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India, France ink pact on IPR
CAs out of service tax net
VAT panel overlooks Kerala deviation
INVESTOR GUIDANCE
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AVIATION NOTES
Indiscipline plagues A-I What ails Air-India (AI)? Indiscipline. Who is responsible for indiscipline and continued decline in work-culture? The top functionary, who practices two sets of rules — one for favourites and another for other staffers.
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India, France ink pact on IPR
New Delhi, July 15 This signing gives concrete expression to the commitments made by the two governments for cooperation in this field during the visit of the President of the French Republic to India on February 20, the Indian minister said. “Considering the imperatives of effective protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) in a global economy and the commitment of the two countries in that area, this signing of MoU presents a major step forward in bilateral cooperation,” he said. The MoU seeks to achieve this cooperation through training of personnel, exchange of information and experts between intellectual property institutes, sensitisation of the target audiences, computerisation of facilities dealing with intellectual property and the development of intellectual property database. The implementation of actions of cooperation in the MoU would be entrusted to the Institute National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI) for the French side and the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), for the Indian side.
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CAs out of service tax net
New Delhi, July 15 In a notification, the Finance Ministry has exempted their services from levy of service tax in case they provided services to clients in their professional capacity relating to representing them before any statutory authority. At present, service tax is levied on all services provided by a practising chartered accountant, cost accountant and a company secretary to a client with effect from March 1, 2006. “Representations have been received from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India and the Association of Company Secretaries of India requesting the government to consider exemption from levy of service tax on certain specified services provided by them which are also provided by other professionals and those other professionals providing similar services are not taxed,” said a spokesperson of the ministry. Taking into account the views expressed by the institutes and the association and other material facts, the government has exempted from levy of service tax only their representational services provided to clients, he added.
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VAT panel overlooks Kerala deviation
New Delhi, July 15 Informing that the deviation was just 3 per cent, West Bengal Finance Minister and Chairman of the Empowered Group of State Finance Ministers Asim Dasgupta said states were expected to reach a consensus on the issue soon. “Deviation in lower and upper directions have been contained in 3 per cent. We have discussed the deviation. The discussion will continue and we hope to reach a consensus view on the matter soon,” Dasgupta told reporters after the panel’s meeting. In absolute terms, he said deviation is just confined to 20 items against the total 703 VAT items. Interestingly, VAT panel will meet next month in Kerala itself, by when it expected to prepare a list of rate structures of various items. “By the next meeting, we will be able to categorically know the exact deviations,” he said. Kerala had imposed a 20 per cent tax on soft drinks, health drinks, paints, white goods and other luxury items, which many have apprehended would put strain on VAT structure. Meanwhile, the VAT implementing states have recorded a 26 per cent rise in tax revenue during the first quarter of this fiscal against 14 per cent during the corresponding period of the last fiscal. On Tamil Nadu joining the VAT system, he said the state representatives in the panel have difficulty in announcing any decision on the issue when the Budget session is on. A representative of Uttar Pradesh said the state is not likely to switch over to the new tax system before elections, due early next year. — PTI
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No rebate on MIS, SCSS
by A.N. Shanbhag
