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Volkswagen settles for Maharashtra, finally
Paswan exhorts SAIL to go for buyouts
FICCI sets agenda for Budget
Way paved for Russia’s entry into WTO
Market Update
Focus may shift to mid-caps
Deduction up to Rs 75,000 admissible for severe disability
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Volkswagen settles for Maharashtra, finally
Mumbai, November 19 Volkswagen will ink a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra Government on November 29 to this effect, a state Industries Department official said here. The project, which qualifies for the mega-project status, entails an investment of around Rs 1,500-crore and will be set up at Chakan, near Pune, on 500 acres of land. The company, which had scouted for sites in other states such as Tamil Nadu-- home to several auto majors, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab, finally zeroed in on Maharashtra because of several advantages inherent in the state which, it felt, would provide it an edge in the marketplace. Proximity to ports and availability of a skilled labour force, coupled with good logistics, finally tilted the German auto major's decision in favour of Pune. Volkswagen is reportedly mulling exploiting synergies with Audi and Skoda in India and will, in the first phase, hit the market with small cars before eventually launching other models. The Volkswagen project is a big feather in the cap of the Maharashtra Government as the auto major selected the state for its greenfield project amidst stiff competition from other industry-friendly states. At one stage, it was felt that Andhra Pradesh had almost bagged the project and then Tamil Nadu but finally Volkswagen's Board gave its approval for Chakan in Maharashtra.
— PTI AP mulls action against VW
Hyderabad: Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy said today they would look into various options, including proceeding against carmaker Volkswagen (VW) for breach of agreement, after the German auto major decided to shift its proposed plant to Pune. He said Volkawagen's decision was disappointing but "we have left with no option except legal recourse". |
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Paswan exhorts SAIL to go for buyouts
Raipur, November 19 "We have revised the estimate of steel production after consultation with private and public sector players. By 2010 the steel production would be 80 million tonnes from the current 42 million tonnes," he said at a function at SAIL's Bhilai Steel Plant in Chhattisgarh's Durg district last evening. The new estimate was that by 2010, steel production would be 80 million tonnes and by 2020 another 100 millions would be added. SAIL should start acquiring companies the way Tata Steel was bidding for British giant Corus, he said in the presence of the SAIL Chairman.
— PTI |
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FICCI sets agenda for Budget
New Delhi, November 19 In its pre-Budget submissions, FICCI has suggested the setting up of an 'empowered committee' consisting of representatives of the Central and state Governments to finalise the structure of goods and services tax (GST) and the roadmap for its implementation. ''FICCI believes that replacement of multiple taxes by GST will increase the tax GDP ratio by two years. GST will significantly improve the competitiveness of Indian industry by eliminating the cascading effect of taxes on production cost,'' the chamber said. It also demanded the lowering of excise duty from 16 per cent to 14 per cent in 2007-08 and later reduced to 2 per cent. The 2 per cent reduction in excise duty with consequential lower incidence of state and local taxes will result in a 3 to 5 per cent reduction in prices. This, in turn, will increase the demand for manufactured goods leading to higher industrial growth and reduced inflation. The government should allow higher foreign equity in telecom, insurance, pension and other similar sectors to mobilise additional resources for infrastructure investment. It should continue tax incentives to promote and encourage employment generation, savings, investment and infrastructure development, FICCI said. It also recommended 100 per cent tax holiday for all industrial undertakings for 10 consecutive years at any time during the first 15 years after the commencement of production or operations. Corporate tax rate should be brought down to 25 per cent which would be in line with the rates prevailing in other Asian countries. It also demanded the withdrawal of fringe benefit tax and reduction of dividend distribution tax to 7.5 per cent in the Budget for the next fiscal.
— UNI |
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Way paved for Russia’s entry into WTO
Hanoi, November 19 The agreement was signed by Russia's Economy Minister German Gref and US Trade Representative Susan Schwab on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit here. The signing was timed to take place before a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President George W. Bush, who both took part in the APEC summit today.
— Reuters |
by S.C. Vasudeva
Deduction up to Rs 75,000 admissible for severe disability
Q. I am a senior citizen and Govt. pensioner. My son is completely handicapped (means 100 per cent-void). Please intimate whether I am entitled to rebate of Rs 50,000 for the year 2005-06 for handicapped dependent or Rs 75,000.
