FM on Life Insurance Business

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Finance

01-October-2012 17:45 IST

Statement of the Union Finance Shri P. Chidambaram on Issues Concerning the Life Insurance Industry

Following is the text of the Statement on issues concerning the life insurance industry made by the Union Finance Minister Shri P. Chidambaram while addressing the media persons here today:  

" On September 4, 2012, I met the CMDs/CEOs of insurance companies who are engaged in the life insurance business, including Life Insurance Corporation of India.  Chairman, IRDA was present at the meeting.

            A number of issues were raised by the life insurance industry.  After taking careful notes of the issues raised, I requested Chairman, IRDA to examine these issues and invited him to discuss them with me on a suitable date.  Accordingly, discussions were held on September 26 and 27, 2012.

            A  number of steps that would be necessary and desirable to give a fillip to the life insurance industry and expand the spread and penetration of life insurance were identified and agreed upon during the discussions.  I am happy to state that IRDA, as the Regulator, has agreed to examine the following steps and take appropriate action.

            Among the steps that were agreed upon are:

(i)           In a country with low spread and penetration of life insurance, the objective should be to sell simple and easily understood products.  At present, IRDA approves all insurance products on 'File & Use' basis. "Use & File" system may be introduced. IRDA, in consultation with insurers, will identify/design certain standard products which can be used by the industry under "use and file' system, if the insurance company complies with the conditions attached to the standard product. Such products will automatically be deemed to have been approved after 15 days of its intimation to IRDA unless IRDA finds non-compliance within the period of 15 days. IRDA shall take necessary action against the company in case any violations are noticed. IRDA shall expand such list of standard products on a continual basis.

(ii)          IRDA will lay down guidelines on the principles underlying the design of any insurance product.  Based on the recommendations of the Working Group that has been set up, IRDA will issue draft guidelines and, after consultations, final guidelines will be issued by the end of November, 2012.  Once the guidelines are in place, it would be possible to observe the 30-day norm mandated for clearance of products.

(iii)         IRDA will evolve and notify guidelines in order to reduce the arbitrage between "units" and "traditional products".

(iv)         IRDA will accept the KYC check done by the banks while a person opens an account.  Only additional information that is required for the purpose of insurance policy will be asked from the intended policy-holder. This will bring down the 'onboarding cost'.

(v)          At present, the policy on Bancassurance is "one bank one insurance company (one life and one non-life)".  In this arrangement, the Bank acts as the agent of the insurance company.  It is desirable that banks may act as "Brokers" where the fiduciary responsibility of the bank will be to the policy-holder.  IRDA will consider notifying banks as "Brokers" under Regulation 2(j)(v) of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Insurance Brokers) Regulations, 2002.  As insurance broker, the bank may sell the products of more than one insurance company.  This will provide the intended policy-holder a bouquet of products from which he/she may chose the appropriate product based on his/her needs and will also prevent mis-selling.

(vi)         All categories of Banking Correspondents may be allowed to sell micro insurance products.  This facility will apply only to micro insurance products and IRDA will make regulations for this purpose. This will ensure availability of micro insurance products in all parts of the country.

(vii)        At present, only the employer-employee groups are recognized for group business.  It is desirable that non-employer-employee groups, which are homogenous and have a commonality of interest, are permitted by IRDA to offer group savings products. These could include Self Help Groups, professional groups such as teachers in a school or nurses in a hospital, auto drivers' associations, domestic workers' associations etc.

(viii)      Under group business, the master policy-holder may be compensated for discharging the responsibilities cast upon him/her.  IRDA will issue guidelines in this regard shortly.

(ix)         Regarding management expenses, insurance companies are free to manage overall management expenses within the overall limits prescribed under sections 40B and 40C of the Insurance Act, without any granular stipulations, except the maximum commissions as prescribed by the Act.

(x)          An Insurance company may appoint a Mentor for 'mentoring' agents.  The functions performed by the Mentor will be distinct from the functions performed by the agents and the Mentor may be given a fixed fee (not commission) for mentoring agents.

(xi)         At present, investments are permitted in an infrastructure SPV floated by a Public Sector Enterprise (PSE) subject to the condition that the parent company (PSE) meets the rating criteria. In order to encourage investments in infrastructure, IRDA will allow investments in an infrastructure SPV floated by any company where the SPV is a wholly-owned subsidiary (WOS) of the parent company and the debt instrument issued by the SPV is guaranteed by the parent company, having due regard to rating criteria.

