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A quick guide to India GST rates in 2017  The Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been one of the key things that has caught the attention of the market given its implications on earnings of companies. The government has kept a large number of items under 18% tax slab. The government categorised 1211 items under various tax slabs. Here is a low-down on the tax slab these items would attract:  No tax Goods   No tax will be imposed on items like fresh meat, fish chick ..  No tax will be imposed on items like fresh meat, fish chicken, eggs, milk, butter milk, curd, natural honey, fresh fruits and vegetables, flour, besan, bread, prasad, salt, bindi. Sindoor, stamps, judicial papers, printed books, newspapers, bangles, handloom, etc.  Services   Hotels and lodges with tariff below Rs 1,000, Grandfathering service has been exempted under GST.  5% Goods   Items such as fish fillet, cream, skimmed milk powder, branded paneer,...

The GST is a Value added   Tax  (VAT) is proposed to be a comprehensive indirect   tax  levy on manufacture, sale and consumption of   goods  as well as   services  at the national level. It will replace all indirect taxes levied on   goods and services  by the Indian Central and state governments. The following are the salient features of the proposed pan-India Goods and Services Tax regime that was approved by the Lok Sabha by way of an amendment to the Constitution: 1.  GST, or Goods and Services Tax, will subsume central indirect taxes like excise duty, countervailing duty and service tax, as also state levies like value added tax, octroi and entry tax, luxury tax. 2.  The final consumer will bear only the GST charged by the last dealer in the supply chain, with set-off benefits at all the previous stages. 3.  As a measure of support for the states, petroleum products, alcohol for human consumption and tob...

No Stamp Duty Required for transfer of property to relatives GOVT. WAIVES STAMP DUTY ON TRANSFER OF LAND / FLAT TO KIN or FAMILY MEMBERS Hon’ble Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse announced in Assembly on 25-03–2015 that Govt. waives stamp duty on transfer of land or flat immovable property to Kin or family members. He announced that now immovable property such as land, house or flat can be transferred to Owner’s Children or even to blood relatives simply by executing transfer deed on Rs. 500/- stamp paper without paying stamp duty and registration fee. This announcement will give good relief to the families of transferors as they will not require to pay 5% stamp duty at market value as per ready Reckoner. Minister further clarified that in such an event it will be sufficient if transfer document is executed on Rs.. 500/- stamp-paper. He further clarified that the decision to waive stamp duty on property transferred to heirs is taken on account of large complaints received f...

BJP MP Kirit Somaiya hit out at the increasing use of bitcoin in India, raising the issue in the Parliament, terming the digital currency as "hypothetical" and a "pyramid ponzi scheme". "The use of bitcoin, a hypothetical currency, is increasing at a rapid speed in India as well as in the world. Experts have expressed concern that bitcoin is a pyramid ponzi type scheme," he said. He urged regulators RBI and SEBI, besides the Finance Ministry, to look into its regulation and take steps to "save people from another big ponzi fraud". Somaiya's concern over the digital currency is not surprising: the stellar rise of bitcoin as an instrument of speculation or investment, if not a currency, has given rise to plenty of hype, and even confusion, surrounding it. Over the last one year, bitcoin price has rallied 214 percent to all-time highs of USD 1,300. So while the currency itself does not offer any promises of return on investmen...

Bitcoin is a form of digital currency, created and held electronically. No one controls it. Bitcoins aren’t printed, like dollars or euros – they’re produced by people, and increasingly businesses, running computers all around the world, using software that solves mathematical problems. It’s the first example of a growing category of money known as cryptocurrency. What makes it different from normal currencies? Bitcoin can be used to buy things electronically. In that sense, it’s like conventional dollars, euros, or yen, which are also traded digitally. However, bitcoin’s most important characteristic, and the thing that makes it different to conventional money, is that it is  decentralized . No single institution controls the bitcoin network. This puts some people at ease, because it means that a large bank can’t control their money. Who created it? A software developer called  Satoshi Nakamoto  proposed bitcoin, which was an electronic payment system...

 ALERT CITIZENS FORUM OF INDIA  A7/303, Saket CHSL, Saket Marg, Thane (W) 400601. # 8879528575. December 25, 2016 The Hon. Finance Minister, Government of India, North Block,  New Delhi. Sub: Request to amend Section 13 A of Income Tax Act to bring transparency on political donations. Respected Sir, Elections and the conduct of the legislature in India is governed under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which empowers the Election Commission of India (ECI) to form rules for elections and political parties. As per current rules, political parties in India are barred from undertaking any commercial activity and thus they are not deemed to be engaged in acts that make them liable to pay any income tax. Political parties are getting away with hundreds of crores...year after year...in anonymous donations. Much of it in cash, which the parties can deposit in a bank account without scrutiny. Since demonetization, every day brings new announcem...

ALERT CITIZENS FORUM OF INDIA  A7/303, Saket CHSL, Saket Marg, Thane (W) 400601 #8879528575 December 21, 2016 The Hon. Finance Minister, Government of India, North Block, New Delhi. Respected Sir, Sub: Request to Close Loophole Allowing Political Parties to Launder Black Money With reference to the above, we submit to you as under: 1) On December 16, 2016, the Revenue Secretary Shri Hasmukh Adhia informed that the political parties are free to deposit old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in their bank accounts. Shri Adhia also said that deposits in the accounts of political parties are not to be taxed. "If it is a deposit in the account of a political party, they are exempt. But if it is deposited in individual's account then that information will come into our radar".  This basically meant that deposits made by political parties would not be up for scrutiny.  This statement created a lot of controversy. 2) Your good self  then took pains to explain tha...