s president.
“Today’s announcement is yet another huge step in making it easier to do business in India.”
The statement said the FDI relaxation in some of the most critical sectors of the economy augurs well to bring in vibrancy in the sectors in the midst of a depressed global economic sentiment.
Defence, construction, civil aviation and media are some of the key sectors where foreign investment have been liberalized more while norms for sectors including single-brand retail and private banking have been eased.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Economy, News
New Delhi:(IANS) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the passage of the goods and services tax bill was just a matter of time. But the opposition Congress party, which has been vehemently blocking it, brushed aside the assertion saying key issues remained unresolved.
“I think it is only a question of time. Obstruction won’t continue indefinitely. When it’s put to vote, I see it going through,” Jaitley said at a conference hosted by the World Economic Forum.
He also told Bloomberg in an interview: “We are even willing to speak to any of their leaders.” This was in reference to a question if he was game to raising the issue with Congress party vice president Rahul Gandhi.
“Am I willing to discuss with the Congress party? I have repeatedly said I am,” he said, adding: “I’ve so far been discussing it with their leaders. I can’t find conceptual opposition to it. I will once again speak to them and try to make them see reason.”
But the Congress once again rejected the offer.
“First, the environment should be such that there can be dialogue between the government and the opposition. Parliamentary democracy cannot be reduced to one bill — that it functions properly even the Congress wants,” party spokesperson Anand Sharma said.
“If there is confrontonaist mindset of the prime minister and his ministers, it is difficult to create a conducive atomosphere or environment.”
The principal opposition party wants the government not to pursue with the additional 1 percent tax that it intends to levied, over and above the prescribed rate for this pan-India levy, and also seeks that the same is notified in the bill itself.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, feels the 1-percent additional levy was essential if states are to be compensated for shifting to a pan-India tax regime, foregoing their own indirect tax levies. The party also feels specifying the rate in the bill will make alterations difficult.
Jaitley, nevertheless, had said here last week that the government would make all efforts to pass the GST bill in the forthcoming winter session of parliament. He expressed his satisfaction with the progress made in implementing taxation reforms, both direct and indirect.
“The supporting legislation and the IT backbone are ready. There is little conceptual opposition to the idea,” he said, maintaining that the popular constituency which supports change, reforms and growth, was now much larger than before and wanted this far-reaching tax regime.
The GST envisages to subsume all central indirect taxes like excise duty, countervailing duty and service tax, as also state levies like value added tax, octroi or entry tax and luxury tax. The government has termed it the most reformist taxation step since independence.
