States’ sales tax receipts from fuel may go up by 9%

Investments in mutual funds through systematic investment plans (SIPs) hit a 22-month low of Rs 7,831 crore in July amidst market volatility. This was the lowest level since September

2018, when investment through this route stood at Rs 7,727 crore. Inflows through SIP have slowed down in the past four months. Investment in June

2020 dropped below Rs 8,000 crore for the first time since November 2018.

Chinese smartphone major Xiaomi said its arm MI India will distribute 2,500 handsets worth Rs 2 crore to support online education of children. "MI India distribution and retails came up with a fantastic idea. Together they will be contributing 2,500 smartphones to enable children most impacted by the pandemic to access quality education. In this endeavour we found the right partner Teach for India,” COO Muralikrishnan B. said.

The recovery trend in sales volumes and increase in excise duties will see sales tax receipts of states on petroleum products going up by 7 to 9 per cent this fiscal, despite the negative impact of the pandemic, finds Crisil. Firmer crude oil prices will also add to the increase in receipts.

If volumes rebound amidst increased central and state taxes and firmer crude oil prices, there could be a 7-9 per cent rise in sales tax receipts over last year to Rs 1.96 lakh crore, despite an expected

25 per cent fall in collections in the first quarter.

“The first quarter saw petrol and diesel sales volume plunging by a third because of the Covid-19 induced lockdown. But with the economy slowly unlocking and industrial and commercial activities clawing back, vehicular traffic has started to improve,” said Manish Gupta, senior director of Crisil Ratings.

In April combined monthly volume of petrol and diesel sales, which account for 90 per cent of sales tax collections from petroleum products, were

43 per cent of the preCovid levels. This moved up to 85 per cent in June and is around 83 per cent in July. If economic activity rebounds to pre-pandemic levels by November, the annual volume decline may be restricted to 11-12 per cent this fiscal.

Further, the central excise duty and state sales tax rates of petrol and diesel were increased several times in the past few months. Between March and May weighted average diesel retail price had gone up by Rs 16 per litre. By July another Rs 2.8 per litre hike was also implemented.

An increase in excise duty increases the taxable value of petrol and diesel for the levy of state sales tax. This higher taxable value of the fuel is providing additional sales tax of Rs 3 per litre to states.

New Delhi, Aug 13: The tax department has committed to treat every taxpayer as honest, unless proven otherwise, and provide fair, courteous and reasonable treatment, according to the taxpayers' charter adopted on Thursday. The charter also expects taxpayers to pay taxes on time and be honest and compliant.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the platform 'Transparent Taxation Honoring the Honest' which provides for adoption of a taxpayers' charter, which defines the tax department’s commitment and its expectation from the taxpayers.

The tax officers will now be committed to a 14-point charter, which includes

New Delhi, Aug. 13: Markets regulator Sebi has lifted its trading ban on five entities, including Ruchi Global and Ruchi Soya Industries, in a case related to alleged manipulation in castor seeds trading.

National Steel & Agro Industries Ltd, Secunderabad Oils Ltd and UKS Oils Pvt Ltd are the other entities from whom the ban has been lifted.

Through two interim orders passed in March 2016 and May 2016, Sebi had barred the five entities, among others, from the securities markets for alleged fraudulent and manipulative trading in castor seeds on leading commodity bourse NCDEX.

Later in March 2017, the directions issued against them were confirmed.

In an order passed on Wednesday, Sebi revoked the direction issued against the five entities with immediate effect.

In the show cause notice (SCN), it was alleged that by taking open interest (OI) positions in excess of the prescribed limits, the five entities were able to corner the market at the expense of other clients, and thus had traded in a collecting "only the (tax) amount due" as per the law, while taxpayers would have to be "responsible" and fulfill six-point expectations of the I-T Department, including being honest and compliant.

The charter mandates the I-T Department to hold its "authorities accountable for their actions" and states that the department would provide fair, courteous, prompt and reasonable treatment as well as professional assistance to all taxpayers.

The officers shall treat taxpayers as honest "unless there is a reason to believe otherwise", it said.

The charter also bars the tax officers from disclosing taxpayer information unless authorised by law fraudulent and deceitful manner and their excess OI positions created a false or misleading appearance in the market.

The SCN further said that Ruchi Global and Ruchi Soya Industries and National Steel & Agro Industries belonged to one distinct group, while Secunderabad Oils and UKS Oils belonged to another distinct group.

"In the absence of any material to show that these two distinct groups were connected to each other and traded in the castor seeds contracts in a concerted manner to manipulate the market, it is not correct to allege that the five noticees together cornered the derivative market in castor seeds contract...in violation of PFUTP Regulations, 2003 and at the expense of other clients," Sebi said. and also respect privacy of taxpayer.

The department will have to periodically publish standards for service delivery and provide a fair system to resolve tax issues in a time-bound manner.

The charter also mandates the department to allow every taxpayer to choose an authorised representative of his choice and provide mechanism for lodging a complaint, and its prompt disposal.

The charter expects the taxpayers to honestly disclose full information and "fulfill his compliance obligations". Also, the taxpayer is expected to keep accurate records and know what information and submissions are made by his authorised representative.