(xii)        At present, there is a stipulation that 75% of investments in debt, (excluding investments in Government Securities/Other Approved Securities) should be in AAA rated instruments.  IRDA will consider relaxing the stipulation and provide that the minimum requirement of 75 per cent in AAA instruments would apply to debt investments including Government Securities and Other Investments as provided in Sr No. (iii) of the table under Regulation 3(i) of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Investment) Regulations, 2000.  This is expected to release a space of about 12.5 per cent for investments in less than AAA rated debt instruments.

                 In addition to the above, discussions were held on matters relating to indirect taxes and direct taxes.  It was agreed that the following issues will be taken up with the CBDT and CBEC, as the case may be, and appropriate decisions arrived at:

              (a)          Reduction in service tax on first year regular premium as well as single premium policies.

              (b)          Treating annuity policy on par with subscriptions to the National Pension Scheme (NPS) and to be exempted from Rule 6(7A) of the Service Tax Rules.

               (c)          To examine whether the first year premium and subsequent premiums of social security insurance schemes such asJanashri Bima Yojana (JBY) and Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY), which are intended to benefit the weaker and vulnerable sections of the society, may be exempted from service tax. A similar exemption to be examined in the case of Micro Insurance policies.

              (d)          At present, service tax is levied on premium on accrual basis. The CBEC will be requested to examine whether service tax may be assessed on realization basis.

              (e)          Department of Revenue will examine whether, in addition to NPS, some insurance pension products as approved by IRDA may be included in the separate limit over and above the limit of Rs.1,00,000 under section 80C of the Income tax Act for the purpose of income tax deduction on the premium paid.

                (f)          CBDT will examine whether existing policies can be grandfathered whenever changes are made to direct tax laws, so that changes will apply only to policies issued prospectively.

              (g)          CBDT will examine whether contribution made to post retirement medical scheme offered by insurance companies may be included in Section 36(1)(iv) of the Income tax Act and the sum paid allowed as a deduction.

              (h)          At present, TDS applies on every payment of commission to an agent above Rs 20,000.  CBDT will examine whether the exemption can be shifted from every payment of commission to a cumulative commission payment exceeding, say, Rs.50,000 or any other suitable threshold in a year.

                                         I have asked Department of Revenue and the CBDT/CBEC to complete the examination of the above suggestions by October 10, 2012 so that appropriate decisions may be announced shortly thereafter.

                       The proposed amendments to the insurance laws were also discussed with IRDA.  Some of the issues raised by the insurance companies have already been addressed in the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008 that is pending before the Parliament.  In respect of some other issues, further amendments, if necessary, will be introduced as official amendments to the pending Amendment Bill.

                                    It is proposed to schedule, shortly, a similar meeting with the General Insurance sector to sort out issues in the non-life insurance sector.  Chairman, IRDA will be invited to attend the meeting."

***

DSM/RS/ka

ST 3- Period -Apr-June Only-Amended

TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY , PART II,  SECTION 3, SUB-SECTION(i)

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

NOTIFICATION  No  47/2012-SERVICE TAX

New Delhi, the  28th  September, 2012

6 Asvina, 1934 Saka

           

G.S.R           (E).-In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section(1) read with sub-section (2) of section 94 of the Finance Act 1994 (32 of 1994), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Service Tax Rules, 1994, namely:-

1.        (1) These rules may be called the Service Tax(Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2012.

           (2)  They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2.         In the Service Tax Rules,1994, in rule 7, in sub-rule(2), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

"Provided that  the Form 'ST-3' required to be submitted by the 25^th day of October, 2012 shall cover the period between 1^st April  to 30^th June, 2012 only."

F.No 341/21/2012-TRU

(Rajkumar Digvijay)

Under Secretary to the Government of India

Note: The principal rules were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section(i) vide notification No. 2/94-ST, dated 28^th June, 1994 vide number G.S.R 546(E), dated the 28^th June, 1994 and were last amended by notification No 46/2012- Service Tax, dated the 7^th August 2012 , vide GSR 622 (E) dated the 7^th August 2012.

 

CBDT on Scrutiny Assessments

25-9-2012

Letter DO F.No. 225/97/2012/ITA.II

As you are aware, the CBDT has laid special emphasis in the CAP 2012-13 for improving the quality of assessments. In this regard, a strategy has been mentioned at Annexure-II (pgs. 38-43) of CAP Document.

