New Delhi, June 6
India Inc has sought removal of restrospective taxation, overhaul of the Direct Tax Code (DTC), taxing unaccounted funds lying abroad, early implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and moving away from the aggressive revenue approach in the forthcoming Union Budget.

In the pre-Budget consultation today with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, industry has said retrospective taxation should be abandoned and taxation should be made prospective as it has harmed investor sentiment.

In addition, industry has sought early implementation of GST to revive growth with no sectoral exemptions.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the economic situation at present is quite challenging but there is enthusiasm among the industry to turn it to its advantage.

He said there is a need to give directional thrust to translate the same into better results. The Finance Minister was speaking while interacting with the captains of trade and industry as part of his pre-Budget consultation meetings.

CII president Ajay Shriram said this is not the right time to announce GAAR considering that the economy continues to be in the midst of a slowdown.

During the meeting, it was stated that a fresh thinking on the DTC is required, which would make it simple and exemption- free. A low tax framework for direct taxes should be evolved, going forward, without looking at DTC as the base. Shriram said industry is looking at credibility, continuity and clarity from the Budget.

FICCI president Sidharth Birla said there is too much pressure on tax officers to achieve targets and government should make earnest efforts to move away from the aggressive revenue approach and provide a genuine non-adversarial and conducive tax environment. Birla also called for taxing unaccounted money lying abroad to widen the tax base.

Some of the other suggestions include clarity in tax laws especially those relating to transfer pricing, encouraging foreign subsidiaries of Indian companies to bring back the money by exempting dividend from MAT. Other suggestions include productive use of subsidies, exemption/rebate to new industry, banks recapitalisation through capital market, abolition of service tax on tourism activities to boost tourism, reduction in MAT, revision of reservation list of items reserved exclusively for manufacture in MSME Sector, monitoring of items relating to MSME sector imported from neighbouring countries under SAFTA and stringent action to discourage the same.

There were also recommendations including removal of 2% duty on bicycle which is eco-friendly and fixing of floor prices in case of imported bicycles, promotion of women enterprises in the country which is at present about 4% only and another suggestion was made since MGNREGA is affecting the industries and therefore, be reserved for elderly people and women as they can’t migrate whereas youth should be given skill development training in the industries.

Other suggestions include investment-linked incentives without any threshold limit for MSMEs, introduction of technological upgrade allowance, exemption of exports from service tax, excise duty exemption slab for SSI units be increased from Rs 1.50 crore to Rs 3 crore among others.

Ajay S. Shriram of CII, Sidharth Birla of FICCI, Rana Kapoor of Assocham, Sharad Jaipuria of PHD Chammer, Rafeeq Ahmed of FIEO, Shashi Ruia of Essar, Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti Enterprises, Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon were among others who attended the meeting.

Industry’s recommendations Removal of restrospective taxation, overhaul of the Direct Tax Code, taxing unaccounted funds lying abroad and early implementation of the GST Clarity in tax laws, especially those relating to transfer pricing and encouraging foreign subsidiaries of Indian companies to bring back the money by exempting dividend from MAT Investment-linked incentives without any threshold limit for MSMEs, introduction of technological upgrade allowance and exemption of exports from service tax

Mumbai, June 6
Indian markets continued their dream run with Sensex and Nifty today galloping to new peaks as the onset of the southwest monsoon and hopes of hike in natural gas prices attracted fresh funds from overseas investors betting big on a economic revival under the new government.

The market tempo was upbeat for the second day in a row, pushing up key indices to uncharted waters as the Sensex logged a new all-time intra-day high of 25,419.14 and settled for the day at a new closing high of 25,396.46, up 376.95 points or 1.51%.

The Sensex surpassed its previous all-time high of 25,375.63 registered on May 16 and its previous record close of 25,019.51 hit on June 5. On weekly basis, it has bounced back by a whopping 1,179.12 points or 4.89%.

Similarly, the wide-based 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE also jumped 109.30 points, or 1.46%, to end above 7,500-mark for the first time at 7,583.40. It also crossed its all-time intra-day high of 7,563.50 hit on May 16.

On global front, overnight decision of the European Central Bank to cut its benchmark interest rates to unprecedented lows to pump money into the sluggish euro zone economy also boosted domestic market sentiments.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), key drivers of the recent bull run, picked up shares worth Rs 1,368.97 crore yesterday, as per provisional data with stock exchanges.

Nine of the 12 of the sectoral indices ended in the green. Realty, oil & gas and banking shares led the surge.

Market@25,000 Sensex logged a new all-time intra-day high of 25,419.14 and settled for the day at a new closing high of 25,396.46, up 376.95 points Similarly, the Nifty also jumped 109.30 points to end above 7,500-mark for the first time at 7,583 Nine of the 12 of the sectoral indices ended in the green. Realty, oil & gas and banking shares led the surge

New Delhi, June 6
Welcoming the launch of online environment clearance mechanism, FICCI president Sidharth Birla said this is a path-breaking step by the government as it would bring transparency and objectivity to the process of clearance and ensure timely implementation of projects.

Providing timelines at every step of clearance and making it online will help in tracking the status of the project on a real-time basis, the industry chamber said.

Birla said: “Government should draw a time-bound roadmap for integrating and digitising all permissions for setting up projects under one single platform which would boost investor confidence and ensure faster delivery of projects”.

“In addition, there is a need to look at issues related to project clearance process by rationalising and simplifying the whole process of clearance not just at the Centre but at the state level also and building the capacities of the state regulatory agencies to gear up to the new process”, Birla said. 

New Delhi, June 6
Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal yesterday met industry representatives and discussed various issues relating to improving the food processing sector in the country.

The food processing industry was represented by members from industry chambers FICCI and CII. She was apprised of problems being faced by the industry and also informed about the possible solutions to these problems.

The major issues discussed include investment climate, increasing incomes of farmers, value addition, employment generation, revisiting regulatory regime, rationalisation of fiscal incentives, tax concessions to mega food parks and focusing on perishables, GST, practices in Western countries, role of FSSAI appearing as trade barrier, role of APMC in movement of vegetables and skill development in food processing.

London, June 6
Vodafone has revealed that government agencies in six unidentified countries use its network to listen to and record customers' calls, showing the scale of telecom eavesdropping around the world.

The US and UK came in for global scrutiny and criticism after Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the US (NSA), disclosed their vast phone, email and internet surveillance operations. But Vodafone, which has 400 million customers in countries across Europe, Africa and Asia, said in its "Disclosure Report" on Friday that countries in its reach were using similar practices. — Reuters

Brussels, June 6
Companies based outside the European Union must meet Europe’s data protection rules, ministers agreed on Friday, although governments remain divided over how to enforce them on companies operating across the bloc.

The agreement to force Internet companies such as Google and Facebook to abide by EU rules is a first step in a wider reform package to tighten privacy laws - an issue that gained prominence following revelations of US spying in Europe. — Reuters