As the world eagerly awaits the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the corporate sector in India is equally anticipating the forthcoming budget. Like the seven knock-out matches to be won to lift the FIFA World Cup Trophy, here is the list of top seven direct tax measures which will improve the chances of Arun Jaitley winning the golden ball:Corporate Tax rates: India is already on top of the bracket in terms of corporate tax rates. With a headline tax rate of 33.99 percent coupled with the dividend distribution tax rate pegged at 16.225 percent, Indian tax rates are far higher compared to the global average tax rate of 24 percent.Overall tax liability of corporates should be limited to not more than 30 per cent in keeping with the international trends. In view of progressive phasing out of various tax exemptions, lowering the corporate tax rates will help reduce stiff competition of attracting FDI from neighboring countries.Retrospective amendments: Whilst the Finance Minister has given indication of doing away with the retrospective amendments in the income-tax laws, it may also be worthwhile to consider the recommendations of the Expert Committee on indirect transfers of shares, as the current provisions are ambiguous and will lead to unintended consequences and hardships to the investors in future.Special Economic Zone (SEZ): Incentivizing SEZ units with direct and indirect tax benefits in the year 2005, was seen as a unified scheme to provide impetus to the SEZ story. However, the roll back of the exemption from MAT and DDT, left little incentive for setting up a SEZ unit. By restoring the income-tax exemption from MAT and DDT, the Central Government can make the mantra of ‘Growth through SEZs’ relevant again.Research and Development (R&D): India is emerging as major center for R&D projects for global MNCs. However, currently the benefit of weighted deduction is restricted to in-house R&D for manufacturing units only. This leaves a large number of service companies having a huge R&D spend outside the ambit of the R&D incentive. The benefit of weighted deduction can be extended to other sectors as well.Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): India is the only country that has made legislature for CSR spending. This will significantly bring in private participation in the social welfare landscape. However, what is leading to discomfort is the lack of clarity on the deductibility of CSR expenses under income-tax laws. While the revised draft of DTC indicates that the Government is not in favor of giving tax allowances on social welfare spend, such a position requires a re-think. Given that CSR spend will be in the nature of a statutory impost, the case grows stronger for tax allowance on such CSR expenditure.Tax administration: While the Government’s urgency in getting its ministerial and bureaucratic set up in order is in news, one is hopeful that the same commitment will also percolate down to the administration of our tax laws. Tax litigation is one of the major issues that is being faced by India Inc. today. Mandatory time bound redressal of appeals, departmental circulars clarifying position on complex tax issues are some of the steps which will go a long way in dismantling the image of an adversarial tax regime.Transfer Pricing (TP) Audits: TP audits in India have been characterized by intense scrutiny and aggressive positions by transfer pricing officers. Though, APAs have emerged as a proactive strategy to settle international tax disputes upfront, the bilateral APA mechanism is not available for TP disputes involving countries with whom India’s treaties do not contain provisions for TP adjustments [correlating with Article 9(2) of the OECD Model Tax Convention]. Since bilateral APAs offer more meaningful resolution of tax disputes to mitigate double taxation, India should re-consider its stand of not allowing corresponding adjustments, absent express provision in the tax treaties.As India Inc. awaits the forthcoming Budget with a gasp, the Finance Ministry has to strike a balance by supporting the current economic recovery without any dent in investor’s confidence. This necessitates appropriate planning and approach by the Government, similar to the intense strategy required by a football team for championship!The authors are Girish Vanvari, Co-Head of Tax, KPMG in India and Suruchi Drolia, Manager, KPMG in India. The views and opinions herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of KPMG in India. All information provided is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity.