2. The then Member (IT) had asked the Chief-Commissioners of Income-tax ('CCsIT') to send list of top 100 quality assessments in respective charges. This direction of Member was not complied with by many of CCsIT which has been viewed seriously by the Board. It is expected from the field-formation that in future the directions of the Board will not be ignored.

3. Some CCsIT have forwarded the list in mechanical manner without bringing out the quality aspect of the assessments. The analysis of the information supplied to the Board shows that the quality of assessments in the FY 2011-12 has been far from satisfactory in majority of cases.

4. The CCsIT are therefore requested to sensitize the Assessing Officers in their Region to pay focused attention towards the pending assessments to be completed till March, 2013. The strategy mentioned in CAP document should be followed by each Assessing Officer to bring out the quality in assessments. The steps suggested in the guidelines for scrutiny cases should also be scrupulously adhered to.

I am confident that if proper attention is paid to this aspect of work at this stage it will help not only in improving quality of assessments but also in augmenting the post assessment tax revenues.

Form 23 B Date Extended

FILING OF FORM 23B BY STATUTORY AUDITOR FOR THE ACCOUNTING YEAR 2012-13

GENERAL CIRCULAR NO. 31/2012 [F.NO. 17/160/2012 CL-V], DATED 28-9-2012

The Ministry had issued Circular No. 14 of 2012 whereby the fees was imposed on filing of 23B as per Schedule X of the Act. To ensure smooth filing of the forms 23AC (Non-XBRL) and 23ACA (Non-XBRL) with the approval of the competent authority, the filing of e-form 23B is extended without any additional fees till 23-12-2012 or due date of filing, whichever is later

Programs by ICAI Committee for Members in Industry (CMII) & Internal Audit Standards Board (IASB)

