 |
|
|
G-20 Summit
India to take up subsidy issue with US Tatas’ Corus bid hits roadblock |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Outsourcing to stay despite threats: Expert New Delhi, November 18 High growth in India’s IT and BPO exports will sustain despite threats to its labour cost advantage from rising wages, but education initiatives and innovation are vital to sustain its competitive edge, industry leaders said. Nod to $11.8-b Lucent
sale deal Aviation
Notes
Continental optimist on US-India sector Investor
guidance
No NRI status if stay in India is more than 182 days
|
|
FM pitches for pension reforms
Melbourne, November 18 “The reform of the pension system must begin now - because it is already too late and the management of pension funds will be the most important challenge faced by financial institutions,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram said at the G-20 Finance Ministers meeting here. “Huge payment obligations stare in the face of ageing countries and half measures will not do. The alternative is fiscal stress and destabilisation of the macro-economic balance,” he said. An unfunded pension system is unmitigated disaster, Mr Chidambaram said, adding it is universally acknowledged that the ‘Pay as You Go’ system is unsustainable not even in the medium term. “Every worker must save for his or her retirement and the government or employer may consider making a matching contribution,” he said. Thus, the contribution will be a defined one and the benefit will depend upon the manner in which accumulations are invested and the overall performance of the economy, the Finance Minister said. Chidambaram’s remarks came even as he has been finding it difficult to implement pension reforms in the country in the face of stiff opposition from UPA partners, especially the Left parties. Referring to ageing population in developed countries, Mr Chidambaram said apart from pension reforms, the governments may be required to design a more appropriate social security net, including modified healthcare plans for the aged. These countries will have to devise financial products for meeting the healthcare and consumption requirements of the elderly, he said. The emphasis will shift to risk-free instruments like annuities, long-term inflation-linked bonds, he said, adding a market for reverse mortgages would have to be developed immediately. Unless ageing countries manage the demographic transition efficiently, they will not be able to cope with the consequences of slower growth, falling incomes and declining living standards, he said. The developing countries, too, will face similar challenges, although with a time lag, Mr Chidambaram said, adding that only a few of them will reap the benefit of demographic dividend.
— PTI
|
|
India to take up subsidy issue with US New Delhi, November 18 Mr Johanns is arriving here on a five-day visit starting today during which he will discuss bilateral and multilateral trade issues with the PM, Agriculture Minister and Commerce Minister Kamal Nath. Mr Kamal Nath, who took a tough stand at the Doha round, has succeeded in garnering support of the EU, and have called upon the US to bring down agricultural subsidies. Mr Mandelson was talking to reporters after meeting with Mr Nath yesterday. The Doha round of World Trade Organisation talks collapsed in July mainly due to an impasse over farm subsidies. |
|
Tatas’ Corus bid hits roadblock Interesting, says Ratan Tata London:
"Interesting" was all that Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group, said when he was handed over a note revealing CSN's proposal.
New Delhi, November 18 CSN has offered 475 pence per share, about 4.5 per cent more than the 455 per share bid made by Tata Steel last month. The Brazilian company's offer too is in cash, financed through a combination of existing facilities and new debt underwritten by a bank syndicate, comprising Barclays, Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas. It will also take on Corus' £1 billion debt and put £126 million into the pension fund, as well as raise contributions from 10 per cent to 12 per cent until March 2009. CSN has recently acquired nearly 3.8 per cent stake in Corus through open market transactions. Analysts believe that a bidding match is imminent and the name of the game is valuation and it could stretch even longer with more players chipping in the process. Corus shareholders are due to vote on Tata Steel's offer on December 4.
