31 Dec 2017

Bitcoin risks: Government warns against cryptocurrency, says don’t get trapped

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Weeks after the Reserve Bank of India issued its third warning against the crypto currency trading, the Finance Ministry today said that virtual currencies are not legal tender and such currencies have no protection. It said the virtual currencies (VCs) including Bitcoin don’t have any intrinsic value and are not backed by any kind of assets. “The price of Bitcoin and other VCs therefore is entirely a matter of mere speculation resulting in spurt and volatility in their prices,” the Ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry also said that there was a real and heightened risk of investment bubble of the type seen in ponzi schemes which can result in sudden and prolonged crash exposing investors, especially retail consumers losing their hard-earned money. “Consumers need to be alert and extremely cautious as to avoid getting trapped in such Ponzi schemes,” the statement said.

The Ministry also explained the vulnerabilities in investing in digital currencies. It said the virtual currencies are stored in digital/electronic format, making them vulnerable to hacking, loss of password, malware attack which may also result in permanent loss of money. “As transactions of VCs are encrypted they are also likely being used to carry out illegal and subversive activities, such as, terror-funding, smuggling, drug trafficking and other money-laundering Acts,” the Ministry said.

The Finance Ministry today reiterated that the government or the RBI has not authorised any Virtual Currencies as a medium of exchange. It also made it clear that the government or any other regulator in India has not given license to any agency for working as exchange. It said: “Virtual currencies are not backed by government fiat. These are also not legal tender. Hence, VCs are not currencies. These are also being described as ‘Coins’. There is however no physical attribute to these coins. Therefore, VC are neither currencies nor coins.”

This may be the first official warning from the government, the Central Bank on three different occasion cautioned the users, holders and traders about the potential financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks that they were exposing themselves to by investing in Virtual Currency including Bitcoin. Earlier this month, the RBI clarified that it has not given any licence/ authorization to any entity/ company to operate or deal with Bitcoin or any virtual currency.

Today, the government also made it clear that VCs are not legal tender and such VCs do not have any regulatory permission or protection in India. The investors and other participants therefore deal with such currency entirely at their risk.

The Indian government and RBI are not the only ones to caution investors against crypto currency. Leading financial analysts and economist have also raised red flag against it. Business magnet Warren Buffett called it a ‘real bubble’. Garrick Hileman, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, earlier said: “What’s happening right now has nothing to do with Bitcoin’s functionality as a currency – this is pure mania that’s taken hold.”

Source: Business Today

25 Dec 2017

Here’s why India has decided to crank up its crackdown against Bitcoins

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I-T department issues notices to 4 lakh high networth individuals across the country who were trading in bitcoins on exchanges

Here’s why India has decided to crank up its crackdown against Bitcoins

The rising craze for bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that has rocketed to shocking highs, has come under the government’s lens. Bitcoin can be an easy way to evade tax or snare unsuspecting small investors in ponzi schemes. The government has begun a crackdown on illegal uses of this unregulated virtual currency.

Widening its probe into bitcoin investments and trade, the Income Tax (IT) department is set to issue notices to 4 to 5 lakh high networth individuals (HNI) across the country who were trading on the exchanges of this unregulated virtual currency, the PTI reported.

The move comes after the IT department conducted survey operations last week at major bitcoin exchanges across the country on suspicion of alleged tax evasion. These operations were undertaken for gathering evidence for establishing the identity of investors and traders, the transaction undertaken by them, identity of counter-parties and related bank accounts.Earlier this month, there was a spurt in the value of bitcoin. It rose from under $10,000 at the start of the year to close to $20,000, before a sharp 20 per cent plunge within hours.

In addition to financial risks—the value of bitcoins has seen huge falls within hours—the regulators are worried about their use for illicit and illegal activities, subjecting the users to an unintentional breach of laws against money laundering and terror finance.Concerns also emanate from some unscrupulous entities indulging in illicit money-pooling activities—commonly known as ponzi schemes—with the promise of huge returns from investment in bitcoins and other variants, which they claim are minted through blockchain, a distributed ledger technology that was created to mint bitcoins and comprises of extremely complex algorithms with several thousand nodes for each chain.