Programmes to be organised by CMII & IASB

Sl. No.	Title of the Seminar/ Conference/ Webcasts	CPE Hours	Link for programme details and online payment	Contact Person
1	Seminar on Internal Audit and Risk Management on October 6, 2012 at Hotel Tip Top Plaza, LBS Road, Thane Fees: Rs. 1200/-	6	Please refer link for details: http://220.227.161.86/27951iasb17549.pdf	Thane Branch of WIRC of ICAI Contact Nos. : 022-25382451/53/54, 56 E-mail Id : thane@icai.org CA. Jyoti Singh, Secretary, IASB, 011-30110420, cia@icai.org
2	Job Fair Exclusively Structured for Small & Medium Sized Enterprises and Small & Medium Sized CA. Firms during October 2012  (9th October 2012 to 12th October 2012) Being conducted at 10 centres viz. Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata  Ahmedabad, Jaipur , Pune and Vapi	NA	For programme details, please visit http://www.cmii.icai.org/imgs/Job%20Fair-Announcement.doc	Dr. Surinder Pal, Secretary, Committee for Members in Industry, ICAI Phone No-011-30110430 Email:spal@icai.org Ms. Priyanka Sharma 011-30110548 priyanka.sharma@icai.in
3	Workshop on Recent Emerging Areas on 12th October 2012 at Hotel Tip Top Plaza, LBS Road, Thane (W) Fee: Rs. 1200/-	6	For programme details, please visithttp://220.227.161.86/27906cmii17490.pdf  For Online payment, please visit http://www.icai.org/ccm.html?progid=309	Dr. Surinder Pal, Secretary, Committee for Members in Industry, ICAI Phone No-011-30110430   Email:spal@icai.org Ms. Ruchi gupta 011-30110549 ruchi_gupta@icai.in Mr. Sanjay Gondavlekar 022-25382453/54/56
4	Workshop on Agriculture Sector on 13thOctober 2012 in Premises of ICAI, Mumbai Fee: Rs. 1000/-	6	For programme details, please visithttp://220.227.161.86/27908cmii17496.pdf For Online payment, please visit http://www.icai.org/ccm.html?progid=310	Dr. Surinder Pal, Secretary, Committee for Members in Industry, ICAI Phone No-011-30110430 Email:spal@icai.in Ms. Ruchi gupta 011-30110549 ruchi_gupta@icai.in Mrs. Srabani Kapoor, kapoor@icai.in 022-22154935
5	All Gujarat CFO Workshop on 19th October 2012 at Hotel Surya Palace, Sayajigunj, Baroda Fee: Rs. 1500/-	6	For programme details, please visithttp://220.227.161.86/27907cmii17493.pdf For Online payment, please visit http://www.icai.org/ccm.html?progid=308	Dr. Surinder Pal, Secretary, Committee for Members in Industry, ICAI Phone No-011-30110430 Email:spal@icai.org Ms. Ruchi gupta 011-30110549 ruchi_gupta@icai.in Mr. Ketan Kharva,0265-2681115/2680593  baroda@icai.org
6	All Maharashtra CFO Workshop on 20th October 2012 at Hotel Orchid, Nehru Road, Vile Parle East, Adjacent to Domestic Airport, Mumbai	6	For programme details, please visithttp://220.227.161.86/27952cmii17533.pdf   For Online payment, please visit http://www.icai.org/ccm.html?progid=311 .	Dr. Surinder Pal, Secretary, CMII 011-30110430, spal@icai.in Mr. Ajeet Nath Tiwari, 011-30110450 ajeet@icai.in
7	Certificate Course on Concurrent Audit of Banks On October 19-21, 26-28, 2012 At Hotel Surya Palace, Sayajigunj, Baroda Fees: Rs. 12,500	36	Please refer link:http://220.227.161.86/27953iasb17527.pdf	CA. Jyoti Singh, Secretary, IASB, 011-30110420 cia@icai.org Mr. Amar Baswa Phone: 0265-2681115/2680593 Email: baroda@icai.org
8	Workshop on the skills Expected from CFOs ( Mumbai Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore) during October-November 2012	NA	For registration and payment please visithttp://www.icai.org/ccm.html?progid=304	Dr. Surinder Pal, Secretary, Committee for Members in Industry, ICAI Phone No-011-30110430 Email:spal@icai.in Ms Priyanka Sharma Phone no. 011-30110548 Email: priyanka.sharma@icai.in
9	Residential Workshop on skills expected from CFOs (Hyderabad) during October-November 2012	NA	For registration and payment please visithttp://www.icai.org/ccm.html?progid=305	Dr. Surinder Pal, Secretary, Committee for Members in Industry, ICAI Phone No-011-30110430 Email:spal@icai.in Ms Priyanka Sharma Phone no. 011-30110548 Email: priyanka.sharma@icai.in
10	Workshop on skills expected from CEOs(Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, Ernakulam and Chandigarh) during November-December 2012	NA	For registration and payment please visithttp://www.icai.org/ccm.html?progid=306.	Dr. Surinder Pal, Secretary, Committee for Members in Industry, ICAI Phone No-011-30110430 Email:spal@icai.in Ms Priyanka Sharma Phone no. 011-30110548 Email: priyanka.sharma@icai.in
11	Workshop on becoming an Entrepreneur (Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai) during December 2012- January 2013.	NA	For registration and payment please visithttp://www.icai.org/ccm.html?progid=307	Dr. Surinder Pal, Secretary, Committee for Members in Industry, ICAI Phone No-011-30110430 Email:spal@icai.in Ms Priyanka Sharma Phone no. 011-30110548 Email: priyanka.sharma@icai.in

Order-INCOME-TAX OFFICES TO REMAIN OPEN ON 29TH & 30TH SEPTEMBER, 2012,

INCOME-TAX OFFICES TO REMAIN OPEN ON 29TH & 30TH SEPTEMBER, 2012, FOR CONVENIENCE OF TAXPAYERS

ORDER [F.NO.225/163/2012/TA-II], DATED 28-9-2012

The Board has decided that the Income-tax offices all over India shall make special arrangements by opening of receipt counters on 29th & 30th September, 2012 being Saturday & Sunday respectively for the convenience of taxpayers.

Tax Residency Certificate-DTAA Relief

CBDT Notification Regarding Format of "Certificate of Tax Residency" For DTAA

S. 90 (4) of the Act, as inserted by the Finance Act 2013 w.e.f 1.4.2012 provides that an assessee, not being a resident, to whom an agreement referred to in sub-section (1) of s. 90 applies, shall not be entitled to claim any relief under a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement unless a certificate, containing such particulars as may be prescribed, of his being a resident in any country outside India or specified territory outside India, as the case may be, is obtained by him from the Government of that country or specified territory. A similar provision has been inserted in sub-section (4) of s. 90A of the Act. Pursuant therto, the CBDT has issued Notification dated 17.09.2012 to insert Rule 21BA and Forms 10FA and 10FB specifying the manner in which the aforesaid Certificate of Tax Residency should be obtained.

