Reserve Bank has notified 49 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) under automatic route in Insurance sector.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked Mauritius to set up a 'macro-prudential authority' to monitor the offshore investments.

The High Court of Gujarat held that where assessee claimed deduction of secret commission paid to employees of different companies who had given business to assessee, since assessee had not kept any accounts as to where and to whom such commission was paid, Tribunal was justified in allowing assessee's claim to extent of one per cent of total sales.

The ITAT Jaipur Bench held that where during relevant assessment year, assessee rendered services in USA, salary received by him for such services in India from sister concern of US employer would be exempt from Indian taxation under article 16(1) of Indo-US DTAA. 

The ITAT Delhi bench held that where assessee made payment to TV channels to receive their programs for further telecasting TDS was to be deducted under section 194J 

Investment in "Stock Certificate" as defined in clause (c) of paragraph 2 of the Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme, 2015 has been notified as valid mode of investment by a trust under sec. 11(5) vide Notification No. SO 1206(E) [NO.21/2016 (F.NO.142/1/2016-TPL], dated 23-3-2016.

The functionality for correction of Form 26QB has been made available online from 29th Feb, 2016 to the deductors/buyers. Hence the buyer, whose PAN exists in Form 26QB, can log in to www.tdscpc.gov.in and make the correction for the specified fields with/without Digital Signature.

The government will treat bonds and debentures as a single security for calculating the holding period without factoring in the conversion date, a decision that could make investors eligible for long-term capital gains tax exemption. Thus, the holding period for the long-term capital gains tax will be from the date a debenture or bond is acquired and not from the day the debenture is converted to shares. The Central Board of Direct Taxes has amended the rules dealing with the issue. The new regime will come into effect from April 1.

The ITAT Ahmedabad Bench held that for purpose of computing dis allowance under section 14A, amount of net interest is to be taken into consideration.

The Finance Ministry has notified new Income Tax Tax Return forms for assessment year 2016-17.

Nearly four years after a deal, India has implemented the new DTAA with Indonesia. The new agreement will take effect in respect of incomes derived on or after April 1, 2017. Some of the significant aspects of the new pact include the introduction of a 'Limitation of Benefit' (LOB) clause and provision for exchange of banking information for tax administration purposes. 

To reduce grievances of tax payers, the CBDT has set up a dedicated structure for delivery and monitoring of taxpayer services. CBDT Member (Revenue and Tax Payer Services) will oversee the related services in Central Board of Direct Taxes. Two separate Directorates - Directorate of Tax Payer Services I and Directorate of Tax Payer Services II - have been set up, it added. Together, these Directorates will be responsible for delivery and monitoring of taxpayer services in the field offices and e-services deliverable through various electronic platforms of the Department. 

The Tax Department has signed 11 more Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) with taxpayers covering overseas transactions within group entities so as to reduce litigation's.

Now, Assessing Officers can grant a stay of demand until the first appeal is disposed if the taxpayer pays 15 per cent of the disputed demand. The CBDT has further said that in case of any deviation from the standard pre-payment of 15 per cent by the Assessing Officer, the case will be referred to the administrative Principal Commissioner or Commissioner will take a final call. In case, despite a 15 per cent stay, the tax payer is still unhappy, he can approach the jurisdictional administrative Principal Commissioner or Commissioner.

The CESTAT, Bangalore Bench held that export of services is complete only after receipt of consideration towards same; hence, service exporters may claim refund of utilized Cenvat credit within time-allowed under section 11B, viz., 1 year from date of receipt of consideration.

In absence of any provision in service tax law or CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 requiring registration of service exporters, who are not liable to pay any service tax, service exporters may take credit and refund thereof even without registration. 

