Page 11 - Banking Finance February 2024

ROUNDUP

PFRDA seeks parity with required to mandatorily honour their GST intelligence unit de-
obligation of delivering the securities at
EPFO on tax exemption the time of settlement," the regulator tects evasion of Rs. 1.98
The Pension Fund Regulatory and De- said in its framework. lakh crore in 2023
velopment Authority (PFRDA) has
The GST intelligence unit detected tax
sought a level-playing field for corpo- New SEBI ED to head in- evasion of more than Rs 1.98 lakh
rations in making contributions to the
National Pension Scheme (NPS) so that vestigation dept crore last year and arrested 140 mas-
terminds who were involved in de-
they are at par with contributions The Securities and Exchange Board of frauding the exchequer, the finance
made in provident fund (PF) for employ- India (Sebi) has appointed G Ram
ministry said. In 2023, the Directorate
ees in respect of tax treatment. Mohan Rao as Executive Director (ED)
General of GST Intelligence (DGGI)
Currently, the tax exempt contribution for a period of three years. Rao will be detected significant GST evasion in di-
handling the investigation department
is capped at 10 per cent for NPS while verse sectors like online gaming, casi-
it is 12 per cent for PF. and the internal inspection depart- nos, insurance and secondment (im-
ment. He has been with the markets
The authority has made a case for port of manpower services).
regulator for over 25 years during
bringing parity (between NPS and PF) "DGGI has achieved an increase in
which he has supervised diverse port-
to support growth of pension products, folios such as inspections, litigation, detection of cases of evasion and vol-
said Deepak Mohanty, chairman untary payments. In 2023, DGGI de-
recovery, investor awareness, griev-
PFRDA, in reference to Budget expec- tected 6,323 cases involving evasion of
ance redressal, etc. Prior to the ap-
tations for 2024-25. duty of Rs 1,98,324 crore with a vol-
pointment, Rao was the regional direc-
The plan is to take it to 14 per cent tor of the Eastern Regional Office of untary payment of Rs 28,362 crore.
over a period to encourage wider ac- Sebi. 140 masterminds involved in GST eva-
ceptance of pension, he added. sion were arrested," the ministry said
Referring to subscribers enrolled in the Net direct tax mop-up at in a statement.
current financial year (FY24), Mohanty 81% of Budget target This is a significant improvement as
said their number stood at 0.53 million. compared to 2022 wherein 4,273 cases
The income tax (I-T) department said were detected, amounting to duty of
This included 99,977 corporates and
that the net direct tax collection so far
429,187 citizens, as of December 31, Rs 90,499 crore, and voluntary pay-
this fiscal jumped 19.41 per cent to Rs
2023. ment of Rs 22,459 crore and 97 arrests
14.70 lakh crore, reaching about 81 per were made.
cent of the full-year target. The Cen-
SEBI allows short selling tre has budgeted to collect Rs 18.23 Judges in England given

by all, disclosure must lakh crore from direct taxes (personal
income tax and corporate tax), 9.75 approval to use AI
The Securities and Exchange Board of per cent higher than Rs 16.61 lakh England's legal system has taken a
India said that investors across all cat-
crore mopped up last fiscal. cautious step into the future by giving
egories will be allowed for short-sell-
In a statement, the Central Board of judges permission to use artificial intel-
ing, but naked short-selling will not be
Direct Taxes (CBDT) said, "Direct Tax ligence to help produce rulings. The
permitted.
collection, net of refunds, stands at Rs Courts and Tribunals Judiciary last
Further, all stocks that trade in the month said AI could help write opinions
14.70 lakh crore which is 19.41 per
futures and options segment are eli- but stressed it shouldn't be used for
cent higher than the net collection for
gible for short-selling. research or legal analyses because the
the corresponding period of last year.
"Naked short-selling shall not be per- This collection is 80.61 per cent of the technology can fabricate information
mitted in the Indian securities market total Budget Estimates of Direct Taxes and provide misleading, inaccurate
and accordingly, all investors would be for FY23-24." and biased information.

10 | 2024 | FEBRUARY | BANKING FINANCE