 

Revised Form 23AC & Form 23ACA

COMPANIES (CENTRAL GOVERNMENT'S) GENERAL RULES AND FORMS (SIXTH AMENDMENT) RULES, 2012 - SUBSTITUTION OF FORMS 23AC AND 23ACA

NOTIFICATION [F.NO.17/160/2012-CLV], DATED 21-9-2012

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 642 read with section 610B of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Companies (Central Government's) General Rules and Forms, 1956, namely: -

1. (1) These rules may be called the Companies (Central Government's) General Rules and Forms (Sixth Amendment) Rules, 2012.

(2) They shall come into force with effect from the 30th September, 2012.

2. In the Companies (Central Government's) General Rules and Forms, 1956, in Annexure 'A' for Forms 23AC and 23ACA, the following Forms shall be substituted, namely:-

FORM 23AC Form for filing balance sheet and other documents with the Registrar [See section 220 of the Companies Act, 1956 and Rule 7B]

FORM 23ACA Form for filing profit & loss account and other documents with the Registrar [See section 220 of the Companies Act, 1956 and Rule 7B]

FDI Article by S Gurumurthy

Reform' at nation's cost: S.Gurumurthy http://newindianexpress.com/opinion/article666721.ece By S Gurumurthy 20th September 2012 12:05 AM Indeed ironical. On the same Friday (September 14) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rolled out the red carpet for Walmart, New York City, America's largest, shut Walmart out. Again ironically the very Friday the UPA government handed the FDI bouquet to Walmart and lobbyists assured that small retailers are safe, Atlanticcities, a web-newspaper from the stable of the famous Foreign Affairs magazine, carried a devastating headline news: 'Radiating Death: How Walmart Displaces Nearby Small Businesses'. Weeks ago, on June 30, over 10,000 people, shouting "Walmart = Poverty", marched through Los Angeles, America's richest city, against Walmart stores. On June 1, hundreds protested in Washington DC against Walmart. "Say-No-To-Walmart" is an ongoing movement all over the United States. Why focus on Walmart? It is world's most powerful retailer; it has 'spent' a lot to get the UPA nod for FDI in retail. Even as lobbyists here celebrate Walmart, it has become untouchable where it was born, in the US. Why is Walmart so hated in the US? "Walmart will devastate local businesses," say New York trade unions and local communities. The mass protesters at Los Angeles too cited the same reason: "small business will close down"; and screamed "Walmart has no heart and no morals. We don't want you in Los Angeles." Politicians in the US, however, seem to be like the UPA's cousins. In March last, the Los Angeles City Council had put a moratorium on big retailers, but, Walmart got building permits just a day before! Recall the 2G permit cut off date? Yet, the UPA certifies Walmart and its competitor cousins as compassionate to small retailers and farmers. It promises they will employ millions here. The evidence in the US is to the contrary. According to the Atlanticcities article, Walmart entered in Austin neighbourhood of Chicago in 2006. And by 2008, some 82 of the 306 small shops had closed down. The Economic Development Quarterly study found the closure rate around Walmart location at 35-60 per cent. Walmart radiated closure of 20 per cent of drug stores every mile from its stores; and 15 per cent home furnishing, 18 per cent hardware and 25 per cent toy stores. Studies in the US nail the UPA lie that FDI in retail will not hurt small shops. On job creation, a latest report (January 2010) titled 'Walmart's Economic Footprint' prepared for the New York City Public Advocate says that Walmart kills three local jobs for every two it creates. So the job creation argument too is a lie. The third justification that the 'farmers will get better prices' is a clever lie, and so needs a closer look. It suppresses the vital fact that Walmart does not buy, or pay, over the counter. It buys the nation's next harvest in futures market and fixes farm prices. It also imports cheap goods — from China — and destroy local production like it has done in the US. Take the first case, with the recent experience of the US and the world. Rice prices in the US and world markets shot up by three times in April 2008 as compared to January 2007. It was then that the US President George W Bush made the funny remark that prices had gone up because the newly prosperous Indians had begun eating more! What was the truth? The USA Today (April 23, 2008) and CNN (April 24, 2008) quoted the California Rice Commission and USA Rice Federation as denying shortage of rice and saying there was enough stock. Why then were prices rising? It was because, said the CNN, Sams Club (Walmart's wholesale division), holding huge stocks, was pushing up the prices. US farmers accused speculators and futures market for the high prices. It was not farmers who traded in farm futures. Investment funds accounted for 40 per cent of wheat futures trade in the US in January 2008, which rose to 60 per cent by April. Wheat futures that was $4 a bushel in early 2007, rose to $14 per bushel in April 2008. The US farmer, who had sold his harvest in futures market, lost and Walmart, which had bought the futures, gained. Even if some farmers had some stocks Walmart, which had stocked at cheaper prices, refused to buy at higher prices, pointed out the media. Look at it this way. If the US farmers get remunerative prices from Walmart why does the US, with two per cent farming population, grant annual farming subsidies of $20 billion and the European Union, for its five per cent farming population, gift a subsidy of $74.5 billion annually. The experience of the US and West nail all three justifications for the FDI in retail as lies. Foreign direct investment in retail will incrementally hit the 12 million family retailers in India; it will not help farmers; it will cut jobs. Even more dangerous, it will destroy the rural food security. Two of UPA government's reports — of the Planning Commission Working Group on Agriculture for the XI Plan (2007-2012), and the 19th report of the Standing Committee of Parliament on Food (2006-2007) to Parliament — themselves nail the lie that Walmart will link farm-gate to its gate and make Indian farmers rich. The reports describe the farm-gate thus: a total of 59 million of farming families (32 crore rural people) live on subsistence farms of five acres or less (while US farms are 250 times and the Australian, 4000 times, larger); about 60 per cent of food products is barter-exchanged and consumed by farmers and farm labour, and as seed and animal feeds within villages; only 40 per cent move out of villages for commercial marketing. Even if a small part of the large local needs is drawn by an efficient Walmart from the farm gate to its gate, that will mean urban pricing in rural areas that will destroy the food security of two-thirds of Indians in villages. The Montek Ahluwalia-led Planning Commission report laments that 'the marginal farmers are certainly going to stay for a long time' and 'what happens to them has implications for the entire economy." However, the small farmer is no waste. He is more efficient. His productivity a third higher, than in large farms. Small farmers use one-third of the total cultivated area and produce 41 per cent of nation's food and 110 million tonnes of milk. If large ones replace them, the nation's food production will fall by 7 per cent. The reformers do not know that recent global researches have confirmed that economy of scale that applies to industries does not apply to agriculture, where small ones are more efficient than large ones. QED: The 'reformers' betray illiteracy; clamour for fame as reformers; secure it at nation's cost. Reformers or deformers? S Gurumurthy is a well-known commentator on political and economic issues

