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July 1 Doctor s Day CA day State Bank of India celebrated its 58th bank day in Chennai on Monday. It was on this day, July 1, 1955, the Imperial Bank of India was reconstituted by an Act of Parliament to to create State Bank of India Institute of Charted Accountant of India (ICAI) established India has slipped to 88th place in terms of money parked by its citizens with Swiss banks, while the UK remains on the top. India was placed at 75th position in 2015 and at 61st in the year before that, though it used to be among top-50 countries in terms of holdings in Swiss banks till 2007. The country was ranked highest at 37th place in the year 2004. Rs 4,500 crore in 2016.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched Nation wide a month long Special Drive from today, 1 st July for maximization of registration of eligible electors with focus on left out eligible young citizens in age group of 18-19 and removal of names of registered dead electors, if any, from electoral rolls Partnered with FACEBOOK 25 January 1950 (Celebrated as National Voters Day) Originally in 1950, the commission had only a Chief Election Commissioner. The Election Commissioner Amendment Act, 1989 made the Commission a multi-member body. The Sixty-first Amendment' of the Constitution of India, 1989, lowered the voting age of elections to the Lok Sabha and to the Legislative Assemblies of States from 21 years to 18years.
CIC, UPSC chairman, CEC & CAG 6 YEARS OR 65
Goods & Services Tax one nation, one tax, one market.
President s speech GST This historic moment is the culmination of a fourteen-year long journey which began in December 2002, when the Kelkar Task Force on indirect taxation suggested a comprehensive Goods and Services Tax (GST) based on the Value Added Tax principle. The proposal to introduce GST was first mooted in the Budget Speech for the financial year 2006-07. Since the proposal involved restructuring and reform of not only indirect taxes levied by the Centre but also the States, the responsibility of preparing a design and a plan of action for the implementation of GST was assigned to the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers which had been formed earlier for implementation of the Value Added Tax. The Empowered Committee released its First Discussion Paper on Goods and Services Tax in November, 2009.
TIMELINE GST, which will replace more than a dozen central and state levies including factorygate, excise duty, service tax and local sales tax or VAT, is India s biggest tax reform in 70 years of independence and will help modernise Asia s third largest economy. Here is a look at the timelines that shaped the one nation, one tax system: * February 1986: Finance Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh proposes a major overhaul of the excise taxation structure in the budget for 1986-87. * 2000: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpyee introduces the concept, sets up a committee headed by the then West Bengal Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta to design a GST model. * 2003: The Vajpayee government forms a task force under Vijay Kelkar to recommend tax reforms. * 2004: Vijay Kelkar, then advisor to the Finance Ministry, recommends GST to replace the existing tax regime.
GST Vijay Kelkar Finance Secretary, Government of India 1998 1999, Chairman, 13 th Finance commission (The Finance Commission came into existence in 1951. It was established under Article 280 of the Indian Constitution by the President of India. It was formed to define the financial relations between the centre and the state. )
14 th Finance commission Y V Reddy The share of states in the net proceeds of the shareable Central taxes should be 42%. This is 10 percentage points higher than the recommendation of 13th Finance Commission. 13th Finance Commission 32% 12th Finance Commission 30.5% (Co-operative federalism) Fiscal deficit to be reduced to 3% of the GDP by 2017 18. The Financial Stability Report 2017, released by RBI, bases its optimism to the lower fiscal deficit at 3.2% for this year down from 3.5% in 2016-17
TEST SERIES Prelims 40 tests 7500 (7 TH August) Mains Essay Writing 15 Tests 6000 (8 th July)
Fiscal deficit, can we control it? Agricultural loans account for 14% of total bank lending, according to the Reserve Bank of India and are equivalent to around 6.5% of GDP. Uniform farm loan waivers could lead to moral hazard and weaken the general repayment culture among financially healthy farmers Schemes like UDAY? The Union Budget 2017-18 had set the fiscal deficit target for FY18 at Rs 54.7 lakh crore target or 3.2 percent of the gross domestic product.
GST Going forward, reforms in FDI and real estate sector, implementation of GST, and revival in external demand are likely to contribute to a better growth outlook. GVA growth is expected to be higher at 7.3% in 2017-18, - Political stability - GST - NITI Aayog - Goods and Services Tax (GST) would increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate by 1.5 per cent. - Indian GST is not an ideal one because of its federal nature. Setting up of a GST Council to finalise tax rates was compromise forced by the federal structure of the country.
