AP Cabinet Approves Sales Tax Slash On ATF

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on March 17 permitted the lowering of sales tax (ST) from 33 per cent to 4 per cent on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) along with bringing down professional tax from 14 to 4 per cent. The professional tax cut is set to gain about 10 lakh employees. According to Government sources, the Cabinet also permitted the dissolution of Hyderabad Urban Development Authority and creation of Hyderabad Metro Development Authority to govern the urban area in and around Hyderabad.

Bengal FM Proposes Rs 75cr Tax

Kolkata: The West Bengal Finance Minister, Dr Asim Dasgupta, delivering the State Budget for 2008-09 here on March 17 at the Assembly, anticipated a total expenditure of Rs 52,092.73 crore, against total receipts of Rs 52,015.73 crore, leaving an initial deficit of Rs 77 crore. The Finance Minister has also projected a string of measures, by way of revenue-raising effort, to raise Rs 75 crore as additional resources in the next financial year, thus leaving an uncovered deficit of Rs 2 crore. Dr Dasgupta has combined both tax reliefs and other facilities such as attractive medical benefit schemes for State Government employees and their families involving claim reimbursement for treatment in recognised private hospitals in addition to State Government hospitals. The tax on road rollers and shoes with MRP not exceeding Rs 750 has been decreased from 12.5 per cent to four per cent. The tax on tailoring items, kerosene stoves and biscuits not manufactured in factories defined under the Factories Act has been brought down from 12.5 per cent to four cent.

Net Direct Tax Mop Up Rise

New Delhi: The Centre''s direct tax mop up have witnessed 41.70 per cent rise till February this fiscal to touch Rs 2,32,676 crore, according to the Minister of State for Finance, Mr S.S. Palanimanickam. The recent Union Budget had estimated the revised estimates for direct taxes at Rs 3,04,445 crore for fiscal 2007-08 as against the Budget estimate of Rs 2,67,175 crore for the current fiscal.

Avoid Tax Cascades In The Financial Sector

NEW DELHI: Growth means change and pro-active change does involve taking calculated risks for the greater good. Consider, for instance, policy change and reform, which is key to India sustaining the economic growth momentum. The Budget needs to draw up a road map for tax reform and attendant operational changes in a vital sectors like banking and financial services.

As the recent high-powered committee on making Mumbai an international financial centre emphasised, we have indeed dismantled an “autarkic license-permit raj” in industry and trade; but we need to do it again in finance. It would step up efficiency and productivity across the board, and lead to better allocation of resources.

The way ahead is to have a tax regime in finance that does away with cascading rates, including stamp duty, registration duty and the securities transaction tax. Instead, what’s required is sound tax design for a goods and services tax (GST) in finance.

Indirect Taxes Likely To Surpass Budget Targets, Says FM

New Delhi: The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Feb 24 expressed optimism that the Revenue Department would surpass the budget targets on indirect taxes for 2007-08 and get 1 per cent of excess collections as rewards for this year too. Despite slow growth in excise duty mop ups, this optimism comes on the back of buoyant customs duty collections so far in the current fiscal.

For 2007-08, the Government had pegged the indirect tax collections target at about Rs 2.8 lakh crore. In both 2005-06 and 2006-07, the CBEC exceeded budget targets to the tune of Rs 8,615 crore and Rs 11,300 crore respectively and got a reward of 1 per cent of the excess collections, which amounted close to Rs 200 crore.The Finance Minister''s observations on surpassing budget estimates for 2007-08 came less than a week before he would present the Union budget for 2008-09 on Friday. Achievement of excise duty collections target of Rs 1,30,220 crore for 2007-08 is going to be a major challenge for the Revenue Department if one were to go by the excise duty collections till end-January this fiscal.

Toll To Be Collected On Three Highways In A. P

Hyderabad: Road-users will have to shell down toll tax for using three important State highways once these are upgraded into four-lane as proposed by the Andhra Pradesh Government under a project taken up with private investment.

The three roads identified for immediate upgradation are Hyderabad-Ramagundam Rajiv Rahadari, Narketpalli-Addanki and Pootalapattu-Naidupet highways. No toll is presently collected for using these roads, which have only two lanes. A year after coming to power, the Rajasekhara Reddy Government scrapped toll collected on 16 State highways to avoid a burden on the travelling public. However, the Government on Wednesday, announced that toll would be collected for 20 years by contractors who will implement the Rs 2,000-crore project taken up to convert the roads.