Government to handle selection of auditors for public sector banks

Government to handle selection of auditors for public sector banks

New Delhi
September 21, 2012

The government will now handle the selection of auditors for state-run banks, a finance ministry official said, signalling growing concern over laxity in the audit followed by lenders and possible overstatement of profits.

The finance ministry is expected to issue a directive on the issue soon. "We are in consultation with key players. We expect to issue the directives in the next few days," the official said. The issue of public sector banks selecting auditors on their own had earlier been flagged by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), which said the appointments should be done by an independent regulator, such as the Reserve Bank of India. The ICAI regulates the profession of accountants in India. "The institute has repeatedly written to the ministries of corporate affairs and finance regarding the new practice of management self-selecting auditors in PSU banks. This is not ethical, given the conflict of interest," a ICAI member, who did not want to be named, told ET. According to the ICAI council member, the selection of auditor in most state-run banks is now being done by the bank heads without consulting either the auditing committee or the central bank, as was the norm earlier.

"Most selections were made on who knows whom," the member said. However, the chief of a public sector bank said, "We will be more than happy if government decides to appoint regulators. There was a lot of push and pull from different influential people and associations. If ministry does it we will not be in a spot anymore." The finance ministry believes that appointment of independent auditors will also address the concern that there is possibility of overstatement of profits. Earlier this year, the ministry had written to some banks saying they had not followed the RBI's income recognition and asset classification norms. As per the RBI, the gross non-performing assets of public sector banks climbed to 3.2% of gross advances at the end of 2011-12, from 2.3% at the end of the previous fiscal. The restructured standard advances in these banks increased to 5.7% of gross advances by at the end of 2011- 12 from 4.2% a year ago.

