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Finance secretary says onus of passing on the benefits is on companies Companies, including FMCG firms, might be prosecuted if their retailers do not immediately cut the prices of products whose goods and services tax (GST) rates have been slashed. Union Finance Secretary  Hasmukh Adhia  says the retailers or the companies cannot continue with higher prices on grounds that the old stocks have not been exhausted. “We have made provisions for the companies to claim the difference from the government as input tax credit. But I am not willing to accept their argument to postpone passing on the benefits to consumers till they have disposed of their old stocks.” According to him, the new prices should be effective from November 15. The GST Council in its last meeting this month cut the tax rate on 176 items from 28 per cent to 18 per cent and on two to 12 per cent. There was a huge demand to make these cuts. Speaking in a Doordarshan interview in which ...

Stands by decision to advance Budget date; many states seek loosening of fiscal deficit rule While some states have complained of declining tax revenues due to demonetisation, the Centre is hopeful of exceeding its   Budget 2017   Estimates (BE) for 2016-17 in both direct and indirect tax collections. It has reiterated the decision to advance the Budget presentation date to February 1, despite objections. “We will end this year with higher revenues for both direct and indirect taxes compared to the estimates,” said Finance Minister   Arun Jaitley   after the Goods and Services Tax Council meeting and pre-Budget consultation with state counterparts. The states raised concern over declining revenues and sought relaxation in the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) limit, beside central support to revive labour-intensive industries. To a query, Jaitley said the Reserve Bank (RBI) would remove the current restrictions on cash withdrawal after ...