True or False? Around 150 countries in the world have GST. India is the first federal country to have GST
"There are many countries in the world have VAT, Value Added Tax. A VAT is not GST. The number of countries having GST is 6 or 7, not more than that," said Debroy. "Except one all are unitary. The only country in the world which is federal and has GST is Canada. India is only the other federal country in the world to have GST," Bibek Debroy said Bibek Debroy NITI aayog Member Debroy termed the multiple tax rates as the biggest problem of the GST.
TEST SERIES Prelims 40 tests 7500 (7 TH August) Mains Essay Writing 15 Tests 6000 (8 th July)
February 28, 2006: GST appears in the Budget speech for the first time; Finance Minister P Chidambaram sets an ambitious April 1, 2010 as deadline for GST implementation. He says the Empowered Committee of finance ministers will prepare a road map for GST. 2008: Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers constituted. * April 30, 2008: The Empowered Committee submits a report titled A Model and Roadmap Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India to the government
* April 30, 2008: The Empowered Committee submits a report titled A Model and Roadmap Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India to the government * November 10, 2009: Empowered Committee submits a discussion paper in the public domain on GST welcoming debate. * 2009: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announces basic structure of GST as designed by Dasgupta committee; retains 2010 deadline. * BJP opposes GST basic structure. * February 2010: Finance Ministry starts mission-mode computerisation of commercial taxes in states, to lay the foundation for GST rollout. * Pranab Mukherjee defers GST to April 1, 2011. * March 22, 2011: UPA-II tables 115th Constitution Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha for bringing GST. * March 29, 2011: GST Bill referred to Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance led by Yashwant Sinha. * Asim Dasgupta resigns, replaced by the then Kerala Finance Minister KM Mani.
* November 2012: Finance Minister P Chidambaram holds meetings with state finance ministers; decides to resolve all issues by December 31, 2012 for GST rollout. * February 2013: Declaring UPA government s resolve to introducing GST, Chidambaram in his Budget speech makes provision for Rs. 9,000 crore to compensate states for losses incurred because of GST. * August 2013: Parliamentary standing committee submits report to Parliament suggesting improvements on GST. GST Bill gets ready for introduction in Parliament. * October 2013: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi opposes GST Bill saying state would incur losses worth Rs. 14,000 crore every year due to GST. * 2014: GST Bill cleared by Standing Committee lapses as Lok Sabha dissolves; BJPled NDA government comes to power. * December 18, 2014: Cabinet approves 122nd Constitution Amendment Bill to GST. * December 19, 2014: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduces the Constitution (122nd) Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha; Congress objects. * February 2015: Jaitley sets April 1, 2016 as deadline for GST rollout. * May 6, 2015: Lok Sabha passes GST Constitutional Amendment Bill.
May 12, 2015: The Amendment Bill presented in the Rajya Sabha. * Congress demands the Bill be sent to Select Committee of Rajya Sabha; demands capping GST rate at 18 per cent. * May 14, 2015: The GST Bill forwarded to joint committee of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. * August 2015: Government fails to win the support of Opposition to pass the bill in the Rajya Sabha where it lacks sufficient numbers. * July 2016: Centre opposes capping GST rate at 18%; gets states around. * August 2016: Congress, BJP agree to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill. * August 3, 2016: Rajya Sabha passes the Constitution Amendment Bill by two-thirds majority. * September 2, 2016: 16 states ratify GST Bill; President Pranab Mukherjee gives assent to the Bill. * September 12: Union Cabinet clears formation of GST Council * September 22 23: Council meets for first time.
* November 3: GST Council agrees on four slab tax structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28 % along with an additional cesson luxury and sin goods. * January 16, 2017: Jaitley announces July 1 as GST rollout deadline. Centre, states agree on contentious issue of dual control and taxing rights on goods at high sea. * February 18: GST Council finalises draft compensation bill providing to make good any revenue loss to states in first five years of GST rollout. * March 4: GST Council approves CGST and Integrated-GST bills. * March 20: Cabinet approved CGST, IGST and UT GST and Compensation bills. * March 27: Jaitley tables CGST, IGST, UT GST and Compensation bills in Parliament. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha pass all the four key GST Bills Central GST (CGST), Integrated GST (IGST), State GST (SGST) and Union Territory GST (UTGST). * May 18: GST Council fits over 1,200 goods in one of the four tax slabs of 5, 12, 18 and 28 %. Over 80% of goods of mass consumption either exempted or taxed under 5% slab. * GST Council fixes cess on luxury and sin goods to create kitty for compensating states. * May 19: GST Council decides on 5, 12, 18 and 28% as service tax slabs.
