FORMER PM MANMOHAN SINGH ON DEMONETISATION IN RAJYA SABHA

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in the Rajya Sabha to participate in the debate on demonetisation and had to wait till Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the Upper House of Parliament before he could speak. 

After an adjournment, the debate on demonetisation continued with Singh speaking first and the former Prime Minister, who was also a former RBI governor and an economist, did not mince words on his criticism of the scheme.

Here are the highlights of his speech:

·         The former Prime Minister said that he didn't disagree with the objective of the scheme to end black money and terror funding, but said that the exercise being undertaken was a "monumental mistake"

·         "This is a case of organised loot and legalized plundering."

·         The former Prime Minister said that what is being done "could erode people's confidence in currency and banking system".

·         The former Prime Minister said it was important to take note of the grievances of the people suffering and noted that over 60 people might have died in incidents linked to being unable to access their money. 

·         "Can the Prime Minister name any country where people have deposited money in banks but can't access it?"

·         "Even those who say that this measure will cause distress, in the short run, & it will be in the interest of the country in the long run reminds me of John Keynes' words, 'In the long run we are all dead.',"

·         "PM said we should wait 50 days. For those who are from the poor & deprived sections, even 50 days torture can bring about disastrous effect."

·         The former Prime Minister also criticized the Prime Minister's office, finance ministry and the central bank Reserve Bank of India for their implementation of the scheme so far. He also said he was sad to see the independent central bank fall to this level. 

·         "My feeling is that the GDP can decline by 2 percent points because of this,. That, in my opinion, is an underestimate and not an overestimate." 

·         " I urge PM to find pragmatic means to ease suffering of our people."

·         He also said that he didn't care what the government or opposition said on the issue and he would just like the Prime Minister to implement the scheme better.

 Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGoGMfib1G0

GST

Banks integrating systems with RBI, GST Network to collect tax-FM

Banks are integrating their information technology system with RBI and GST Network as they prepare to handle tax deposits under the new indirect tax regime, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday.

Detailed protocols for integration of the banks' IT system with RBI and GST portal of Goods and Services Tax Network have been prepared and finalised by RBI and the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN), respectively, in consultation with the Government of India, he said.

"The public and private sector banks are readying themselves to handle collection of taxes under the GST regime and remitting it to the government account with RBI," Jaitley said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

The banks are developing and making necessary changes in their information technology system for integration with RBI and GSTN portal, he added.

Under the GST regime, individuals and entities can pay taxes online using debit or credit cards or any electronic, mode of payment, including NEFT, RTGS.

A new and simpler portal www.gst.gov.in that will enable easy filing of returns and tax payments has already gone live. A provisional identification number called GSTIN is being generated for the existing excise and sales tax assessees. Registrations of new assessees will start from April 2017.

The new indirect tax regime GST  kicks in from April next year.

Source-Business Standard

SPECIFIED FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TURNING BLACK IN TO WHITE:REPORT

In what would come as a big setback to banks in the country, a sting operation conducted by Cobrapost website has revealed that some of the largest financial institutions are indulging in money laundering.

A press release by Cobrapost claimed that some Financial Institutions were caught red-handed in its nation-wide undercover investigation called Operation Red Spider, willing to turn black money into white. They shared the video of the operation to reporters. The footages are also available on its site.

Cobrapost says: "Our investigation, conducted across dozens and dozens of branches of these banks and their insurance affiliates, across all five zones of the country, revealed these shocking facts that these money laundering practices are part of a standard set of procedures within these banks," Cobrapost Editor Anirudh Bahal told reporters.

Cobrapost alleged that these Financial Institutions launder black money in the following manners:-

1) Accept huge amounts of cash and invest it in insurance products and gold.

2) Open an account to route the cash into various investment schemes of the bank.

3) Do it even without the mandatory PAN card or adhering to the KYC norms laid down by the Reserve Bank Of India.

4) Split the money into tranches to get it into the banking system without being detected.

5) Use "benami" accounts to facilitate the conversion of black money.

6) Use accounts of other customers to channelize the black money into the system for a fee.

7) Get demand drafts made for the client either from their own banks or from other banks to facilitate investment without it showing up in the client's account.

8) Keep the identity of the investor/depositor secret.

9) Open multiple accounts and close them at will to facilitate the investment of black money.

10) Invest black money in multiple instruments in the names of different individuals, not necessarily drawn from among the family.

