Page 12 - BANKING FINANCE JUNE 2016

ROUNDUP

Hallmarking of Gold jewellery mandated by Diwali Individuals & corporate
houses can claim over-
The Central Government will make compulsory the hallmarking of gold jewellery seas credit taxes
by Diwali. It is also working on other issues regarding the
overseeing of the sector. It includes two government rep- The finance ministry has come out
resentatives joining the board of the apex bullion body, In- with draft rules
dian Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA), bringing im- that would allow
port and export of bullion and gold jewellery under one individuals and
organisation, and closer monitoring of gold import. The Bill corporate houses
to claim credit for
to amend the Bureau of Indian Standards Act has been passed and the changes
were formally notified in March. taxes paid overseas.

Truck rentals up by 3 to 4 per cent due to diesel price "Credit for foreign tax shall be avail-
hike able against the amount of tax, sur-
charge and cess payable under the
An improvement in cargo movement from factories and farms income tax act but not in respect of
along with a diesel price hike has pushed up truck rentals by three any sum payable by way of interest,
to four per cent in march, according to a monthly report re- fee, or penalty," the draft rules state.
leased by the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Train-
ing (IFTRT). The growth in cargo movement had a bearing on The Central Board of Direct Taxes said
truck sales growth. Consequently, the heavy truck sales during March witnessed credit would be available to all com-
a robust increase of over 30 per cent. panies, trusts, and individuals paying
taxes in any country, including those
Pension hike for pre-2006 retirees with which India has a double taxa-
tion avoidance agreement.
Pre-2006 pensioners will now get a hike in pension, in addition to the arrears,
as the Union government has done away with a provision of It, however, made clear that "no
having 33-year service for earning full pension. The depart- credit shall be available in respect of
ment of pensions and pensioners' welfare has decided that any amount of foreign tax, which is
the revised consolidated pension of pre-2006 pensioners shall disputed in any manner by the asses-
not be lower than 50% of the minimum of the pay in the pay see". This means companies such as
band and the grade pay even if they had served for less than Vodafone, which are locked in litiga-
33 years at the time of retirement. tion with the government, cannot
seek credit here.
As per rules, a central government servant is entitled to receiving superannua-
tion pension on completion of at least 10 years of service. The arrears of re- "The rules will help give clients the
vised pension would be payable with effect from January 1, 2006," said the gov- benefits promised in double taxation
ernment order issued on 6 April. avoidance treaties more easily. Clar-
ity in rules means fewer litigation
Steel import allowed with conditions and less arbitrariness in decision
making," income tax practitioner
The Delhi high court has allowed steel importers to im- Sudatta Sen said.
port steel on payment of the differential between the mini-
mum import price (MIP) and contract price. A bench com- All ITRs activated for e-fil-
prising the chief justice of the Delhi high court G. Rohini and justice Jayant Nath, ing: IT Dept
while refusing to stay the notification imposing the MIP on steel importers, al-
lowed steel imports and goods to be cleared based on the payment of the dif- E-filing of income tax return for all
ferential amount to the government. categories of filers for the assess-
ment year 2016-17 has been
It was, however, clarified that such payments would be subject to the final operationalised. "All ITRs including
outcome of the petition brought by the Steel Wires Manufacturers Association ITR 6 and ITR 7 for AY 2016-17 are
against the government's minimum import price on 173 steel products, which available for e-Filing," the Income
was levied in order to protect local steel producers from cheap imports. Tax Department said.

12 | 2016 | JUNE | BANKING FINANCE

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