TEST SERIES Prelims 40 tests 7500 (7 TH August) Mains Essay Writing 15 Tests 6000 (8 th July)
* Jun 21: All states except Jammu and Kashmir pass SGST law. * June 28: Mamata Banerjee announces her party s decision to skip midnight launch of GST. * June 29: Congress, Left too decide to skip launch. * June 30 Midnight: GST rolled out.
My confidence stood justified when, on 8th September 2016, after the Bill was passed by both Houses of Parliament and more than 50 percent of State Legislatures, I had the privilege of giving assent to the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act. After the amendment of Constitution, the GST Council has been constituted as per the provisions of Article 279A of the Constitution. The Council, which is responsible for making all recommendations to the Union and States in respect of GST, such as model laws, rates, exemptions, is unique in our Constitution. It is a joint forum of the Centre and the States, where neither the Centre nor the States can, without the support of the other, take any decision. Though an elaborate voting structure has been built into the decision making process of the Council in the Constitution, it is remarkable that in the 18 meetings held so far, all decisions have been taken by consensus in the Council. I congratulate them.
Central excise duty has a long history. During my different tenures as Finance Minister, it has always been one of the largest contributors to the Central exchequer. Service tax is relatively new but has grown very rapidly in revenue terms. Except for a few goods outside the purview of goods and services tax, both of these will now disappear along with Additional Customs Duty, Special Additional Duty of Customs and numerous cesses and surcharges. Central Sales tax on inter-state sale will cease for goods falling under goods and services tax. At the State level, the enormity of the change is no less. The major taxes being subsumed are Value Added Tax or Sales Tax, entry tax, taxes on advertisements, and luxury tax, along with state-level entertainment tax and numerous cesses and surcharges.
The following taxes will be replaced by the GST: Central Excise Duty Commercial Tax Value Added Tax (VAT) Food Tax Central Sales Tax (CST) Introit Octroi Entertainment Tax Entry Tax Purchase Tax Luxury Tax Advertisement tax Service Tax Customs Duty Surcharges
TEST SERIES Prelims 40 tests 7500 (7 TH August) Mains Essay Writing 15 Tests 6000 (8 th July)
Inadequate Time: Malaysia, while introducing a simpler system (uniform 6% rate and no dual GST), gave stakeholders a year and a half to prepare for the new system. Rates were finalized well in advance and steps were taken to ensure that the various stakeholders were aware of how the system functioned. Contrast the Malaysian approach with the scenario in India, where the Cabinet Secretary asked the Secretaries of 30 central ministries to organize outreach meetings and publicity campaigns through their departments to explain the provisions of the new law and rules to their stakeholders on the 20th of June, 2017, i.e. less than two weeks before the GST roll out. Similarly, the rates were finalized less than a month and a half before the roll out date.
The Issue of Profiteering: Not passing on the benefits to the common man The government on its part has given out notifications mainly to the telecom and real estate sectors directing them to reduce the prices. Having said that, in practice there are no specific guidelines on Anti-Profiteering provisions The method to reduce the already printed Maximum Retail Price (MRP) to adhere to the changed rates is still a question that has no answer. In the case of acts of profiteering by the sellers or traders there are a lot of issues that are left untouched. A few of them are, the manner of computation of profiteering, should the anti profiteering investigation be done at the product or service level, can profits gained and losses earned be set-off against each other while dealing with multiple product segments etc.
TEST SERIES Prelims 40 tests 7500 (7 TH August) Mains Essay Writing 15 Tests 6000 (8 th July)
Technical glitches When asked whether the GSTN will deliver a robust software, Chairman Navin Kumar said, Nowhere in the world does the hardening of software take place before the rollout. When you are about to deploy the software, there is a code freeze when code writing stops. In the next 10 days you do the testing. There is no time for that now. It takes three-four months for stabilisation to happen. Prakash Kumar - CEO Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN), the information-technology backbone of India's new tax regime, is a data-storage behemoth. Nearly 80 lakh businesses will upload details and carry out transactions on the network. After Aadhaar, India has seen such a large scale of IT operations in GSTN. GSTN, a not-for-profit private limited company, has 51 per cent equity of five private institutions -- HDFC Bank Ltd (10 per cent), HDFC Ltd (10 per cent), ICICI Bank Ltd (10 per cent), NSE Strategic Investment Corporation Ltd (10 per cent) and LIC Housing Finance Limited (11 per cent). The central government has 24.5 per cent equity in the GSTN, whereas state governments, two Union territories and empowered committee of state finance ministers together hold another 24.5 per cent stake in it. India's leading IT company Infosys is managed service provider of GSTN.