11) Allot lockers for the safekeeping of the illegitimate cash, including special large size lockers to accommodate crores of hard cash.

12) Personally come to the residence of the client to take the black money deal forward and collect the cash, even bring along counting machine.

13) Use provisions like Form 60 to deposit the illegitimate cash into the account to route it into investment.

14) Help the client transfer black money abroad through NRE (Non-Resident External)/NRO (Non-Resident Ordinary) account transfer.

However, such Institutions denied the allegation and said in a statement that it "conducts its business with the highest level of compliance to legal and regulatory requirements."

"All employees of the Group are trained and required to adhere strictly to the Group Code of Conduct, including AML and KYC norms. We have demonstrated our commitment to this by following a zero tolerance policy towards any violation,"

Source: Cobrapost, IBTimes
http://www.cobrapost.com/archive-expose/operation-red-spider-part-1/17


Disclaimer:Blogger and his affiliates do not contribute for promotion of any such activity as specified in the posts which is specifically based on source report,this information has been prepared for informational purpose only,and is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for any advice.

8th November, 2016, Independence Day –“Independence from Black Money”

In the past decades, the spectre of corruption and black money has grown. It has weakened the effort to remove poverty. On the one hand, India is No. 1 in the rate of economic growth. But on the other hand, we were ranked close to one hundred in the global corruption perceptions ranking two years back. In spite of many steps taken, we have only been able to reach a ranking of seventy ­six now. Of course, there is improvement. This shows the extent to which corruption and black money have spread their tentacles.

The evil of corruption has been spread by certain sections of society for their selfish interest.  Some people have misused their office for personal gain. On the other hand, honest people have fought against this evil. Crores of common men and women have lived lives of integrity. There comes a time in the history of a country's development when a need is felt for a strong and decisive step. For years, this country has felt that corruption, black money and terrorism are festering sores, holding us back in the race towards development.

Terrorism is a frightening threat. So many have lost their lives because of it. But have you ever thought about how these terrorists get their money? Enemies from across the border run their operations using fake currency notes. This has been going on for years. Many times, those using fake five hundred and thousand rupee notes have been caught and many such notes have been seized.-PM

How it will be Beneficial:

ü  It will help the government to fight Black money, corruption, terrorism and counterfeit currency with one single decision.

ü  Arms smuggling, espionage and terrorist related activities will be choked due to lack of funding.

ü  Counterfeit currencies are being used for financing terrorism which is being run by the enemy in India. Now Govt has taken a bold move which enables them to fight counterfeit currency/terrorist funding activities.

ü  With the new limits on ATM withdrawals being restricted to Rs 2,000 per day, withdrawals from bank accounts limited to Rs 10,000 a day and Rs 20,000 a week, it will drive the card payments across the country.

ü  It will be easy for the Government to track the money being exchanged as exchange can only be done by producing valid government identity cards like PAN, Aadhaar and Election Card from 10 to 24 November with a daily limit of Rs 4000. There is no limit on the amount as long as it is legal.

ü  FIU of India gets info about transactions from banks. During this period, banks will take extra precaution. Banks will share info with Income Tax dept. as deemed fit.

ü  The traditional benami transactions have already received a big blow as the new legislation has a provision for seven-year imprisonment and fine, replacing the three-year jail term, or fine, or both.

ü  This decision will help institutionalize the real estate sector bringing more transparency in the Indian real estate industry. This step would give the Indian real estate sector more credibility making it more attractive to the foreign as well as domestic investors.

ü  Housing prices could witness downward pressure, helping revive demand in the sluggish housing segment.

ü  It will help the common man by putting an end to the artificial increase in Real Estate, Higher Education and Healthcare transactions bringing them within the reach of the common man.

GST

The Government has launched GST portal (www.gst.gov.in). The state wise schedule for GST registration is hosted on the website.

GET READY FOR GST:

Existing taxpayers of VAT, Service Tax, Central Excise

Enroll yourself for smooth transition to GST. Your provisional ID will come from your tax officer.

Update profile information and upload documents, Enrolment is being taken up in a staggered manner.

Enrolment Plan for your State:

 The schedule of the enrolment activation drive for states is given below. We encourage you to complete the enrolment during the specified dates. However, the window will be open till 31/01/2017 for those who miss the chance.

