GST Council may finalise e-way rules today

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is likely to lower tax rate on Saturday on job works making fabric to garments to 5 per cent and put in place a mechanism for online registration of goods above a certain value before they can be transported. The Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, will also review at its meeting the implementation of the GST regime since July 1 and may finalise a mechanism to operationalise anti-profiteering provision to protect consumer interest.

Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Chairperson Vanaja Sarna said the movement of goods between states has smoothened with 25 out of 29 states abolishing check posts.

"About 25 states have removed those check posts. So far, it has been going all right," she told PTI.

This would further smoothen after e-way bill in GST that requires any goods more than Rs 50,000 in value to be pre- registered online before it can be moved is implemented.

"As the e-way bill process for the whole of India gets panned out, we should be able to do something which will be better," Sarna said.
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Railways moots safety cess on tickets to prevent accidents

Plagued by repeated derailments, the Railways is considering imposing safety cess on train tickets to be utilised for strengthening accident prevention measures.

According to the move, the Railways will have to generate additional revenue of Rs 5,000 crore in the current financial year (FY) as its contribution to the safety fund created in the budget.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said, "We have to raise safety funds and the people will also have to give some support. We are considering all options."

The government had announced the creation of a special safety fund of Rs 1 lakh crore over the next five years that will cover upgradation of tracks and signalling besides elimination of unmanned level crossings.

The special safety fund envisages spending of Rs 20,000 crore on safety upgradation every year.

However, Railways has so far received Rs 15,000 crore — Rs 10,000 crore from the central road fund and Rs 5,000 crore from the Finance Ministry — while it has been asked to raise Rs 5,000 crore from its own resources for the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh.

There are three ways to generate Rs 5,000 crore for the special safety fund, said a senior railway ministry official.

The first option is to raise the additional revenue through non-tariff resources. The second is through a hike on freight rate and the third option is through imposing safety cess on passenger fares.

However, the official said no decision has been taken yet on the issue, the official said.

There is a dire need of safety upgradation to prevent accidents which have seen a spurt in the recent past.

The Railways aim to eliminate all unmanned level crossings on the broad gauge network by 2020 for which massive expenditure is required.
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Budget 2017: Centre may scrap Rs 4,500-cr PDS sugar subsidy

Latest News - Finance Minister Arun Jaitley might not offer Rs 18.50 per kg subsidy for purchase of sugar to states for selling at a subsidised rate via ration shops in his February 1 Budget and save about Rs 4,500 crore.

The Centre's contention is that there is no demarcation for BPL families in the new Food Law and there are apprehensions that state governments may divert subsidised sugar, which explains the current line of thinking, sources said.

At present, the scheme has a target of 40 crore beneficiaries of BPL (below poverty line) families. About 2.7 million tonnes of sugar per annum are required for PDS sale.

According to the existing scheme, states purchase sugar to be supplied through the public distribution system (PDS), popularly known as ration shops, from the open market at wholesale rates and sell at a subsidised rate of (Read More)

Modi govt plans expansive budget despite growth, revenue worries

Latest News - India's finance minister is likely to borrow more than originally planned when he presents the budget on Feb. 1, senior aides and officials said, despite counting on revenues from a national sales tax whose launch date is still unknown.

Arun Jaitley is looking at how to fund giveaways to taxpayers and higher public investment to help nurse Asia's third-largest economy back to health after the government's shock decision in November to abolish high-value banknotes.

That is raising concern among some economists and investors that the government will take too many fiscal risks.

Yet officials say that, given the choice, they would choose growth sustained by (Read More)

Sebi wishlist for Budget 2017: Here are the key points

Latest News - Ahead of Union Budget 2017, the capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has sent its list of recommendations to the Finance Ministry. Sebi has asked the government to encourage stock trading and investments in mutual funds by easing tax rules. 

The regulator has also recommended lowering the securities transaction tax (STT) for tax trading and a slew of other measures, a report published in Economics Times said. 

Lower STT for trading 

After its introduction in 2004, STT was fully deductible against the income tax payable. But, after (Read More)