Note ban attacked black money, raised tax base: PM in I-Day speech

Said GST led to a 30% cut in travel time by trucks but didn't mention contraction in July IIP

 

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, rolled out statistics to defend demonetisation, while skipping mention of a lower dividend by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a pitfall of this move.

In his Independence Day speech, Modi implicitly took on critics for blaming his government for not generating jobs, saying the MUDRA scheme is making youth a provider of jobs.

He said the goods and services tax (GST) has led to a 30% cut in travel time by trucks, but did not refer to the transitory problems that have led to a contraction of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).

He recalled that the first task of his dispensation was to constitute a special investigative team to underscore his government’s stance on corruption.

“I want to tell the countrymen proudly that we have confiscated black money worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore. The culprits would be brought to book and forced to surrender,” he said.

He said demonetisation, which followed the government’s earlier anti-black money stance, has achieved several milestones. → Income tax efiling ←

“The hidden black money has been brought into the formal economy. According to the research conducted by outside experts, about Rs 3 lakh crore that had never come into the banking system before, has been brought into the system after demonetisation,” he said.

More than Rs 1.75 lakh crore deposited in banks is under scanner. Black money worth Rs 2 lakh crore had to be deposited in banks and this system has forced them to be accountable, he added.

The number of new taxpayers efiling  of income tax (I-T) returns from April 1 to August 5 - the extendable deadline for filing tax returns - is 5.6 million, while in the same period last year, only 2.2 million filed returns.... Read Full Article

From empathy to sops: 10 key takeaways from Modi's New Year's Eve speech

The PM announced several measures for senior citizens, farmers, pregnant women and home buyers

Latest News  -  Business Standard brings you its selection of 10 important takeaways from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on the New Year's Eve:

Here are 10 important takeaways from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on the New Year's Eve:

1. The government will bear 60 days' interest on select farm loans.

2. In 2017, the government is bringing new housing schemes. a) On home loans of up to

Rs  9 lakh, for poor and middle class people will get 4% exemption on interest; b) on loans  of up to Rs 12 lakh, the exemption will be 3%
3. PM announced schemes for women: Rs 6,000 assistance for pregnant women.
4. "I am overwhelmed by the public support after demonetisation," said Modi.
5. Modi says honest taxpayers will get benefit.
6. Thirty million kisaan credit cards will be converted into RuPay cards, said the PM.
7. 33% more homes would be build in rural areas under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. 
8. The credit guarantee of MSME will be increased to Rs 2 crore from Rs 1 crore.
9. The government will guarantee loans up to Rs 2 crore for small traders.

10. For senior citizens, 8% interest on deposits of up to Rs 7.5 lakh for 10 years. 

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All you need to know about tax on gold and jewellery

There will be no seizure of gold jewellery and ornaments to the extent of 500 gm per married woman, 250 gm per unmarried woman and 100 gm per male member

Amendments to the I-T laws do not seek to tax inherited gold and jewellery as also those items that are purchased through disclosed or agriculture income, the government said on Thursday.

The Lok Sabha earlier this week passed the Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, which proposes steep tax and penalty of up to 85 per cent on undisclosed wealth discovered by tax authorities during search and seizure.

Related Story:  Gold in your locker is safe: No jewellery seizure up to 500 gm for married women

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Here are three important things that you need to know about the amendment Bill in the context of gold and ornaments: 

1. In case of disclosed sources 

There is no limit on holding of gold jewellery or ornaments by anybody, provided it is acquired from explained sources of income, including inheritance, agricultural income and reasonable household savings.

2. In case of undisclosed sources 

During search operations, no seizure of gold jewellery and ornaments to the extent of 500 grams per married woman, 250 grams per unmarried woman and 100 grams per male member of the family shall be made, even if prima facie, it does not seem to be matching with the income record of the assessee.

3. Other proposal 

During search and seizure operations, in case of undisclosed wealth (black money), the government has proposed a steep tax and penalty of up to 85 per cent.

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All you should know about New Benami Act

A new law to prohibit illegal benami transactions, under which up to seven years of imprisonment and penalty for those indulging in such activities could be handed out, would come into effect from November 1, the finance ministry had said on Friday.

In August, Parliament had passed the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, with the assurance from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that genuine religious trusts would be kept out of the purview of this new legislation.

Related Article:   Staff crunch: Taxman may not be able to scan more than 700,000 bank deposits

“The rules and all the provisions of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act shall come into force on November 1, 2016. After coming into effect, the existing Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988, shall be renamed as the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a release.

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Here is a look at what the act is all about and how it is going to affect the people:

What is benami Act?

What isn’t a benami transaction?

What falls under benami transaction?

How it affects the people?

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Beware, taxman to watch your posts on social media

Don’t be surprised if you get a notice from the income tax (I-T) department for flaunting an expensive watch or car on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

I-T department’s Project Insight, to be launched in the 2017-18 financial year, aims to mine big data from social media to scrutinise potential tax evaders. “If you flaunt that you have gone on an expensive trip to a foreign location on Facebook and other social media, we will gather that information to match it with your income declared,” a finance ministry official said.

Another official confirmed that Project Insight will include data from social media platforms. “Project Insight will essentially do data mining. It will use inputs from various sources. Social media would be one of those,” he said. The work on Project Insight has already begun and the department plans to launch it soon.

When asked whether the project would come into force from the beginning of the next financial year, an official said such details were yet to be finalised. 

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The great Indian jugaad: How some are beating the Rs 1000 note ban

Even as the Modi government on Tuesday declared that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 would no longer be legal tender, the average Indian, with his prowess in the art of jugaad, found ways to beat the system, thanks to a 50-day window given for exchange of these banknotes.

Despite the panic visible across all cities, there always are some opportunists ready to take advantage of someone’s desperation. They always find ways to play the system. And, in this case, they have turned religious places, non-government organisations (NGOs) and gold jewellers into laundering centres. At many places, even the retail shops have become money-exchange centres, they are giving Rs 400 in exchange for Rs 500 notes. Even some bank managers are getting offers for a 20 per cent cut in lieu of exchange of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

So, what are the ways and means the hoarders are employing to get rid of their old notes? Business Standard documents the ways that have come to light so far:

1. Buying gold
2. Paying salary in advance
3. Praising the lord
4. Banking on the Jan Dhan Yojana
5. Falling back on the family
6. Taking the hawala route
7. Offering a 20% cut to bankers
8.  Getting luxurious at gyms, salons and bars

However even as black-money hoarders scurried to offload their cache via sales of cash, distress bullion buying and questionable currency swaps, the taxman soon played catch-up by conducting raids on jewellers and suspected hawala operators across Mumbai, Delhi and parts of Punjab through Thursday.

 

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Rs.500 note & Rs.2000 note. This is what they look like

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PM Modi raises black money, tax evasion at G20

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday raised the issues of black money and tax evasion at the G20 Summit here, urging member countries to act against financial corruption.

On the second day of the Summit here, Modi said: "Fighting corruption, black money and tax evasion were central to effective financial governance."

Modi urged the grouping to show full commitment to action against financial corruption and said effective financial governance required action against the corrupt and elimination of safe havens for economic offenders.

"We need to act to eliminate safe havens for economic offenders, track down and unconditionally extradite money launderers and break down the web of complex international regulations and excessive banking secrecy that hide the corrupt and their deeds," Modi said in his address at the G20.

Representing 85 per cent of the world's GDP, the G20 is composed of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union.

Making his intervention in the discussion on 'More Effective and Efficient Global Economic and Financial Governance at the G-20 summit', Modi called for further strengthening the  read more..