The High Court of Madras held that since company is a separate and independent entity, service tax dues payable by director (or director's proprietorship firm) cannot be recovered from company

Indian companies will have to pay service tax on any service they avail from the government or local authority from the next fiscal year, broadening the scope of the levy to include not just spectrum but all auctions, right of way, licence fees and development rights. These will all attract service tax, now applied at 15%, inclusive of two cesses 

MCA has notified Companies (Accounting Standards) Amendment Rules, 2016 vide Notification dt 30th March 2016, to omit AS 6 on Depreciation Accounting and to amend / substitute the following Accounting Standards:

• AS 2: Valuation of Inventories
• AS 4: Contingencies and events Occurring after Balance Sheet Date
• AS 10: Property, Plant and Equipment
• AS 13: Accounting for Investments
• AS 14: Accounting for Amalgamation
• AS 21: Consolidated Financial Statements
• AS 29: Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets

Market regulator SEBI has mandated that all draft offer documents filed between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2019 will have to state accounts according to the Ind AS for the latest three years and according to Indian GAAP for the next two years. This is being done to harmonize the statement of accounts in a public offering with the phase wise implementation of Ind AS, being done by the MCA.

Application
Every company including a foreign company, except –

• a banking company; an insurance company; company licenced under section 8; a one person company; a small company
• a private limited company not being a subsidiary or holding company of a public company having
• paid up capital and reserves and surplus not more than rupees one crore; and
• total borrowings not more than rupees one crore;and
• total revenue not more than rupees ten crore
• Applicable for the Financial years commencing on or after 1st April, 2015

The High Court of Delhi held that where appellants did not impugn either allotment of Rights Issue or their removal from Board of Directors at relevant time and raised such grievances only when company's economic difficulties were over and it was on path of substantial progress, appellant's interest in company was limited to their initial shareholding and nothing more.

Parliament has passed a Bill under which the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) can order recall of products not conforming to standards, in addition to cancellation of licence of the manufacturer. It can also order compensation to consumers in case goods and services do not conform to the standards. The Bill also empowers the government to implement mandatory hallmarking of precious metal articles, such as gold and silver 

More than 30 industries that have zero pollution load have been exempted from taking environmental clearance as the centre released a new four-colour classification scheme for industries based on their pollution potential. Under the new categorization system, industries that pollute the most have been put in the red category, while the moderately polluting units are classified orange. Industries that have a significantly low pollution load have been placed in the green category, while those that operate without causing any pollution have been categorized as white. Terming it a "landmark" decision that gives a "fair picture" of the industries, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said the new system of recategorisation is based on an elaborate scientific exercise. The existing system was creating problems because it did not reflect the actual pollution caused by the various units.

To encourage investments and boost productivity in the farm sector, a government-appointed committee has drafted a model Agricultural Land Leasing Act that will legalise tenancy for the purpose of farming.

The Company Law Board, Kolkata Bench held that where an interim injunction had been imposed upon company not to hold general meeting due to which financial statements could not be filed for three consecutive years, directors of company could not be said to have vacated their offices in terms of section 167(1), read with section 164(1) due to default in filing financial statements. 

Government has set up a welfare fund which will utilize unclaimed money, estimated to be in excess of Rs 9,000 crores, lying in PPF, Employees Provident Fund & Small Savings Schemes to provide healthcare facilities & pension to senior citizens.

The National Consumer Commission has stated, in case of Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Ltd. vs Adnan Rassiawala, that a consumer can make a complaint to a consumer forum even if there is an arbitration clause in the agreement between him and a service provider. 

Investors will soon get to know the commissions that mutual funds pay distributors. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has asked mutual fund houses to clearly mention the actual commission, including gifts and junkets, given to distributors in the half-yearly account statement. "The term `Commission' here refers to all direct monetary payments and other payments made in the form of gifts, rewards, trips, event sponsor ships, etc. by fund houses to distributors. 

Market regulator SEBI allowed stock exchanges to introduce Cross-currency futures and exchange traded Cross-currency option contracts in multiple currency pairs. The Cross currency futures will be available in various pairs, including Euro (EUR)-US Dollar (USD), Pound Sterling (GBP)-USD and USD-Japanese Yen (JPY). On the exchange traded option contracts front, Euro Rupee (INR), GBP-INR and JPY-INR have been added to the existing USD-INR pair, SEBI said in a circular. 

