TIOL-DDT 382 · the untouched capture
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<p > <b><font color="#663399" size="3" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">TIOL-DDT
382</font><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
12 06 2006<br>
Monday</font></b></p>
<p align="center" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#006600">IT
is not interested in Bachan’s glasses - yet</font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Reports
did the wild rounds that the Income Tax department has sent a notice to Amitabh
Bachan about his expensive sun glasses costing around 2.75 lakhs rupees. But
the Mumbai IT Chief Commissioner has denied any such notice. Now it appears
that it was the Big B himself who sent a notice to the IT Commissioner informing
him that the report in a Mumbai tabloid that his spectacles were that expensive,
is not accurate. He is reported to have told the Commissioner, "I am hastening
to inform you in advance, and perhaps to prevent your department from taking
the trouble of sending me another notice, that the report was inaccurate. You
may, perhaps, assess in your own wisdom that the price of Rs 2.7 lakh for a
pair of sunglasses is most improbable.” The provocation for this letter from
the Super star must be the notice sent by the IT department to his family regarding
Jalsa, their Juhu bungalow. The department wanted to know who owns the house,
who stays there and details of payments of tax, fine etc,. Whether the IT department
is going to pick up a little more notoriety or not, Amitabh and his new film
are certainly getting some good free publicity. Curious people are sure to queue
up to cinema theatres at least to have a look at those dark 3 lakh rupees worth
sun glasses. </font></p>
<p align="center" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#006600">Students
too under IT glare</font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">It is not
super stars like Amitabh Bachan alone who attract the attention of Income Tax
investigators; even rich students do. The Income-Tax department has sent a circular
to educational institutions across Maharashtra seeking information about students
who have paid fees of Rs 1 lakh and above per annum for the last four years.
This is being done to monitor the sources of income of parents. An annual fee
of one lakh rupees is not really something big in many of the top schools. In
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh there are fancy prices for medical
and engineering education. An MBBS seat in a private college costs as much as
fifty lakh rupees and an engineering seat could be around fifteen lakhs. Of
course most of this money goes in black and so is normally out of the jurisdiction
of Income Tax. It is almost openly declared that the transfer industry in the
Revenue department itself is a multi- crore industry which also go out of the
IT scanner. Many of the senior officers who could not get the places of their
choice are heard saying that they could not get them because they could not
pay the correct price. The fact is – there is a price and even these people
were willing to pay if the price was right. Then should they complain that people
who paid higher prices got the posts? They richly deserve!</font></p>
<p align="center" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#006600">Refund
banking – IT refunds to be simpler</font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">You file
your IT return with a claim for refund; after some months, the refund comes
by post. You deposit the cheque in your bank and it takes about a week to get
it into your account and sometimes your bank even charges 60 rupees for the
service. All this is going to change. Refunds will get credited to your bank
account. The assessing officer will most likely be replaced by a central computer
which will scrutinize your return and get your refund credited to your account
and before you return from Ayakar Bhavan, the refund will be in your bank. Too
good to be true? Some such thing is being planned says, revenue Secretary Chandrasekhar.
</font></p>
<p align="center" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#006600">Speed
post under Service Tax?</font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Not
speed post alone, even the humble post card may come under Service Tax net.
It seems the Service Tax department has asked the Department of Posts to
pay up Service Tax on all postal services including speed post. We had seen
this coming long ago. Immediately after the budget we carried an article <u><a href="http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/inside2.php3?filename=bnews_detail.php3&newsid=3405">Service
Tax on Speed Post : Has FM fired a salvo at his Cabinet colleague?</a></u><b><u>.</u></b> Will
a 50 ps post card now cost 56.12 paise? . you may also see an interesting
piece we carried last year - <a href="http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/inside2.php3?filename=bnews_detail.php3&newsid=2120">Angadia
paise laya, Angadia paise laya re! But, sorry, no service tax is leviable</a></font></p>
<p align="center" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#006600">Increase
SSI turnover to 5 Crores</font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Standing
Committee of parliament on industry has recommended that the eligibility limit
of previous year’s turnover for availing SSI benefit should be increased to
5 Crores from the present 4 Crores. They have also recommended a hike in exemption
limit to 1.25 Crores from the present 1 Crore. The Committee has noted that
there were 1,38,041 sick units in 2005. </font></p>
<p align="center"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#006600">Gold
smuggling no more lucrative – oil smuggling is </font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Sometime
back the Mumbai Customs seized a couple of ships for smuggling oil. Of course
they were charged with diversion of duty free oil. But oil smuggling is reported
to be as much as oil import in Pakistan. As they say, it has now become a global
phenomenon. And it starts right at the oil fields. There are millions of missing
barrels with rampant smuggling and piracy all over the world. Illegal oil bunkering
and oil piracy from fields and pipelines in the Niger Delta is estimated to
be 300 kb/d. It seems Shell loses 100 kb/d in stolen oil.</font></p>
<p align="center" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#006600">Good
Governance in Public Finance – India’s initiative</font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Finance
Minister P. Chidambaram highlighted his government’s initiatives to ensure good
governance in public finance. He was intervening in the discussions on the key
issues of good governance in public finance at the Breakfast Meeting during
the Meeting of G-8 Finance Ministers, being held at St. Petersburg.</font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> The Fiscal
Responsibility and Budget Management Act oblige the Central Government to wipe
out the revenue deficit by 2008-09 and limit the fiscal deficit to 3% by 2008-09.</font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> India
is also a subscriber to the Special Data Dissemination Standards (SDSS), prescribed
by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). An IMF Mission, which made an assessment
in 2001, found that there was, in India, a very high degree of compliance to
the IMF Code on Fiscal Transparency.</font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> the Finance
Minister is obliged to place before the Parliament Quarterly Reports on the
Fiscal and Economic Situation. The Monthly Fiscal Accounts of the Central Government
are available on the website of the Ministry of Finance within a month of the
reported month.</font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Right
to Information Act under which any citizen can call upon the Government to make
available information.</font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> The Outcome
Budget will be a powerful institutional mechanism to focus attention on the
goals or targets to be achieved by spending the money allocated to the respective
Departments.</font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> By putting
crucial data and information on expected outcomes in the public domain, there
will be more informed public scrutiny that could help ensure better value for
money.</font></p>
<p align="center"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><font color="#006600">US
Customs officers arrested for smuggling</font></b></font></p>
<p align="justify" ><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Two US
Customs officers were arrested last week for smuggling – illegal immigrants.
The customs officers charge 1000 dollars per illegal immigrant at the US borders.
The customs officers have an annual salary of 65,000 dollars which is quite
a respectable pay packet. The Border Corruption Task Force officers say that
a thousand dollars per smuggled immigrant is really tempting money. </font></p>
<p ><font color="#FF6666" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Until tomorrow
with more DDT </font></p>
<p><font color="#FF6666" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Have a nice
day. </font></p>
<p><font color="#FF6666" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Mail your
comments to</font> <font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:vijaywrite@taxindiaonline.com">vijaywrite@taxindiaonline.com</a></font></p>
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