Search Result for : Gold

By Sheela Mamidenna As the Chairman of the Empowered Group of State Finance Ministers which was instrumental in the formulation of GST Laws in 2009, Dr Asim Kumar Dasgupta can be rightly called as the ‘architect of GST’. A reformer by heart he set out to mastermind the most ambitious tax reform in Indian history by introducing the Value Added Tax (VAT). He was the man who was instrumental in doing away with many draconian tax levies such as octroi and highway toll in West Bengal and was fondly referred to as ‘my US-trained finance minister’ by the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu.  Dr Dasgupta, an MIT graduate continues to inspire the new generation as he lectures at various ...

The Dollar Business Bureau Gold imports of India dropped by around 13.5% to $27.4 billion in the last financial year, which is likely to keep a tap on the mounting current account deficit (CAD). In 2015-16, the country’s overall imports of the yellow metal stood at $31.7 billion. As per the industry experts, one of the reasons for the drop is softening prices of the precious metal in the domestic as well as international markets. The decline in imports has helped in narrowing down of the trade deficit to $105.7 billion in 2016-17 compared to $118.7 billion in the previous fiscal. However, on a monthly basis, the imports of gold surged to $4.17 billion in March compared to $974 million in the same month year-ago, ...

By Ranjeet Mahtani and Sweta Rajan During its meetings on May 18 and 19, 2017, the GST Council declared the placement of goods and services across the fixed GST rate slabs. The GST Council further released the list of goods liable for GST Compensation Cess along with the applicable rate of cess and released a list of services which would be liable to GST under the reverse charge mechanism. While the GST law empowers the Government to specify goods and services on which GST is payable by the recipient, the Council has approved only services that are likely to attract GST on reverse charge basis.  Rate specific issues The release of the GST rates has, as expected, triggered varying responses across industries. Some ...

By Ranjeet Mahtani & Niraj Hande The most crucial GST Council meeting took place on 18th and 19th May, 2017 in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. The GST Council has finalised seven sets of GST Rules and completed the fitment of most goods and services in various tax brackets in the last two days. Rules The GST Council has approved seven sets of GST Rules which pertain to Composition, Tax Invoice Credit & Debit Notes,Input Tax Credit, Payment of Tax, Refund, Registration and Determination of Value of Supply. The Rules pertaining to Transition and Returns were not finalised and shall require further vetting before approval. The next step will be for Governments, State and Central to now notify these. Rates The GST Council has ...

The Dollar Business Bureau  After dropping to a 7-week low previously in the trading session, gold moved up marginally on Monday on bargain-hunting and the euro strengthened against the dollar after Emmanuel Macron won France’s presidential election. Spot gold increased 0.3% to $1,230.88 an ounce at 0401 GMT, after reaching $1,224.86 per ounce earlier in the trading session, the lowest since March 17. Gold futures at US exchanges also rose 0.3% at $1,230.60 per ounce. On Monday, the euro touched a high of six months against dollar after Macron, a pro-European Union candidate, won the presidential election in France, defeating the far-right nationalist, Marine Le Pen, who threatened to pull out the country from the EU. “Leading into the election, with many polls predicting Macron's ...

The Dollar Business Bureau Foreign exchange (forex) reserves of India surged by $889.4 million and reached $369.887 billion in the week ended on April 14, supported by a rise in the foreign currency assets, said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The forex reserve had dropped by $956.4 million to $368.998 billion in the preceding week. The reserves had reached an all-time high of $371.99 billion during the week ended on September 30, last year. Foreign currency assets (FCAs), a key component in the total reserves, rose by $881 million and reached $346.248 billion in the given week, said RBI. FCAs, expressed in terms of US dollar, include the impact of depreciation/appreciation of the non-US currencies, like pound, euro and yen, which are ...

The Dollar Business Bureau Philippines is considering imposing a ban on unprocessed mineral exports in an effort to encourage value addition to the mining sector, a senior government official said. Philippines is the topmost nickel ore exporter in the world, supplying almost all of its production to China. The previous governments had supported the calls to promote domestic processing of minerals but their efforts were unsuccessful as the Congress was unable to enact appropriate laws. “It’s one of the things we’re considering for any mine that we think should remain operating. In the long term, that will help our economy because that will increase the value of the products,” Maria Paz Luna, Undersecretary, Environment and Natural Resources told reporters on Friday. “This is one of the choices that not ...

The Dollar Business Bureau  The DGFT in its latest notification number 40/2015-2020 dtd Feb 23, 2017 makes the following amendment to Chapter 4, paragraph 4.34(i) of Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20.  According to the latest amendment, exporters of gold/silver/platinum jewellery and their related inputs who have availed CENVAT credit facility, and have exported the finished goods availing duty free rebate, can further restock precious metals from authorised centres.  However, the DGFT stresses that the duty-free inputs should be used in the manufacture of dutiable-goods in the same premises where the earlier products were manufactured. And the sale or transfer of such duty-free precious metal inputs is not permissible.