There is a suspicion that some so-called cryptocurrencies and bitcoin investments may actually have nothing to do with any blockchain-developed virtual currency and are just new ways devised by scamsters to ride the wave and what they may be offering could be ‘e-ponzi’ schemes.

The financial regulators are worried that a complete lack of regulatory regime for such cryptocurrencies may give rise to ‘e-ponzi’ schemes.

The financial sector watchdogs, including RBI and Sebi, as also various government agencies, will soon get into a huddle to prepare a framework to safeguard the gullible investors and to clamp down on the fraudsters who may try to manipulate the regulatory gaps, PTI reported, quoting a senior official.

There are quite a few proposals on the table and those include applying to cryptocurrencies the existing regulations aimed at checking the spread of ponzi schemes or illicit money-pooling activities, money laundering and black money generation and circulation, another official said.

The jury is still out on whether such virtual currencies should be allowed as legal payment tender or investments, though there are also suggestions from some quarters for allowing them with necessary checks and balances.

24 Dec 2017

Demonetisation, GST will bring long-term benefits for Indian economy: IMF on Narendra Modi’s one-off policy moves

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The disruptive impact of demonetisation announced last year is a temporary phenomenon and the scrapping of the high-value currency would bring “permanent and substantial benefits”, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In an interview to CNBC TV18, IMF Economic Counsellor and Director of Research Maurice Obstfeld said that although demonetisation, as well as implementation of the Goods and Services tax (GST) caused short-term disruptions, both measures would bring long-term benefits.

“The costs of demonetisation are largely temporary and we see permanent and substantial benefits accruing from the move,” Obstfeld said.

Demonetisation caused long queues outside banks.

Demonetisation caused long queues outside banks.

“Both demonetisation and the GST introduction will bring long-term benefits, though these caused short-term disruption,” he said.

The IMF Chief Economist described GST as a “work in progress” to which the Indian economy is “gradually adjusting”.

With businesses going into a “destocking” mode on inventories in anticipation of the GST rollout from July 1, sluggish manufacturing growth, among other factors, pulled down growth in the Indian economy during the first quarter of this fiscal to 5.7 percent, clocking the lowest GDP growth rate under the Narendra Modi dispensation.

Breaking a five-quarter slump, however, a rise in manufacturing sector output pushed the growth rate higher to 6.3 percent during the second quarter (July-September) of 2017-18.

Obstfeld also listed some of the reforms being undertaken by the Indian government that have impressed the multilateral agencies.

“The government has taken important first steps like bringing in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, which helped India improve its position substantially in the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ rankings,” he said.

He also mentioned the recent recapitalisation plan for state-run banks announced by the government and the Asset Quality Review of commercial banks earlier ordered by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Both measures are designed to address the issue of massive non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans, accumulated in the Indian banking system that have crossed a staggering Rs 8.5 lakh crore.

In a report released in Washington on Thursday, the IMF cautioned that the high volume of NPAs and the slow pace of mending corporate balance sheets are holding back investment and growth in India even though structural reforms have helped the nation record stronger growth.

The IMF’s Financial System Stability Assessment (FSSA) for India said that overall “India’s key banks appear resilient, but the system is subject to considerable vulnerabilities”.

“The financial sector is facing considerable challenges, and economic growth has recently slowed down,” the report said.

“High non-performing assets and slow deleveraging and repair of corporate balance sheets are testing the resilience of the banking system, and holding back investment and growth.”

“Stress tests show that… a group of public sector banks are highly vulnerable to further declines in asset quality and higher provisioning needs,” it added.

Source: FirstPost

24 Dec 2017

117 companies raise Rs 62k cr via IPOs in Apr-Nov FY18, highest in 5 years

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As many as 117 companies have garnered a staggering Rs 62,736 crore through IPOs in the first eight months of Financial Year 2017-18, much higher than the cumulative amount raised in the last five fiscals, Parliament was informed on Friday.

These 117 initial public offers (IPOs) include 28 main- board public offers and the remaining for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Minister of State for Finance Pon Radhakrishnan said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.


During April-November of 2017-18 fiscal, a total of 117 companies raised Rs 62,736 crore through IPO route. This was much more than the cumulative amount of Rs 62,147 crore garnered in the last five financial years.