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The rupee saw its biggest single-day fall in four-and-a-half months on Friday (13 June) as escalating civil war in Iraq dulled the buoyant risk appetite, with oil importers running in to buy the greenback on fears crude prices could spike further.Brent crude oil hit a nine-month high near $115 a barrel on Friday as the United States threatened military action against Islamist militants who have taken towns and cities in Iraq, raising concerns over its oil exports.India imports nearly two-third of its oil requirements with oil importers being the largest buyers of dollars in the local currency market.Foreign outflows related to an equity stake sale in Hero MotoCorp Ltd also weighed on the local currency."There was some outflow towards Hero MotoCorp and then with equities tanking due to Iraq tensions we saw good demand from custodian banks as well," said Naveen Raghuvanshi, a senior foreign exchange trader with DCB Bank.U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital Partners LLC will sell its equity stake worth up to $393 million in Hero MotoCorp, India's largest maker of motorcycles and scooters, according to a deal term sheet seen by Reuters."The central bank will however try to keep the rupee in a 59 to 60 per dollar range in the near term but how long the Iraq crisis goes on will also be key," Raghuvanshi said.The partially convertible rupee closed at 59.76/77 per dollar, weaker than 59.25/26 on Thursday. The unit dropped to a low of 59.80 during the day, its lowest level since May 13.The rupee fell 0.85 percent on the day, its steepest one-day drop since Jan. 24. On the week, the rupee slipped 1 percent, falling for the third straight week, which is also its biggest weekly fall since the week to Jan. 24.The evolving geo-political situation will be the key for the rupee's direction in the near term, though the central bank is expected to intervene to prevent any excessive volatility in the local currency.Indian shares slumped nearly 1.5 percent, posting their biggest single-day fall in nearly 4-1/2 months as blue-chips such as ICICI Bank fell on risk aversion after crude oil scaled nine-month highs on rising violence in Iraq.In the offshore non-deliverable forwards, the one-month contract was at 60.09 while the three-month was at 60.65.(Reuters)
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Government said it would speed up work on three railway lines key to transporting 100 million tonnes of coal per year from remote mines, a priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who wants to supply continuous power to all.Coal India Ltd, the world's No. 1 coal miner that controls about 80 per cent of India's output, says better connections could push its annual production up by as much as 300 million tonnes from 462 million now.Work on some of the railway lines started nearly a decade ago but delays with land acquisition, environmental clearance and complex relations between regional and central government have hampered their progress.The result is higher imports and shortage of coal used in power generation, leading to frequent blackouts including in the capital city of Delhi. India is the third-largest coal importer despite sitting on the fifth-largest reserves.To discuss how to sort out the issues, Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal agreed on Thursday to work closely, and fast-track construction of 286 km of railway lines under three projects in the coal-bearing states of Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh."(The) Railway Minister gave instructions for better coordination among various stake holders and all concerned officers were given instructions to comply with timelines for construction of these lines," a government statement said.The timeframe for completion of lines was not known but Coal India Chairman S Narsing Rao earlier told Reuters that state-owned Indian Railways had promised some of the stretches would be ready by 2016.An Indian Railways spokesman could not be contacted outside regular business hours.The statement said senior government officials could visit Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh next week to "sort out the pending issues of land acquisition and forest and environment".Modi, whose landslide election victory came largely on his promise to rejuvenate India's economy after years of slowdown, wants to provide round-the-clock power supply to the population of about 1.2 billion. Millions still go without power.As coal is the main source of power generation, Modi wants to reform the nationalised coal sector by bringing in private investment and possibly breaking up Coal India.Without a meaningful jump in domestic output, India's coal shortage could range between 185 million tonnes and 265 million by 2016/17, according to projections from the previous government. Shipments rose 21 percent to 152 million tonnes in the calendar year 2013, data from research firm OreTeam showed.India was estimated to have spent $14 billion on coal imports in the fiscal year ended March 2013, and that figure is likely to rise to $25 billion by 2016/17, according to the Boston Consulting Group.Indonesia, Australia and South Africa are the main suppliers to India.(Reuters)
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Michael Johnson is a predator. This is a criminal enterprise. I hope you’re listening, Michael”—William A. Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, during his presentation on Herbalife that offered a marathon critique of the nutritional supplements company“Does it help the middle class? Does it help the neo middle class? It does. Does it help the poor? It does”—Arun Jaitley, finance minister, asserting that being pro business does not mean anti poor“I would describe Modi government as job friendly; nothing could be more appropriate to define the new government”—Tom Albanese, CEO, Vedanta Resources, at an interview“I am an Indian and will always remain an Indian”—Sania Mirza, tennis player, in her statement, strongly condemning BJP leaders branding her an outsider and inappropriate to be the state ambassador of Telangana“The heart will still be beating, the employees will still be cowering, I’ll be working hard”—Jim McNerney, CEO, Boeing, when asked if he intends to stay on at Boeing after he turns 65 in August. The statement, however, did not go down well with international machinists’ union“I was power minister, but I felt powerless. Decisions were taken by officers under me and on occasions, this was done without my knowledge. This hurt my self respect” —Ajay Yadav, power minister, Haryana, after resigning from his post(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 25-08-2014)