"There was this issue of not making enough provisioning against stressed assets. We hope that this will also be addressed by the new norms," the finance ministry official said. As per the RBI's annual report 2011-12, restructuring increased substantially in the fourth quarter of 2011-12, taking restructured loans at the end of the year to about 5% of the loan book of the scheduled commercial banks, up from 3.9% a year ago. The central bank carries out an annual financial inspection of banks and suggests corrective measures.

[Source: The Times of India]

Cost Audit Vs TP Audit

Impact of Cost Accounting Rules on TP Compliance

Mr. Simachal Mohanty, Global Head - Direct Tax, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd

An interesting proverb says "You cannot change your luck and neighbour, but can amend your ways to meet them".

We all thought laws about Cost accounting compliance and reporting are neighbouring provisions to the direct tax laws. However, this time we need to welcome this neighbour, at or against our will, since it has already set in to the house of direct tax.

Ministry of Corporate Affairs published a notification dated 3 ^rd June 2011 , notified The Companies (Cost Audit Report) Rules 2011. All we thought that it is another piece of legislation relating to Cost Accounting, we all took a lazy view on it legitimately.  However, these rules have a lot to do with our transfer pricing law – let's analyze.

According to Sec. 209 (1)(d) of Companies Act, 1956, a company engaged in production, processing, manufacturing or mining activities must keep cost accounting records relating to utilisation of material or labor other items of costs as may be prescribed by Central Govt subject to specified criteria.

233B (1) of Companies Act, 1956 states that   cost audit and reporting shall be conducted in specified manner in order to ensure compliance of above provisions of Sec.209, Ministry of Corporate Affairs published a notification dated 3 ^rd June 2011, notified The Companies (Cost Audit Report) Rules 2011 which, inter alia, specifies the form of cost audit report and the allied rules.

Every company covered under the above category, shall keep maintain cost details, statements, schedules for each unit and each product or activity comprises in each product, duly authenticated by atleast two Directors of the company and the cost auditor.

Further, this Rule requires a cost auditor, who issues a cost audit report after 1 ^st April 2012, irrespective of the financial year of the company which it relates to, shall be in form proscribed under these rules.

The format of the cost audit report has 10 annexure, out of which one is of utmost importance both to the assessees and to the transfer pricing auditors who issues the report in form 3CEB. This annexure is referred as "RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (for the company as a whole)".

Annexure contains following details which must be reported as integral part of cost accounting report issued by the cost auditor, in a horizontal manner.

RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (for the company as a whole)

Sl. No

Name and address of the Related Party

Name of the Product

Nature of Transactions (Sales, Purchase etc).

Quantity

Transfer Price

Amount

Normal Price

Basis adopted to determine the Normal Price

Note :

1.      Details should be furnished for each sale/purchase separately.

2.      Details of Related Party transactions without indicating the Normal Price and the basis thereof shall be considered as incomplete information.

Compliance to the above requirement would require each of us to undertake a full fledged transfer pricing documentation in a manner it is done for Sec.92 of Income Tax Act. Interestingly, the terminologies such as "Related Party", "Transfer Price", "Normal Price" are not defined under this Rule. But practically we need to take cognizance of Chapter X of Income Tax Act dealing with the Transfer Pricing provisions.

When it is clear that the related parties will be largely construed as "associated enterprises" as per Sec.92A,

and the international transactions with such enterprises will be subject to cost audit reporting requirements, applicability of cost audit reporting requirements to specified domestic transactions including transactions with Special units (80-IA, SEZ units) and transactions with persons covered under Sec 40(A)(2)(b) need to be deliberated and examined.

Next immediate question that comes to us is when this compliance required? All we thought is that as per Income Tax provisions, transfer pricing report in form 3CEB must be issued before 30 ^th Nov, 2012 and accordingly prioritised our work schedule with other assignments.

But now we need to take immediate cognizance of the above cost audit reporting requirements since this report needs to be uploaded to Ministry of Corporate Affairs (Cost audit branch) within 180 days from the close of the company's financial year to which the report relates. So, in most of cases, this cost audit report will have to be uploaded by 30 ^th Sept 2012, which requires our immediate attention.

Data reported in Form no 3CEB and in the cost audit report need to match in all aspects with regard to transactions subject to transfer pricing regulations.