Tenders for the project will be finalised shortly before grounding works in May-June. Minister for Roads & Buildings T. Jeevan Reddy and P. Rajagopal Reddy, MD, AP Road Development Corporation, told reporters here that the toll for these three roads would be 10 per cent lower than that levied on highways managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Tax Revenue May Be Over Rs 6,00,000 Crore

New Delhi: Gross tax revenue mop up are expected to exceed the Rs 6,00,000 crore mark in 2007-08. In other words, tax revenue is expected to double compared with Rs 3,04,958 crore in 2004-05.

If the collections surpass Rs 6,00,000 crore, the gross tax to GDP ratio will go up to around 13 per cent in 2007-08, compared with Budget estimate of 11.8 per cent and medium term target of 12.7 per cent by 2009-10. Budget estimate for tax revenue is Rs 5,48,122 crore in the current fiscal year compared to Rs 4,72,328 crore in 2006-07, an increase of over 16 per cent. Much of the credit for the higher tax revenue goes to surge in personal income tax, corporation tax and service tax collections in the last three years. Current year''s tax collection trends indicate that except excise duty, all other direct and indirect taxes are likely to meet and exceed Budget estimates. Direct tax is going to contribute over 50 per cent to the tax revenue in 2007-08 and overtake indirect taxes for the first time. It is expected that direct tax revenue will exceed budget estimate of Rs 2,67,490 crore by Rs 40,000 crore to 50,000 crore in 2007-08. Indirect tax mop may be around the Budget estimate of Rs 2,78,013 crore, thanks to customs and service tax collections, which are likely to take care of any shortfall in excise duty. Besides improving government finances, the higher tax revenue collection will give it a cushion to give a little more tax benefit to income tax payers to sustain the revenue buoyancy.

E-Payment Of Taxes Compulsory For Corporates From April

New Delhi: From April 1, corporates will be needed to pay their direct taxes only through the electronic route. Electronic payment of direct taxes will also become compulsory from this date for all assesses (other than company) to whom tax audit is applicable, a Finance Ministry official said. The official pointed out that taxpayers can make electronic payment via the Internet banking facility offered by any of the authorised banks. As of today, 18 banks are authorised to offer e-payment facility. Taxpayers will also be given with an option to make electronic payment of taxes via Internet by way of debit cards/credit cards. Electronic payment is seen as a cleaner way to make payment and one could avoid paper work also. Already assessees with Net banking accounts make their tax payments via the e-payment route. Of the banks that offer e-payment facility, sources said that only four SBI, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank are popular among taxpayers.

Direct Tax Expert For Slashing Of 5pc R&D Cess

Kolkata: Direct tax experts are of the sight that given the new era of knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), and free movement of technology and design and drawings for betterment of Indian manufacturing, the long standing (since 1986) R&D Cess of five per cent, as applicable to an industrial concern, should be scrapped without any further delay. According to Mr Narayan Jain, Vice-Chairman of All-India Federation of Tax Practitioners (AIFTP), and former President of DTPA, as per Section 3(2) of the Research and Development Cess Act, 1986, the cess, to be paid to the Central Government on or before payment towards import of technology by an industrial worry, has now outlived its utility. Any company engaged in construction was now covered within the meaning of an industrial concern, following the changes to the provisions of the Industrial Development Bank of India Act in March 2000. In case of failure in making such payment to the Technology Development Board, penalty likely to be imposed under Section 9 of the R&D Cess Act, of an amount not exceeding 10 times the cess amount in arrear.

Rs 5 Lakh Tax Refund Cases Likely To Come Under Scrutiny

New Delhi: The Finance Ministry has asked to field formations to ensure that cases involving final refunds of over Rs 5 lakh do not remain outside the scope of scrutiny selection.

The official made it clear that there was no change in the scrutiny norms already laid out for the current fiscal. It was also highlighted that the latest instruction would not impact large number of tax assessees. The latest instruction does not relate to any particular category of assessees, but in general to refund cases where the eventual refund exceeds Rs 5 lakh. Already, as per the CBDT norms for the current fiscal, under selection of cases meant for scrutiny, all banks and public sector undertakings are liable for scrutiny. Also, all NSE-500 companies and BSE-A group companies listed as on March 31, 2007 are covered.