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New government got the best news on the economy in a year on Thursday (12 June), as industrial growth rebounded and retail inflation dropped to a three-month low - signs of an economic revival that could offset the threat of patchy summer rains.Output from mines, utilities and factories, recovered from two straight months of contraction to expand 3.4 per cent year on year in April, its fastest pace since March 2013, government data showed.Growth of 1.9 per cent was forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, after a 0.5 per cent year-on-year decline in March.India's economy has been dragged down by slumping industry. Industrial production shrank a provisional 0.1 per cent in the fiscal year that ended in March, keeping overall economic growth below 5 per cent for a second straight year.Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took office on May 26 with the strongest parliamentary majority in 30 years, has vowed to engineer a turnaround by stepping up investment and clearing regulatory hurdles for businesses."There is some possible improvement in the investment cycle going ahead on confidence building," said Anjali Verma, an economist at PhillipCapital. "This kind of data will encourage the government to take steps to boost growth."Bureaucratic gridlock coupled with an uncertain tax policy has stymied capital investments. Capital goods, for example, expanded for the first time in five months in April, posting an annual growth of 15.7 per cent.Expectations of an investment-led economic turnaround after Modi's victory have brought in copious capital, sending the total value of the Indian stock market over $1.5 trillion for the first time.Thursday's industrial production data, coming on the heels of the sharpest growth in merchandise exports in May, are expected to further boost investor sentiment.Inflation EasesAdding to the cheer, a slower annual gain in food prices helped ease consumer price inflation to a three-month low of 8.28 per cent in May from 8.59 per cent the previous month, another government report showed on Thursday.Persistently high food prices have made inflation India's Achilles heel, making it tougher for the central bank to lower lending rates even as economic growth sags.Retail inflation has been above 8 per cent since February 2012. The Reserve Bank of India eased rules to spur bank lending and toned down inflation rhetoric at its last policy review, but few analysts expect it to cut rates anytime soon."We do not think policymakers will be minded to loosen policy just yet," said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics.Stubbornly high inflation and elevated interest rates have curbed consumer demand, which powers more than half of Asia's third-largest economy. Consumer goods output, a proxy for consumer demand, has grown just once in the past 12 months. In April, it contracted 5.1 per cent from a year earlier.RisksModi's government has promised to break the "vicious" cycle of high inflation and high interest rates by reforming the agriculture market and improving the supply chain. But those measures will take months to produce results. Meanwhile, below-average monsoon rains look increasingly likely, which could exacerbate price pressures.New Delhi has stockpiled staples such as rice, wheat and sugar from bumper harvests in the past few years, but it has limited control over the cost of fruits and vegetables, which has the largest impact on food inflation."The key risk is ... El Nino's impact on food (prices)," said Shubhada Rao, the chief economist at Yes Bank. She reckons bad summer rains could push up headline retail inflation as much as 70 basis points.(Reuters)
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India’s decision to oppose the adoption of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) protocol at the recent WTO meeting has evoked mixed reactions from member nations. But its position is very clear. The country is not against TFA. It is only against the “persistent efforts that are being made to subvert the WTO mandate by divesting it of its core elements”. The last time that the Indian political leadership showed similar grit was at WTO’s Cancum Ministerial Conference in 2003. While it should stick to its stand at the WTO, New Delhi should unilaterally do what it can to facilitate its external and internal trade. It can augment its freight infrastructure, modernise its customs procedures and enhance its trade with neighbours in the spirit of TFA. India should not be known as anti-trade; instead, it should be known as pro-development in its actions. — Joe MathewRinging In The Good TimesThree years after the service was launched in India, 3G is finally starting to pay off for its operators. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications, who together shelled out nearly Rs 38,000 crore for the 3G spectrum in 2010, boast of 50 million-plus 3G subscribers now. While that’s less than six per cent of the total subscriber base, the impact on data revenues of firms is quite evident. In the Mar-Jun quarter, Idea Cellular, for instance, saw its 10 million 3G subscribers account for half of its total data revenues of Rs 854 crore (total revenues Rs 7,556 crore). This is one metric operators will now be looking at closely. After all, that will be a means of factoring how quickly they can pump more revenues from users. — Anup JayaramHard TalkIF ever there was a loose canon in the Indian judiciary, Justice Markandey Katju is certainly one. Last month, he outdid himself by all but naming a ‘corrupt’ judge and saying how three successive Chief Justices of India kept him in office, bowing to political pressure. Nobody can accuse Katju of ulterior motives.The process of appointment of judges is indeed a matter of concern. In this regard, the Judicial Appointments Commission is a step in the right direction. With a broadbased selection panel, including the representative of the opposition party and eminent jurists, there will be a fair and transparent selection process. With trust in the judiciary’s integrity wearing thin, a system of selection that is perceived as most fair cannot wait to be implemented. — Abraham C. MathewsPumping Up The Costthe pricing mechanism of petroleum products by state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) has come under the scanner of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). Apparently, the OMCs have been calculating their under-recoveries on the basis of a notional loss in terms of customs duty on diesel and petrol, which they never pay to the government. They earned Rs 26,600 crore between 2007 and 2012 on account of this calculation. The OMCs’ claim that the additional amount earned through import parity pricing is invested in new refineries is not only weak but also smacks of inefficiency in managing operations. The government should address the faulty pricing mechanism of petroleum products to bring down the cost of fuel. — Neeraj ThakurA Win-win Ridelife is expected to become a lot easier for vehicle owners with the insurance regulator considering allowing a five-year one-time cover for automobiles. On the face of it, such a policy appears a win-win for all. It will not only do away with the need for insurance renewal every year, but could be cheaper as well. Customers will also benefit as companies may offer such a policy as a freebie to push sales in lean seasons. Insurers may see an uptick in the renewal business in rural areas as well as benefit from a fall in the incidence of ‘staged claims’ – false claims that are made towards the end of the annual insurance cycle. These are interesting times for the sector. — Sachin DaveWhat’s New Here?we are told mint road will come out with guidelines for ‘small banks’. These small banks will cater to the credit needs of all things small be it businesses, farmers, micro industries, and the unorganised through high-technology-low-cost operations. Few are aware the idea was toyed with way back in 1996 when then finance minister P. Chidambaram, made a case for what was called ‘Local Area Banks’ or LABs. Four such banks were set up, but the concept flopped. In September 2002, Mint Road in its review of LABs noted “whether it is rural banking or any other segment... size, whether in terms of capital base or totality of operations... is of critical importance”. Mint Road has played it safe in its draft guideline on small banks. It says: “While permitting small banks, issues relating to their size, capital requirements, area of operations... need to be suitably addressed in the light of experience gained.” Well put! — Raghu MohanIt’s Time To Get Realbitcoins may have got a new lease of life recently, with the New York Department of Financial Services coming out with proposed guidelines for licensing of bitcoin intermediaries. Predictably, not everybody is happy with the norms. Many voices on bitcoin forums lament the loss of freedom, But regulation is an absolute necessity for its proliferation among laymen. In the six months since BW | Businessworld wrote about the risks of unregulated currencies like Bitcoin, many more organisations have begun accepting the crypto-currency as valid tender. Just the same, the biggest Bitcoin exchange, Mt Gox, went under, taking $600 million in Bitcoin wealth with it. Clearly, the risks of an unregulated currency are enormous. Bringing in meaningful regulation on the lines mooted by New York might be the touch of assurance that shores it up. — Abraham C. MathewsTime Is Not Ripe Yetbenchmark indices may have gained over 24 per cent since January this year, but the IPO market continues to languish. Despite the market tipping a series of new highs, companies are reluctant to raise funds from the stock market. According to merchant bankers, unlisted companies are still not sure about the ‘longevity’ of the current market rally, as there is a lurking fear that the market may correct sharply over the next few months. A few promoters, who do not have immediate funding needs, are waiting for the market to peak out and stabilise, as this will help them command higher stock valuations at the time of IPO. As per Prime Database, over 900 companies have made public their IPO plans over the past one year, but only a handful have gone ahead with the actual process. Since January, only five companies have filed IPO prospectuses for final approvals. From the looks of it, the IPO market may take a while to firm up. A bustling primary market is still 6-8 months away. — Shailesh MenonBanking On Equalitythe new development bank (NDB) that is proposed to be established by BRICS members with the avowed goal of mobilising resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies has many positives. First, unlike the World Bank, which is dominated by the United States, its majority shareholder, the five BRICS members — India, Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa — will have equal voting rights irrespective of their share of financial contribution. Also, while NDB will be headquartered in Shanghai, its first president will be from India. Second, the equality principle espoused by NDB serves as a fresh example of how global financial systems should function in an inter-linked world. Third, NDB augurs well for India given its insatiable need for funds to build its infrastructure. Most importantly, unlike other