Q: I am retired from Central Government service on 31.3.06 after completion of 60 years. I would like to have the following clarifications:- — D.R. Dhiman A: 1. Sec. 80DDB states that an individual who is 65 years of age or more at any time during the previous year is a senior citizen. Consequently, one can claim the higher threshold of Rs 1.85 lakh in the same year even if the birthday was March 31. 2. It is Rs. 1.85 lakh. 3. Yes. There are no tax concessions on MIS and SCSS. Tax calculation Q: I resigned from a company with a notice period of 3 months and left in 15 days period. — S. Nandy A: The payment by the second company of the amount equivalent to your salary for 75 days payable to your first company is to be treated as your income and taxed accordingly. The procedure followed by your new company is correct. Wealth tax Q: I own one residential flat. I propose to buy one more flat. A friend of mine informs me that owning two flats attract wealth tax if the value of each flat is above Rs 15 lakh. Is it true? He adds that to avoid wealth tax, one must give the second flat on leave and license. Now what happens in the case of an individual who owns more than two flats, i.e 3 or 4 flats, each valued over Rs 15 lakh. — M.D. Master A: A self-occupied residential flat is free from wealth tax. Moreover, any residential property let out for minimum of 300 days in a year is not treated as an asset for wealth tax purposes. Therefore, you may have any number of flats, but as long as you use one of them for your own residence and let out the others for minimum 300 days in a year, there will be no wealth tax liability. IT return Q: My wife and I are government employees. Our DDO takes the income tax declarations from us during the month of February every year to calculate the TDS from salary. We are never able to show the amount of interest gained on bank FDs in the statement, as bank gives the details of interest only after March 31. What is the right period of time of paying income tax after March 31 without being liable for late fee? Or suggest some other way out.— Dr Sarabjit A: Surely, you should be in a position to compute the approximate interest yourself and declare it to your DDO. You should err on the safer side. In any case, both of you can claim refund or pay extra tax while filing tax returns for the year. NRI status Q: I am by birth Indian resident and have come to the UK for work purpose. I am staying in UK since more than 180 days and my understanding is that I am having Non-resident status. While I am here, my company gives me Indian salary and allowance in the UK. I am not getting any tax certificate for the allowance paid in the UK. — Bhatnagar A: 1. It is necessary for you to be in India for less than 182 days during a financial year (April 1 to March 31) to be an
NRI. The authors may be contacted at wonderland consultants@yahoo.comIndia, France ink pact on IPR
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Indiscipline plagues A-I
by K.R. Wadhwaney What ails Air-India (AI)? Indiscipline. Who is responsible for indiscipline and continued decline in work-culture? The top functionary, who practices two sets of rules — one for favourites and another for other staffers. There are instances galore. Only a few examples, connected with the recent Scoth- smuggling from the VVIP flight, are: 1) An alleged liquor-smuggler, a favourite of the top official, functions from the Hanslaya building around Connaught Place while a senior director is made to operate from the airport. 2) Juniors and inexperienced officials are selected to accompany the VVIP flights, while knowledgeable and dedicated members of cabin crew are ignored. 3) A lady member of the cabin crew, in possession of five Scotch bottles, was a mere ‘carrier’ for a senior incumbent. She was a victim of circumstances. (Her involvement is similar to a junior lady police official, who along with senior Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials, were nabbed from the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s VVIP flight on October 4, 1984. The lady official was carrying ‘precious cargo’ for the IB officials). The loot from aircraft is a worldwide evil. But it is more rampant in Air-India. Majority of members of cockpit crew and cabin crew carry empty bottles and return with ‘Blue Label’, ‘Black Label’, and other exclusive brands. Following ‘security violations’ on the VVIP flights, the government stipulates that members of the entourage must write names and addresses on the outside and inside of their suitcases. The government also stipulates that members must have different colour labels - one for the VVIP and his/her family, another for government media and yet another for the press correspondents. There is, however, lax control on A-I officials. Indiscipline has plagued the national carrier to such an extent that ‘politically connected’ officials continue to stay put in London and avail of all facilities, including salary perks despite transfer orders, issued more than a year ago. Air-India management and Civil Aviation Ministry bigwigs are mute spectators merely. Favourtism in national carrier has pierced so decisively that a woman cricket player has been appointed at a much higher grade than offered to renowned Test stars, like Mohinder Amarnath and Sanjay Manjrekar. Air-India Chairman and Managing Director V. Thulasidas has gone on record saying that those involved in pilferage would be punished. In his ‘briefing’ in Mumbai, the CMD has failed to explain as to why a resident director was ‘carrying with him’ as many as five Scotch bottles. The CMD should also tell public as to how often this particular official has been on the VVIP flights and what is his experience.
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Infosys shares Pharma survey
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