— PTI |
|
Outsourcing to stay despite threats: Expert New Delhi, November 18 “The industry believes it can achieve $ 60 billion in software exports by 2010. I would like to set the bar higher - $70 billion or $80 billion dollars in international revenues by 2010,” Mr S. Ramadorai, CEO, TCS, said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here. He, however, said such an aspiration could be achieved only if the country focused on education and skill development, nurture an ability to innovate and build an ecosystem to nourish the industry through an active collaboration between industry, academia and the government. |
|
Nod to
$11.8-b Lucent sale deal
Washington, November 18 White House press secretary Tony Snow said last night the President agreed with the recommendation of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the USA to allow the deal to go through. The
merged company will become one of the world's largest telecommunications
equipment suppliers, generating about $25 billion in sales. — AP |
by A.N. Shanbhag
No NRI status if stay in India is more than 182 days
Q: I may be staying in India for more than 182 days. Would this diminish my NRI status? — Ratnamani A:
Yes, staying in India for more than 182 days will make you either a resident or a resident but not ordinarily resident (RNOR) for the year. There is a transitional status of RNOR between being an NRI and becoming a full-fledged resident. RNOR is a person who satisfies one of the following conditions: a) he has been a non-resident in India in nine out of the 10 previous years preceding that year, or b) has during the seven previous years preceding that year been in India for a period of, or periods amounting in all to, 729 days or less. An RNOR is not required pay tax in India on his forex income. Return on investment
Q: I am an SIP investor, regularly investing in a few funds. My way of evaluating the return on investment (ROI) is based on cost price rather than face value. When I calculate my ROI, it is far less than the numbers quoted in the charts. I use these charts for evaluating my future investments. Since, I use cost price instead of face value, I am not sure if my ROI percentages will be in line with the ROI percentages mentioned in these charts. Your clarification on my question is highly appreciated. — Kalyan Singh A:
The ROI figures are based on the value (NAV) of the units. Therefore, if there were an ROI figure since inception, the same would be the IRR from the face value to the current value. Three-year figures would calculate IRR from the NAV existing three years back till the NAV to date. So to answer your question, face value (which is the then NAV) only comes in the picture only once when since inception returns are calculated. Else it is year on year. Housing loan rebate
Q: My father had taken a loan for purchasing a house in 1995. He passed away of a sudden heart attack this year. Subsequently, I have been paying EMIs on his loan. In this regard, my question is: Will I benefit from the tax concessions on housing loan, even if the loan was taken by my father? — Prakash A: Unfortunately, the answer to your question is in the negative. The rebate (and deductions) cannot be claimed by those who have not borrowed the funds directly and these facilities are not available to a successor to the property. This was the view taken by the Gujarat High Court in respect of CIT v Rajkot Seeds Oil & Bullion Merchant Association Ltd. (1975) 101ITR748. The father had taken a loan for acquiring a house and he expired leaving the house and the loan both to the son. Though he continued to repay the loan with interest he could not claim the rebate u/s 88 and deduction of interest on loan for house property. This is sad. I do not think that it was the intention of the legislation to deprive the inheritor of the property of these concessions. Exactly opposite view was taken, but in a parallel situation in the case of C. V. Ramanathan v CIT (1980) 4Taxman432 (Mad). Here an individual sold a house at Delhi, moved down to Agra and purchased a vacant site for construction of residential accommodation. He expired and eventually the son constructed the house within the stipulated period of three years. The learned judge observed that if the son is liable to pay tax he cannot be denied the benefit of Section 54 which forms part of the scheme of taxation of capital gains and does not expressly stipulate that the vendor and the purchaser must be the same. Therefore, Section 54 can be invoked for making the assessment of the son as legal heir of the deceased person. However, the earlier view seems to be more prevalent. Remittance to India
Q: I want to send money to my family in India. I know that if I opened an NRI account then that money is not taxable. But, alternatively, if I send the money to my father’s account, will he be responsible to pay taxes for the money as it is in his account? — Manali A: Transfer by itself does not create any tax liability. If the money transferred is capital in nature, the question of paying tax thereon does not arise. If it is a gift (or amount sent for household expenses) and you are relative of the donee, there is no tax. If your status for the financial year is NRI and if the money earned abroad is an income not arisen out of some nexus with India, either by way of Indian employment or business, the question of levying tax thereon does not arise. Otherwise, your global income is taxable in India, whether you transfer it to India or not. Long-term capital gain/loss
Q: The following transaction took place last year, however, I was not clear on the taxation at that point in time. Now, Infosys has come out with a buyback offer yet again and I would like to understand the tax implication fully. So the following is the data of the previous buyback transaction. On 16.04.2004, I bought five Infosys shares at Rs 5488 per share. On 6.7.04, 15 bonus shares were allotted to me. In 2005, I offered the entire 20 shares to the company under the ADR Scheme. But only two shares were taken on 17.06.05 under the ADR and I received Rs 5734 and the balance of 18 shares were re-credited to my demat account. Can I book loss on this ADR sale and whether it can be set off against any other capital gains which has suffered the STT or any other income? Also, since the balance 18 shares were re-credited, can it be taken as a fresh acquisition or the original date of acquisition stands good? Kindly clarify. — Yatin Sawant A: Lets simplify the transaction. You originally bought five Infosys shares at Rs 5488 per share. The 15 bonus shares you get will be valued at cost zero. Out of this, Infosys bought two shares and returned the rest back to you. So what has ipso facto happened is that you have sold two shares out of your first acquisition (under the FIFO method) to Infosys. The sale price minus the cost of the original shares will be your capital gain or loss. Since the transaction is not carried out on a stock exchange, the long-term capital gains on the same will not be exempted. Therefore, the long-term capital loss can be used for set-off. The rest of the 18 shares will be held by you as usual, it cannot be taken as fresh purchase. In other words, look at the entire transaction as you having sold two shares to Infosys in an off market transaction. The authors may be contacted at
wonderlandconsultants@yahoo.com |
BoB to raise Rs 1,000 cr A-I inks pact |
|||||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