multilateral banks, NDB should not be seen as intimidating or arm-twisting national governments to announce policies that may be seen as favouring the NDB founders. One hopes that finance ministers of all five countries will be mindful of this while laying down the operational procedures of NDB in the coming months. — Joe MathewPrickly Pointthe announcement by leading path lab chain Thyrocare of its plans to go public — the first lab chain to do so — has turned the focus on an industry which is largely unorganised but for a half dozen pathology lab chains. Of the 60,000-odd labs in the country, only about 600 have taken a voluntary accreditation with the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). In most standalone labs, the operating procedures, maintenance and quality of machines are pathetic, posing a risk to people as 70 per cent of a doctor’s diagnosis is based on path lab reports. Then, in many places, doctors are paid a fee for referring patients to path labs for tests. Needless to say, the sector is in dire need of a regulatory ecosystem. To begin with, accreditation with NABL or another competent authority should be made compulsory. There is no point in planning free drugs or hospitals for all when the eco-system for disease diagnosis itself is in such a pathetic state. — P.B. JayakumarDisinvestment DilemmaThe government has set an ambitious PSU disinvestment target of Rs 58,425 crore for FY2015. While the intent is clear, it may not be able to meet the target, unless it sells stake in some of its prized or ‘Ratna-status’ companies. Finding buyers for loss-making state-run firms such as HMT, Scooters India, Hind Photo-films, ITI, FACT and State Trading Corporation will be very difficult. But not diluting stakes in these companies is also not an option for the government as market regulator SEBI has asked these companies to raise their public shareholding to at least 25 per cent over the next three years. The moot question then is: Will investors buy equity issuances of these companies? Fundamentally, these are unhealthy companies and will not pass the fitness test of any equity analyst. In fact, none of the above-named companies have a 5-year winning track-record. In all likelihood, these companies will not be bought by investors — even at deep discounts. The government has a big problem of ‘duds’ on its hands. — Shailesh MenonDangerous LiaisonPM Narendra modi recently asked scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre to triple India’s nuclear energy portfolio by 2023. The nuclear agenda will also be his priority in upcoming visits to China, Japan, the US and Australia. Developed developed nations such as Germany and Japan, on the other hand, are moving away from nuclear energy. The fact is no supplier wants to be liable for any nuclear disaster in future since the costs attached are high and even the safest plants are not completely safe, as Japan’s experience showed. Shouldn’t we also be rethinking our nuclear policy? — Neeraj Thakur (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 25-08-2014)
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India's overseas direct investment in April rose to $5.58 billion from $5.23 billion in March, according to Reserve Bank of India data released on Thursday (12 June).The overseas investments in April include $1.15 billion in equity, $268.16 million in loans and $4.16 billion from bank guarantees.A year ago in April 2013, the total overseas direct investment from India was $15.24 billion.(Reuters)
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Trade Minister Anand Sharma on Tuesday (4 March) accused the United States of excessive trade protectionism, launching a broadside that coincided with the visit of a top U.S. official to patch up a stormy bilateral friendship. Sharma, speaking at a news briefing, also said that India's patent law was compliant with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). India would not agree to tougher rules on protecting intellectual property, he added. "There are issues which India has raised where we feel there is very high and unacceptable protectionism," he told reporters in New Delhi. He also said Washington made it too hard for Indian nationals to obtain U.S. visas. Bilateral trade friction has increased ahead of a general election in India, amid lingering tension over the recent arrest and strip search of a female diplomat in New York suspected of visa fraud. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal was due to visit India on a trip starting on Tuesday. The trip, originally planned for December, was called off at the height of the row over the arrest of Indian envoy Devyani Khobragade. The ruling Congress party government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh does not want to be seen as bowing to US pressure on trade issues ranging from the quality of Indian drug exports to software piracy. India has made clear it would prefer to see bilateral disputes reviewed under the auspices of the WTO, the global trade rules body, which is adjudicating on more than a dozen cases between the two countries. Referring to intellectual property, Sharma said India was adhering to the so-called TRIPS agreement but would never accept any "TRIPS-plus" arrangements. TRIPS, or the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, is administered by the WTO. India opposes stricter agreements sought by its Western trading partners that would assure greater patent protection for proprietary medications, potentially dealing a blow to its own generic drugmakers and making it harder for patients to get affordable medicines. "India has protected its commitment to the TRIPS agreement. But what is being asked of India is TRIPS plus," Sharma told reporters. "TRIPS plus, India has made it clear, India will never accept." US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz is also due to travel to India next week. His visit was also postponed because of the diplomatic row. (Reuters)
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