The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has observed Indian parties were using the Overseas Direct Investments (ODI) as an automatic route to set up structures facilitating trading in currencies, securities and commodities. Such structures, with equity participation of Indian parties, have also started offering financial products linked to the rupee. The central bank has clarified any foreign entity, with equity participation directly/indirectly, shall not offer such products without its approval.

The Kolkata ITAT bench has held that expense specifically relatable to taxable income cannot be disallowed u/s 14A read with Rule 8D

The Mumbai ITAT bench has held that Section 50C does not apply to transfer of immovable property held through company

The Mumbai ITAT bench has held that Section 50C does not apply to transfer of FSI & TDR.

The Delhi High Court has held that several independent units can constitute “a residential house” for the purposes of section 54 / 54F.

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has held that a family settlement does not result in a “transfer” and compensation received to equalize inequalities in family settlement is not taxable as “income”.

The Delhi High Court has held that gains on shares held in investment portfolio are not assessable as business profits.

The Delhi ITAT bench has laid down important law on tax ability of royalty embedded in goods sold in India has held that royalty earned by non-resident from another non-resident is not taxable in India u/s. 9(1)(vi)(c) even if payer embeds the know-how into products sold in India.

The Mumbai ITAT bench has held that services rendered by machines is not “fees for technical services” u/s 9(1)(vii)

The Andhra Pradesh High Court explaining entire Law on Lifting Corporate Veil to tax offshore transfers held that gains arising on sale of shares of foreign company by NR to NR not taxable in India under India-France DTAA even if the foreign co only held Indian assets.

The Delhi High Court has held that even Section 143(1) Intimation cannot be reopened u/s 147 without “fresh material”.

The Bangalore ITAT bench has held that non- supply of recorded reasons before passing reassessment order renders the reopening void u/s 147. Subsequent supply does not validate reassessment order.

The Mumbai High Court has held that failure to obtain JCIT’s approval renders Section 153C Assessment order void.

The Mumbai ITAT bench has held that Section 153A assessment is mandatory even if no incriminating material is found.

The Gujarat High Court has held that AO cannot assess other escaped income if original reason is dropped u/s 147.

The Mumbai High Court has held that Section 292BB does not have retrospective effect.

The Ahemdabad ITAT bench has held that Tribunal has the power to grant unlimited stay of demand under third Proviso to section 254(2A)

The Mumbai ITAT bench has held that sub- brokerage paid in connection with services rendered in course of buying and selling of units of mutual funds is not covered by provisions of Section 194 H.

The Mumbai ITAT bench has held that undisputed tenancy right of an assessee in respect of a property is a capital asset.

The Delhi ITAT bench has held that in case of transaction of lending money in foreign currency to foreign subsidiary, LIBOR should be taken as benchmark rate for computing ALP of interest.

The Mumbai ITAT bench has held that foreign exchange gain, if related to business of assessee profit, will be a part and parcel of arm's length price profit.

The Hyderabad ITAT bench has held that while computing ALP, companies having super normal profits and companies with extraordinary circumstances like merger/de-merger etc. cannot be taken as comparables

The Delhi ITAT bench has held that the “Bright Line test” can be applied to disallow the excessive AMP expenses incurred by the assessee for the benefit of the brand owner.

The Chennai ITAT bench has explained law on valuation of shares of a closely held company for transfer pricing purposes.

The Mumbai ITAT bench has held that payment made to stock exchange for violation of bye laws of stock exchange is allowable as business expenditure.

The Mumbai ITAT bench has held that rental income derived by assessee from business centre (I.T. Park) was to be treated as business income and not as income from house property.

The Madras High Court has held that expenditure on designing, layout and other temporary constructions, to make leasehold office premises functional, is revenue expenditure.

The Bombay High Court has held that where assessee paid certain amount to sister concerns
by way of reimbursement of salaries because their employees were deputed to assessee, there was no requirement to deduct tax at source while making said payments.

The Gujarat High Court has held that where incentive in form of sales tax waiver/deferment was not meant to give any benefit on day-to-day functioning of business or to make it more profitable, but was aimed to cover capital outlay of assessee for undertaking modernization of existing industry, it was capital receipt, not chargeable to tax

The Gujarat High Court has held that depreciation would be allowed on software developed and installed by assessee.

The Finance Bill has made the withholding tax for FIIs, QFIs cut to 5% on rupee-denominated infra bonds.

The Finance Bill for the year 2013 was approved by the parliament, subject to following changes:

• No levy of wealth tax on farm land.
• No requirement of TAN for tax deduction at source on transfer of immovable property of over Rs 50 Lakhs.
• Exemption for Gold Coin or articles, weighting less than 10 gms, from tax collected at source in cash sale withdrawn.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) have done away with the exposure limit on reverse repo transactions by insurers. In a circular to the chief executives of all insurance companies, IRDA has said that reverse repo transactions in government securities were treated on a par with collateralize borrowing and lending obligation (CBLO) transactions and the 10 per cent investment limit wasn't applicable to this category.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has given a one-time chance to insurance companies to renew the archived individual agency licenses. IRDA had achieved a large number of licenses of agents who had not submitted their PAN or whose licenses had lapsed for more than one year, resulting in large number of dormant practices.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has finalized the training and licensing norms for surveyors and loss assessors for the insurance industry. The regulator has said appointment of a surveyor for loss assessment need to be made within 72 hours from the time of occurrence of loss was known to the insured. Further, they will be allowed to assess losses of only those departments specified in his/her license. They have been barred from acting as a consultant and are not to be involved in settlement of claims.