Cracking a whip on 'Wilful Defaulters', SEBI has decided to bar them from raising public funds through stocks and bonds, and also from taking board positions at listed companies. SEBI has also decided to bar such defaulters from setting up market intermediaries such as mutual funds and brokerage firms. These defaulters would also not be allowed to take control of any other listed company.

NSE has launched a new Nifty Mid Small cap 400 index, which will represent the mid and small market capitalization segments of the stock market.

Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has allowed trading in commodity derivatives at Stock Exchanges operating in International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). 

Under the new norms, the firm seeking listing is required to have a Net Worth of at least Rs 10 crore or the Paid-Up Equity Capital of the company need to be at least Rs 5 crore, National Stock Exchange (NSE) said in a circular. Besides, there should not be any disciplinary action against the firm by other stock exchanges and regulatory authorities in the past three years. 

The Supreme Court allowed the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to devise a mechanism to sell 86 properties belonging to the Sahara group to recover dues in the illegal bonds case.

The Reserve Bank of India has revised rules pertaining to revival of advances to small businesses and asked lenders to form district level committees to resolve stressed loans to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Restructuring of loan accounts with exposure of above ` 25 crore will continue to be governed by the extant guidelines on Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) or Joint Lenders' Forum (JLF) mechanism. There will be district-level committees which will resolve the stress in MSMEs under their jurisdictions. In case of a MSME banking with multiple lenders, the lead bank's panel's should deal with the issue. The committees shall comprise regional head of the bank as chairperson, and MSME loans incharge as the convener and member. The bank should also appoint an external expert nominated by the bank and a representative of the State Government. 

The government has launched a portal, Indian IP Panorama, which will act as a single window interface for information on intellectual property and provide guidance on leveraging it for competitive advantage. The portal seeks to increase awareness and build sensitivity towards IP, among stakeholders in the SME sector, Academia and Researchers. 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed all companies engaged in the infrastructure sector to raise External Commercial Borrowings with a minimum maturity of five years, including those Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFC) regulated by the central bank. By putting the NBFCs directly in the category of infrastructure, RBI has made it easier for these firms to raise additional resources of up to $750 million, provided they use the proceeds only for financing infrastructure, and not for their own use.

Jalandhar-based Capital Small Finance Bank Limited is set to become India's first Small Area Finance Bank (SFB) by flagging-off its operations on April 13, 2016. 

The government has amended Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to give an option to the spouse to continue to contribute for balance period on premature death of the subscriber

The cases and overall quantum of Non Performing Assets in Banking Sector have reached alarming levels. RBI has specially brought out a list of 150 extra large borrowers having weak financial health. The size of borrowings by certain borrowers has grown geometrically impacting debt-equity ratio, large and risky financial leverage and risk to financial market system. In view of large NPA, the Banking system has become averse to further lending, thereby negatively impacting Make in India, New projects, expansion, working capital and growth and growth momentum of economy.

An In-depth research into the issues involved clearly bring out following major issues:-

• The Assessment of credit need, strength and sources of promoters, viability of the project, estimated time for completion, risk of contingency, regulatory and policy risk is inefficient and ineffective. The systems are not commensurate to the need and there is significant lack of appropriate skills within the banking sector. 
• The professional integrity, ethics, professional business friendly approach need commitment and strengthening. 
• The terms of sanction including pre-disbursal and post disbursal conditions are not complied with in majority of the cases, including in respect of 
• Promoter's contribution
• End use of funds
• Prior approval before further borrowing
• Major capital expenditure commitment by borrower and the group companies.
• Share transfer/pledge by promoters including borrowing against the same and its end use
•  Investment in associates, subsidiaries etc.
• Extending advances not in the ordinary course of business