States	Start Date	End Date
Puducherry, Sikkim	08/11/2016	23/11/2016
Gujrat, Maharashtra, Goa, Daman and Diu, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Chhattisgarh	14/11/2016	29/11/2016
Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram	30/11/2016	15/12/2016
Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan	16/12/2016	31/12/2016
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh	01/01/2017	15/01/2017
Service Tax Registrants	01/01/2017	31/01/2017
Delta All Registrants (All Groups)	01/02/2017	20/03/2017

GST

GST will come on time, but multiple rates will dilute benefits
India moved a step closer to creating a national sales tax but a deal on rates reached on Thursday will hit some businesses harder than others, while its complexity will dilute any boost to growth and undermine its reliability as a revenue generator. The Goods and Services Tax (GST), due to be rolled out from April 1, 2017, had been billed as the one reform that could help Prime Minister Narendra Modi deliver on his jobs and growth agenda. In a key Modi win, parliament amended the constitution in August to clear the way for the GST, which would unify Asia's third-largest economy into a common market for the first time. But Thursday's bargain between Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his counterparts from India's 27 state governments has exposed the difficulties of dealing with so many stakeholders. The GST Council, set up to oversee the tax, agreed on a more steeply progressive structure for goods than earlier foreseen with rates of 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent, depending on the kind of product involved. The top rate, FM said, would apply to the kind of goods bought by middle-class Indians. On top of that, essentials like grains that make up half the consumer price index would not be taxed at all. Finally, a "cess" - a separate central tax - would be added to the top 28 percent GST rate on luxury cars and harmful products like tobacco and fizzy drinks. The total burden of this "sin" tax still has to be worked out, as does the rate applying to services that are now taxed at a rate of 15 percent.
Source-moneycontrol

GST

GST Council meeting remains inconclusive on dual control Issue

The government says Goods and Service Tax Council Meeting remained inconclusive on cross empowerment or dual control issue. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi at the end of two day meeting of the council, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, state Finance Ministers will meet on 20th of this month to sort out pending issues. He said, GST council completed a substantial part of discussion. The Minister said, tax exemption limit under the GST will be 20 lakh rupees and further four drafts will be prepared for discussion in this connection. He said all the taxation officers have to administer one tax which is the GST and therefore there has to be clearly defined guidelines. Mr Jaitley said, there cannot be two competing assessing authorities for the same assessee. He said, five suggestions were made on how to divide the assessee base. The Finance Ministers said, GST Council meeting of November 9-10 has been cancelled and the ministers will hold informal meeting on 20th of this month to find a political solution of division of tax base. GST council will meet on 24th and 25th of this month to approve the drafts of GST legislation's prepared by the officials. The Council will also discuss and approve the

Outcome of informal meeting of the state Finance Ministers. Replying to a query, the Minister said efforts are on to pass the GST legislation's in Winter Session of Parliament beginning 16th of this month.

AIR correspondent reports, yesterday the Council had finalised four-tier GST rate structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28%

(NewsonAir)

GST

GST Council fixes four-tier rate structure at 5%, 12%, 18%and 28%.

Moving on the road map to formalize the biggest reform of indirect tax, the GST council on 3^rd November, 2016, has decided four-tier structure of 5%, 12%, 18% & 28%, with Zero rate for essentials and the highest for the luxury and de-merit goods that would also attract an additional cess.

The Lowest rate of 5%would be for common use items, while there would be two standard rates of 12% and 18% under the GST regime targeted to be initiated from 1^st April, 2017.

FM, Shri Arun Jaitley said that the highest slab will be applicable to items which are currently taxed at 30-31%(Exice duty + vat).Luxury cars, tobacco products, pan masala and aerated drinks would also be levied at the highest tax rate in form of additional cess, which would be used to compensate the states for any loss of revenue during the first five years of implementation of GST, which would be lapsable after five years..

Undoubtedly, the interest of common man has been duly taken care of which is evident from finalization of 5% tax rate on common use items, as against 6% proposed earlier. Further, zero rating of necessities is also a welcome move in the interest of common man.

Considering the standard rate of GST as stated to be 12% and 18%, it is likely that GST might see significant reduction in the prices of specified goods with corresponding reduction in production cost with standard tax rate at 12%, 18% against 26-30% at present.

Though, FM didn’t spoke about which tax rate will apply on services, which apparently makes clear as per GST regime at the standard rate of 18% against 15% in total at present.

Thus, the government plans to roll out the new tax regime from 1^st April, 2017 and will introduce a Bill in the upcoming winter session of Parliament to complete the legislative process.