The Comptroller & Auditor General draft report alleges that government offered coal blocks without auction causing a loss of Rs 10.67 Lakhs crores. It also blames Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for wrongdoings.

Delay in completion of port road connectivity (PRC) projects and loss of toll revenue had resulted in a loss of around Rs 873.85 crore to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), said the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said that under assessment, irregular claims of exemption and other shortcomings in tax collection system of Delhi Government have caused a loss of over Rs 2,300 crore to the exchequer in 2011-12

Decks have been cleared for clubbing of allowances with basic pay for PF deductions under the EPFO scheme, a move that will increase savings but reduce take-home pay of over 5 crore subscribers. A review committee, constituted to look into the nitty-gritty of clubbing of allowances with basic pay for PF deductions, has supported the idea for enhancing the social security benefit under the EPF scheme run by the Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO).

The Supreme Court has held that the Madhya Pradesh government cannot demand entertainment tax on DTH services provided to the customers.

The Supreme Court has said aside the judgment of the Calcutta High Court in the long - standing dispute between Bhagwati Developers and Peerless General Finance Ltd. over a compliant of oppression and mismanagement. Since the dispute started in 1991, the matter was remanded to the high court to decide it within six months. The High Court had rejected the claim of Bhagwati Developers to maintain the company petition because it had less than required shares to move the company court. The Supreme Court stated that winding up petition can be filed with 10 per cent shareholding in all. It is not necessary that the petitioner must hold it individually. A petition can be filed even after obtaining the consent of other shareholders, the Supreme Court ruled. It said that the law does not require that "the consent should be given by a member personally, as the same can also be given by the power of attorney holder of such as shareholder. Furthermore, the issue of compliant must be decided on the basis of a broad consensus approach, in relation to the avoidance and subsistence of the case. The same must be decided on the basis of the form of such consent, rather on the substance of the same. There is hence, no need of written consent, or even of the consent being annexed with the company petition.

• In a reverse merger, unlisted entities are merged with a listed group entity
• Earlier, only court and exchange approval was required
• Now, SEBI will look into each case
• PEs see reverse merger as another exit route
• SEBI's tough stance could hit PEs' plan to liquidate shares.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has decided to crack the whip on collective investment schemes (CIS), which, according to the capital market regulator's estimates, have raised more than Rs 10,000 crore by promising investors massive returns in quick time.

The Stock market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has directed Osian's -Connoisseurs of Art Pvt Ltd, an art fund to wind up its existing 'collective investment scheme' (CIS). Osian had raised Rs 102.40 crore from 656 investors. Osian has also been directed to refund the money to its investors within three months and submit a winding up report. Osian also has to pay the higher of profits earned according to its offer terms or 10 per cent interest a year. The payout would be calculated from the date of investment till the date of refund, said SEBI. Failure to do so would lead to initiation of prosecution proceedings.

State Bank of India has said that a loan recall notice has been served on the defunct Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) on behalf of the consortium of 17 lenders. The notices under the SARFAESI Act, DRT and other processes will follow.

In yet another initiative to step up domestic coal output without impinging on the Coal Mines (Nationalization) Act that bars commercial coal mining by private players, the government intends to encourage companies with captive coal mines to produce surplus. What is being considered is a commercial arrangement that would entail use of the e-auction platform, which normally fetches higher profits and where the gains will be shared between the public sector (Coal India or CIL and state mineral development corporations) and the private firms operating captive coal mines.

The CDR package of $1.8 billion (Rs 9,500 crore) includes a two year moratorium on principal and term-debt interest payments; a three percent reduction in interest rates and six months moratorium on working capital interest. As a part of the package, Rs 1,500 crore (two year's interest payment during moratorium) will be converted into equity or equity linked instrument over the next two years to bring stronger financial stability and a 10 year door-to- door back-ended repayment plan. In January, Suzlon received approval from a consortium of 19 banks to recast its debt.

The Gujarat High Court has held that cooperative banks cannot use the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets of Security Interest Act (SARFAESI), 2002 for recovery of debts from its defaulters.

The Employees Provident Fund Organization's (EPFO's) recent relaxation of investment norms for public sector bonds is likely to trigger a flow of funds into the infrastructure segment, through the Infrastructure Debt Funds (IDFs). In the new guidelines, any AAA-rated public sector unit will qualify for investments for tenure up to 25 years. Any AA-rated PSU will qualify for investments for tenure up to 15 years.

Initiating the long-awaited reform, the Government has lifted controls on the sugar sector partially by doing away with the levy system and regulated release mechanism.