in April 2012, a Special Purpose Vehicle, the GSTN (GST Network), was approved for creation by the government for GST implementation.
ARE BANKS READY? with effect from July 1, 2017, the existing service tax of 15 per cent levied on all the banking services will be replaced by a GST of 18 per cent. Among the banking services that will attract higher service tax include debit card, fund transfer, ATM withdrawal beyond the number of free services, home loan processing fee, locker rentals, issuance of cheque books/drafts/duplicate passbooks, collection of bills, collection of outstation cheques, cash handling charges and SMS alerts. In addition, life and non-life premiums will see an increase from 15 per cent to 18 per cent. Make banking to poor attractive?
But with GST, they would be required to obtain registration in each state. Their IT, accounting and compliance standards need to undergo change for which banks are not completely ready. Since the GST will be operational from July 1, 2017, banks have to make lot of changes in their systems and other procedures. The preparedness of all banks for implementation of GST is a question mark, Indian Banks Association informing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance.
Criticism Social factors ignored Kumkum vs Sanitary Napkins (Every woman's health right' estimated that only 12% of the 335 million menstruating women have access to disposable sanitary napkins. ) Baby Foods Glucose biscuits 18% Vaccines 5% Loose unbranded commodities like dal, rice and other dry staples are exempt from GST. However, branded, packaged versions of these goods will be taxed at 5% under the new regime.
The unorganised sector of India s economy is vast, employing an estimated nine out of 10 workers.while staying outside the GST regime risks losing business, joining it will necessitate an overhaul of firms accounting systems and an investment in technology.the new tax system requires three filing a month plus an annual return - a total of 37 filings - for each of India s 29 states in which a firm operates. For smaller companies operating on wafer thin margins, hiring accountants and technical staff could substantially dent their bottom line. If a small company wants to do business all round the country, then number of filings moves up to 1,029
TEST SERIES Prelims 40 tests 7500 (7 TH August) Mains Essay Writing 15 Tests 6000 (8 th July)
Other NEWS The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated an exhibition of art works at Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata today (June 30, 2017). He also received the first copies of two Coffee Table books Images and Impressions Profile and Persona of Pranab Mukherjee and Pranab Mukherjee 100 Frames from the Governor of West Bengal, Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi who formally released these books.
Decision to reduce Tax Rate on Fertilizers from existing 12% to 5 % under GST taken in the interests of the Farmers Under GST regime, a uniform MRP of Rs. 295.47 per 50 kg bag to be fixed across the country GST regime to deter inter-state smuggling of fertilizers by integrating the entire fertilizer market into a Single Market Farmers to benefit to the tune of Rs. 1261 crores under GST regime: Shri Ananthkumar Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Ananthkumar briefed the media on the outcome of the 18th meeting of the GST Council, held here on 30th June 2017, regarding Fertilizer sector. The Minister said that it was decided to reduce the GST rate of fertilizers from the existing 12% to 5%. This decision was primarily taken in the interests of the farmers. The Government has also taken up with the Industry to pass on the benefit to the Farmers, the Minister informed.
With effect from 01.07.2017, the Government has imposed 10% basic customs duty (BCD) on: a) Cellular mobile phones and specified parts of cellular mobile phones like charger, battery, wire headset, Microphone and Receiver, Key Pad, USB Cable etc. b) Certain other specified electronic goods. The present exemption from basic customs duty on specified parts of mobiles, namely, Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA), Camera Module, Connectors Display Assembly, Touch Panel / Cover Glass Assembly, Vibrator Motor / Ringer will continue. Further, inputs and raw material for manufacture of parts of above specified electronics goods including mobile phones will also continue to be exempt from BCD.
65 MoUs signed at Textiles India 2017 in the presence of Union Textiles Minister 4th Slum Yuva Daud concludes at Rohini with over 5000 participants
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