Hence we need to pre-pone finalisation 3CEB details immediately without waiting till 30 ^th Nov, since these details will be direct input for the cost audit report to be uploaded to MCA site before 30 ^th Sept 2012. 

Courtesy : taxsutra

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Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme

Ministry of Finance21-September, 2012 16:11 IST

Finance Minister approves the Operational Features of the Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme (RGESS)

The Union Finance Minister Shri P. Chidambaram approved a new tax saving scheme called "Rajiv Gandhi Equity Saving Scheme"(RGESS),exclusively for the first time retail investors in Securities Market. This Scheme would give tax benefits to new investors who invest up to Rs. 50,000 and whose annual income is below Rs. 10 lakh. The Scheme not only encourages the flow of savings and improves the depth of domestic capital markets, but also aims to promote an 'equity culture' in India. This is also expected to widen the retail investor base in the Indian securities markets. Salient features of the Scheme are as under: a. Scheme is open to new retail investors, identified on the basis of their PAN numbers. This includes those who have opened the Demat Account but have not made any transaction in equity and /or in derivatives till the date of notification of this Scheme and all those account holders other than the first account holder who wish to open a fresh account. b. Those investors whose annual taxable income is ≤ Rs. 10 lakhs are eligible under the Scheme. c. The maximum Investment permissible under the Scheme is Rs. 50,000 and the investor would get a 50% deduction of the amount invested from the taxable income for that year. d. Under the Scheme, those stocks listed under the BSE 100 or CNX 100, or those of public sector undertakings which are Navratnas, Maharatnas and Miniratnas would be eligible. Follow-on Public Offers (FPOs) of the above companies would also be eligible under the Scheme. IPOs of PSUs, which are getting listed in the relevant financial year and whose annual turnover is not less than Rs. 4000 Crore for each of the immediate past three years, would also be eligible. e. In addition, considering the requests from various stakeholders, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Mutual Funds (MFs) that have RGESS eligible securities as their underlying and are listed and traded in the stock exchanges and settled through a depository mechanism have also been brought under RGESS. f. To benefit the small investors, the investments are allowed to be made in instalments in the year in which tax claims are made. g. The total lock-in period for investments under the Scheme would be three years including an initial blanket lock-in period of one year, commencing from the date of last purchase of securities under RGESS. h. After the first year, investors would be allowed to trade in the securities in furtherance of the goal of promoting an equity culture and as a provision to protect them from adverse market movements or stock specific risks as well as to give them avenues to realize profits. i. Investors would, however, be required to maintain their level of investment during these two years at the amount for which they have claimed income tax benefit or at the value of the portfolio before initiating a sale transaction, whichever is less, for at least 270 days in a year. The calculation of 270 days includes those days pursuant to the day on which the market value of the residual shares /units has automatically touched the stipulated value after the date of debit. j. The general principle under which trading is allowed is that whatever is the value of stocks / units sold by the investor from the RGESS portfolio, RGESS compliant securities of at least the same value are credited back into the account subsequently. However, the investor is allowed to take benefits of the appreciation of his RGESS portfolio, provided its value, as on the previous day of trading, remains above the investment for which they have claimed income tax benefit. k. For the purpose of valuation of shares, the closing price as on the previous day of the date of trading will be considered so that new investors are certain about their debits and credits into the account. l. In case the investor fails to meet the conditions stipulated, the tax benefit will be withdrawn. Like all financial products which have reached out substantially to the retail investors (post office savings, life insurance policies etc) through tax benefits, this tax break for direct investment in equity is expected to substantially encourage the retail participation in securities market as well as to enhance their participation in the growth of Indian industry. Entry of more retail investors are expected to further deepen the securities markets as they bring in long-term stable funds, which can counteract the volatility created by the liquidity providers of the market. The Scheme, thus, also furthers the goal of financial stability and promotes financial inclusion. Since Exchange Traded Funds and Mutual Funds have also been brought under the Scheme, the Scheme should provide encouragement and re-assurance to the first time investors. The broad provisions of the Scheme and the income tax benefits under it have already been incorporated as a new Section - 80CCG - of the Income Tax Act, 1961, as amended by the Finance Act, 2012. Department of Revenue will notify the Scheme and SEBI will issue the relevant circulars to operationalize the Scheme in the next two weeks. DSM/RS/Hb (Release ID :87893)