Highway Projects worth over Rs 1900 Crores have found no takers even though these are based on the annuity model under which the concessionaire recovers a fixed amount of the investment from the Centre each year, a situation that reflects the poor policy framework.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D. Subbarao has told the parliamentary committee examining the policy on new banking licenses is not in favour of auctioning bank licenses as it will deter the cause of financial inclusion. The RBI governor has also informed the committee that no limit has been set up for the number of bank licenses that will be issued.

To promote lending to priority sectors, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) to grant unsecured loans up to 25% of their assets if certain conditions are met. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that in order to promote lending to priority sectors and to provide impetus to the objective of financial inclusion it has been decided that UCBs fulfilling conditions may, with the prior approval of the Reserve Bank, grant unsecured loans (with or without surety) up to 25% of their total assets.

The telecom sector growth has been crippled after the 2G scam controversy arose. The Hon'ble Supreme Court rejected all the licenses given in an irregular manner. The government is playing hot & cold and is unable to take appropriate decisions in a businesslike manner to suit the interest of all stakeholders and more specifically the telecom users besides the service providers. The auction of the spectrum has failed miserably twice due to very heavy reserve price. A heavy reserve price actually indicates the CAG stand about the loss of profit due to first cum first serve policy, bringing forth allegations of FT, corruption. The Attorney General of India has bought a new assault, opining against the refunding of entry fee of 2G players whose licenses have been cancelled by Supreme Court.

Hon'ble former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee took a very pragmatic step in 1999 while allowing telecom operators to migrate from fixed license fee to revenue share regime & also extending the license tenure to 15 years including an opportunity to even rectify the deficiency in applications. UPA government needs to take the most crucial step of bringing back common business sense while dealing with businesses. The government is unnecessarily frightened from possible judicial intervention. The government should not concentrate on collecting very heavy license fee as it will kill competition; create oligopoly, resulting in heavier telecom charges, negatively impacting inclusive growth besides adversely affecting growth of telecom sector itself. The government may consider:-

• To make application fee cum license fee refundable in respect of cancelled licenses, as it is most equitable and will bring back faith in the government.
• Rather than charging license through auction, revenue sharing formula needs to be bought back, with auctioning the maximization of revenue sharing.
• The telecom licenses & spectrum should be made freely transferable.
• The entry barriers in telecom sector need to be completely withdrawn by permitting maximum possible telecom operators to bid for spectrum on revenue sharing basis, while allocating a reasonable economic size to each operator.

The general public and the society including top bureaucrats, politicians, media personnel, social activists, thinkers, intellectuals and policy makers and those who determine the future directions of the society and the economy expect the auditing profession to perform the roles of a watchdog who can monitor the audited entity comprehensively to ensure that interest of owners, minority shareholders, investors, bankers, government, regulators, suppliers, customers and other stake holders are fully protected. Most importantly interest of the audited entity are preserved and various financial and operational decisions taken by the management at various levels were in the interest of the company and were within the policy framework laid down by the Board.

The Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) has given a new dimension to the scope of audit by issuing several path-breaking and courageous audit reports bringing out large number of severe infirmities and financial irregularities in the working of the government, ministries and various independent autonomous government bodies, and regulators. According to CAG report they have questioned the decisions taken at various levels of the government, which according to CAG were beyond the overall policy framework laid down by the government. CAG has been very critical on

• Performance Parameters : The various CAG reports have questioned the performance achieved by various government departments and bodies, as compared to money and resources allocated to them and spent by them.
• Performance Achievement : CAG has also outlined performance appraisal in its reports, the areas in which the overall purposes for which a significant financial layout was made, was not achieved.
• Physical Outcome : CAG has also examined the actual physical outcome in certain areas as compared to what is documented by various financial statements, vouchers, contracts, reports and other documents.
• Accounting Policy : CAG has also questioned various accounting policies adopted by organizations working in PPP model, wherein revenue of the government or resources of the government have been compromised due to non adoption of generally accepted accounting practices. For e.g. in one of the airports developed in terms of PPP model, the money received by the private sector developer from long term lease of the land to number of hotels amounting to thousands of crores have been accounted for by the developer as capital receipts and the developer has not shared mandatory 46% revenue with the government.
• Decisions Review : CAG in its reports have also questioned a large number of decisions taken at the highest level and middle level of the management which were, although technically documented, on the face of it as appropriate but in fact most of such decisions were neither taken in the best interest of the government or the regulators or organizations concerned. Most importantly these decisions were beyond the overall policy framework laid down by the government/audit entity. The aforesaid initiatives on the part of Hon'ble CAG have brought to light a new debate within the audit profession and the entire chartered accountants circle as to what should be the real scope of audit and can be really ignored the real expectation of the society and the public from the profession of chartered accountants and auditors. Could not understand this?
• Auditors' debate: The entire auditing profession, more especially all leading chartered accountants are very actively debating on as to whether the international standards on auditing need a comprehensive revision and rather than only reporting on internal control, compliance of various decisions, documentation, supporting vouchers, bills, receipts of goods and other supporting facts and figure examination, is the real audit different and whether the expectation gap is real. The auditors are debating as to -