It will, of course, cause a revenue shortfall for states, but that can be dealt with by hiking the rate of GST compensation cess In these circumstances, it is unlikely that they would let any of these products be taxed at a much lower rate—an inevitability if they are brought under GST. ———————————————— The ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MoPNG) has taken on board a proposal—mooted by the industry during recent pre-budget discussions—to bring natural gas within the ambit of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). This will ensure a uniform tax on gas throughout the country and lower its price for both industrial and domestic use, which may help increase its share in India’s energy mix from the...
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Category: Growth & employment
India must stand its ground
All objections raised by the USTR on the DST levied by India on foreign tech firms are baseless. The Govt must not yield to the pressure tactics of the US administration by withdrawing the tax In its findings on the Section 301 probe conducted under the US Trade Act, 1974, the US Trade Representative (USTR) has inter alia concluded that India’s digital services taxes (DST) or the so-called equalisation levy (EL) at the rate of two per cent, unfairly targets US companies. The USTR raised three aspects that, it alleges, are inconsistent with global tax principles: First, the levy on US companies has extra-territorial application; second, DST is a tax on the firm’s revenue, not its income; and third, it subjects US...
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Gas under GST – is government serious?
Reportedly, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has taken on board a proposal mooted by the industry during recent pre-budget discussions to bring natural gas within the ambit of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) thereby ensuring a uniform tax on gas throughout the country. Touted as a major step forward in realizing Union Government’s goal of increasing the share of natural gas in India’s energy mix from the current level of 6.2% to 15% by 2030 by reducing its cost for both industrial and domestic use, the MPNG has indicated that the proposal will be placed before the GST Council (The Council is the all powerful federal body mandated to decide on all GST matters viz. tax...
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Many a slip…
It is natural to expect an economic rebound in FY 2021-22. But it is vital to take a pragmatic view based on an objective assessment of how the situation unfolds on ground zero The green shoots seen in October, in particular the rise in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) by 3.6 per cent, have prompted agencies to revise their growth assessment for the current financial year (FY) from the minus 9.5-10.5 per cent projected earlier to minus 7.5-8.5 per cent, now. For the FY 2021-22, when the impact of the virus is expected to subside to a large extent due to the availability of the vaccine, it is only natural to expect an economic rebound. However, it is necessary...
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On road to recovery
The growth of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had already started sliding from the third quarter of FY 2018-19 and continued all through the FY 2019-20 culminating in a low of 3% during its last quarter ending March 31, 2020. During the whole of 2019-20, the growth plummeted to a decade low of 4.2% down from an average of 7.5% recorded in the previous 5 years i.e. 2014-15 to 2018-19. A nation-wide lockdown announced by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on March 24, 2020 dwelt a body blow by bringing most of the economic activities to a grinding halt. As a result, there was precipitous decline in GDP growth by 24% during the first quarter of current FY ending June...
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Checks and balances
Crony capitalism has also happened in public sector banks. There is a dire need to strengthen regulatory oversight to guard against irregularities in running all banks The recommendation of an Internal Working Group (IWG) set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to allow industrial houses to own banks — if they meet the criterion — has invited strident criticism from experts, including the former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan. Asking how a borrower could also be a lender, they have debunked the idea, stating that this would lead to misdirected lending, mostly to entities belonging to the industrial house that owns the bank. This apprehension is valid but the misuse of public money can happen in any bank, irrespective of the...
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Banking reforms – can borrower also be a lender
An Internal Working Group (IWG) set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made far reaching recommendations in regard to ownership guidelines and governance structures of private sector banks. These include inter alia (i) allowing their promoters hold 26% equity stake in steady state or after 15 years (up from existing norm of 15%) from the start when it should be a minimum of 40% of the equity for the first five years; (ii) take a sympathetic review of whether industrial houses should be allowed to own banks if they meet the fit and proper criterion; (iii) allow non-bank finance companies (NBFCs) with assets of > Rs 50,000 crore, and in operation for over 10 years, to convert...
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Nix priority sector lending
The policy — a legacy of the socialist era — has led to blatant misuse and misappropriation of funds and is far from helping those for whom it is intended On September 4, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced changes in the norms for priority sector lending (PSL) with the stated objective of “enabling better credit penetration to credit-deficient areas, increase in lending to small and marginal farmers and boosting credit to renewable energy and health infrastructure.” Under PSL, the RBI mandates a certain percentage of a bank’s lendable resources to specified areas. The policy — a legacy of the socialist era — has led to blatant misuse and misappropriation of funds and is far from helping the most vulnerable groups...
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Stay within limits
If the FD range gets embedded in the FRBM Act, it will give sanction to slippages. It will defeat the purpose of fixing a target, which is to obligate the Govt to keep expenses in check The Finance Ministry is building pressure on the 15th Finance Commission (15th FC) to allow greater flexibility while fixing the fiscal deficit (FD). It wants to adopt a flexible, range-bound FD target instead of a fixed number. With this aim in mind, the Modi Government is reviewing the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act. The issue was discussed at the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) of the 15th FC, wherein the chairman, NK Singh, cited a similar practice followed by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI)...
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Fiscal deficit – Shun range-bound target
Modi – government is reviewing the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act in the light of the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and adopt a flexible, range-bound fiscal deficit (FD) target instead of a fixed number. The issue was discussed at the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) of the 15th Finance Commission (XVFC) on September 4, 2020, wherein the chairman, NK Singh cited similar practice followed by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) with +/- 2% inflation target while deciding its monetary policy. The immediate prompt for this is sharp contraction in GDP (gross domestic product) by about 24% in the first quarter of current financial year and corresponding steep reduction in tax collections even as the expenditure...
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