Also confirm the I.T. exemption of senior citizen, whether it is Rs 1,85,000 or Rs 2,35,000 or Rs 15,000 tax. — B.K. Chopra, Chandigarh A. You are entitled to a deduction under Section 80DD of the Act, if you have incurred an expenditure for the medical treatment (including nursing), training and rehabilitation of a dependent being a person with a disability. The deduction to the extent of Rs 50,000 is allowable in case the dependant is suffering from a disability and Rs 75,000 if he is suffering from a severe disability. The Income-tax return is to be accompanied with certificate in form 10-IA duly certified by a medical authority as defined in clause (p) of the Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995. In case of a senior citizen, the Finance Act 2006 provides a limit of Rs 1,85,000 being the maximum amount up to which tax is not chargeable from a senior citizen. Section 80U
Q. With effect from 01.04.2004, Section 80U has become rather complicated, even with regard to assessees with permanent disability. For definition of “Medical Authority” and “form and manner” of obtaining a medical certificate, one has to refer to two other Acts and a number of Gazette notifications not easily available. I will be grateful for following clarifications: (i) What precisely is “Medical Authority”? Is an Army Medical Unit included in the definition of the term? (I am an ex-serviceman). (ii) Is a fresh medical certificate required to be obtained (and attached to the Income-tax return) every year, even in case of permanent disability, which does not require periodical disability, which does not require periodical re-assessment? (iii) In what form is the medical certificate to be obtained, is Form 10I to the Income-tax Rules 1962 to be suitably modified for this purpose? — K.P. Anand, Hisar A. (a) Section 80U of the Income-tax Act 1961 (the Act) defines the term ‘Medical Authority’ as under: “Medical Authority” means the medical authority as referred to in clause (p) of Section 2 of the Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 (1 of 1996), or such other medical authority as may, by notification, be specified by the Central Government for certifying “autism”, “cerebral palsy”, “multiple disabilities”, “persons with disability” and “severe disability” referred to in clauses (a), (c), (h), (j) and (o) of Section 2 of the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 (44 of 1999). Section 2(p) of the Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation Act) Act 1995, defines medical authority as any hospital or institution specified for the purpose of that Act by notification by appropriate government. The term appropriate government under the aforesaid Act means- (i) in relation to the Central Government or any establishment wholly or substantially financed by that government, or a Cantonment Board constituted under the Cantonment Act, 1942 (2 of 1924), the Central Government; (ii) in relation to a state government or any establishment wholly or substantially financed by that government or any local authority, other than a Cantonment Board, the state government; (iii) in respect of the Central Co-ordination Committee and the Central Executive Committee, the Central Government. (iv) In respect of the State Co-ordination committee and the State Executive Committee, the state government. It would thus be observed that any establishment wholly or substantially financed by a Cantonment Board would be a medical authority specified under Section 2(p) of the Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995. It would thus be essential for you to check up with the Army Medical Unit as to which of the Army hospitals which is financed (wholly or substantially) by the Cantonment Board, has been so specified for the purpose of certifying disability as well as severe disability. (b) Sub rule 3 of Rule 11A of the Income-tax Rules 1962 (the Rules) provides that where the condition of the disability is temporary and requires reassessment after a specified period, the certificate shall be valid for the period starting from the assessment year relevant to the previous year during which the certificate was issued and ending with the assessment year relevant to the previous year during which the validity of the certificate expires. This Rule, therefore, gives an indication that in case of permanent disability it may not be necessary to provide a fresh medical certificate every time since the certificate itself would indicate the fact of permanent disability. (c) The relevant form is 10-IA as prescribed in Rule 11A of the Rules. IT return
Q. I am retired Army officer getting disability pension for life. As per Central Board of Direct Taxes letter No. 200/50/99-IIA-I dated 2 July 2002. My disability as well as service pension is totally exempted from Income-tax, and income from other sources did not qualify for I.T. My age is 70 years. Till last year I was filing my I.T. return only under those six conditions i.e. like keeping telephone, own house, foreign visit etc. Since this condition has been waved off by Govt. recently and my pension is exempted from I.T. Income from other sources does not qualify for I.T. Please advise if I am required to file income tax return. — Lt-Col S.S. Chhina (retd), Mohali A. The fact that disability pension is exempt from tax is evident from the circular attached along with your letter. In case of person, whose total income before allowing the deductions under chapter VI-A of the Act does not exceed the maximum amount chargeable to income-tax is not required to file a return of income. The limits so prescribed by the Finance Act 2006 are as under: Senior citizen: Rs 1,85,000 Working women who is not a senior citizen: Rs 1,35,000 All other cases: Rs 1,00,000 You are not required to file a return of income in case you satisfy the above condition. |
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