Feb. 8 - Varanasi Nagar Nigam in Uttar Pradesh has launched a major drive to collect pending house taxes focusing on households that have not paid house tax of more than US$1,082 initially.
“The drive has started in all the five wards of the city with notices being served to big defaulters,” municipal commissioner SN Singh told Times of India. “If owners of these houses fail to deposit house tax within 15 days of notice, their property would be attached.” Read the rest of this entry »
Feb. 5 - Business visa rules that prohibit foreigners from working in the country may be relaxed to adjust to the needs of the IT industry.
Indian visa rules became stricter last year to clamp down on the thousands high and low-skilled Chinese workers illegally working in the country on power and steel projects using a business visa. The new rules requires that only one percent of total workers in a project can avail of employment visas and a cap of only twenty employment visas per project. Read the rest of this entry »
Feb. 4 - Taxpayers can now apply for an adjustment or claim a refund for Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) paid in advance starting this year.
The FBT was dissolved by the Finance Act 2009 effective 2010. The FBT, implemented in 2005, levied added benefits or perks given by the employer to the employee. Some companies have already paid advance FBT for the 2010-11 period last year. Read the rest of this entry »
Feb. 3 - India is set to increase property tax rates in New Delhi starting April 2010.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) has proposed higher tax rates for residential properties in the A to H category. A two percent increased for categories A and B, three percent in categories C and D with the highest hike in property tax rate proposed for category E increasing from 6 to 12 percent and a one percent increase for category F and H. Read the rest of this entry »
Feb. 2 - IT and outsourcing companies will be issued pending service tax refunds within 30 days starting January 19 according to a circular released by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).
The circular clarifies the disputed definition of services used labeled “inputs” by technology and business process outsourcing companies and will help companies already struggling with slower growth last year. Read the rest of this entry »
Feb. 1 - Multinational companies asked to pay additional transfer pricing taxes for overseas transactions will be given the choice to appeal their case to the conventional forum of Commissioner or the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP).
Previously, a tax order coming from of a transfer pricing officer (TPO) was considered the final decision but now a taxpayer can opt to appeal against TPO’s order before the DRP. It will be the DRP decision that will be considered binding and final. Read the rest of this entry »
Jan. 29 - The Indian government has officially announced the delay of the implementation of the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) with the new roll out date to be decided in April 1.
The head of the empowered group of state finance ministers, Asim Dasgupta, said in a statement that the April 1 deadline would not be enforced because of a host of unresolved issues surrounding the GST. Read the rest of this entry »
Jan. 28 - India’s Central Board of Direct Taxes has announced the extension income tax return verification form (ITR-V) forms filed electronically on or after April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010 or within a period of 120 days from the date of uploading of the electronic return data, whichever is later.
This announcement is related to an earlier circular dated May 2009, which allows taxpayers to file their income tax returns via internet without digital signature to submit a signed ITR-V form within a period of 30 days via post. Read the rest of this entry »
Jan. 27 - To encourage more hotels to open prior to the Commonwealth Games, India is giving a five-year tax holiday for new hotels completed in the national capital region before March 31.
The rule will apply to 2, 3 and 4 star hotels and exclude 5 star hotels. An estimated 100,000 tourists are expected to arrive in New Delhi when the Commonwealth Games start on October 3. Currently, the city only has 10,000 hotel rooms and will need 30,000 more for the games. Read the rest of this entry »
Jan. 26 - Indian tax authorities have introduced new rules that require foreign remittances to be reported before payment.
Every recipient of income is now required to provide a Permanent Account Number (PAN) or tax registration number to the payer beginning April 1, 2010. Should the recipient fail to provide a PAN, the withholding tax rate, if applicable, would be higher at the following rates: Read the rest of this entry »
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