Besides, the ongoing fiscal has witnessed the highest IPO activity since 2007-08, when companies had mopped up Rs 52,219 crore through the route.

The IPO chart in this fiscal is led by General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) that garnered over Rs 11,176 crore. This was the largest public float by any firm after the October 2010 offer by Coal India which raised Rs 15,000 crore.

GIC is followed by New India Assurance Company that raised Rs 9,467 crore, HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company (Rs 8,695 crore) SBI Life Insurance Company (Rs 8,386 crore) and ICICI Lombard General Insurance (Rs 5,700 crore).

Individually, a total of 106 firms had garnered Rs 29,104 crore in the entire 2016-17, while 74 companies had raised Rs 14,185 crore in 2015-16.

Further, 46 firms had mopped up Rs 3,039 crore in 2014- 15, 40 companies had raised Rs 8,692 crore in 2013-14 and 33 firms had raked in Rs 6,497 crore in 2012-13.

 

Source: Business Standard

19 Dec 2017

I-T notices to 4-5 lakh individuals trading in bitcoins across the country

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I-T department is set to issue notices to 4 to 5 lakh high networth individuals across the country who were trading in bitcoins on exchanges. Last week, the department had conducted surveys across major cities

Widening its probe into bitcoin investments and trade, the Income Tax (I-T) department is set to issue notices to 4 to 5 lakh high networth individuals (HNI) across the country who were trading on the exchanges of this unregulated virtual currency.

The taxman had conducted surveys at nine such exchanges last week to check instances of tax evasion.

The department, official sources said, found that out of the estimated 20 lakh entities registered on these exchanges, about 4 to 5 lakh were “operational” and indulging in transactions and investments.

Sources told PTI that the Bengaluru investigation wing of the tax department, which supervised last week’s operations, has now dispatched the information of the individuals and entities found on these databases to eight other such wings across the country for a detailed probe.

“Those individuals and entities whose records were recovered by the department are now being probed under tax evasion charges. Notices are being issued and they will have to pay capital gains tax on the bitcoin investments and trade,” a senior official privy to the operation said.

About 4-5 lakh HNIs and their businesses are being issued notices which will first seek their relevant financial details and subsequently establish the tax demand, if any, he said.

As the bitcoins or the virtual currencies (VCs) are illegal and unregulated in the country as of now, the IT department has taken action as per the existing provisions, they said.

The survey operations conducted last week, under section 133 A of the Income Tax Act, were undertaken for “gathering evidence for establishing the identity of investors and traders, the transaction undertaken by them, identity of counter-parties, related bank accounts used, among others,” they said.

A survey action under the IT law pertains to the tax officials making a surprise visit to the business premises of the party under action but not their residential ones. The trigger for the action is understood to be the huge spike being registered in the value of bitcoins and other virtual currencies in the recent past.

Suspected black money being converted into white, post demonetisation, through the use of bitcoins was also under the department’s scanner, officials said. Earlier this month, there was a spurt in the value of a bitcoin. It rose from under $10,000 at the start of the year to close to $20,000, before a sharp 20 per cent plunge within hours.

Bitcoin, a virtual currency, is not regulated in the country and its circulation has been a cause for concern among central bankers the world over for quite a while now.

 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also cautioned users, holders and traders of virtual currencies. The government has also said that it does not recognise ‘crypto-currency’ as legal tender in India. In March, the Union finance ministry constituted an Inter-Disciplinary Committee to take stock of the present status of virtual currencies both in India and globally and suggest measures for dealing with them.

The committee has submitted its report which is being examined.

The RBI has cleared its stand on cryptocurrencies since long. “There is no underlying or backing of any asset for VCs. As such, their value seems to be a matter of speculation. Huge volatility in the value of VCs has been noticed in the recent past. Thus, the users are exposed to potential losses on account of such volatility in value,” the central bank had said in a December 24, 2013 note.
19 Dec 2017

GST Council makes inter-state e-way bill compulsory from February 1, 2018

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The rules for implementation of nationwide e-way bill system for inter-state movement of goods on a compulsory basis will be notified with effect from February 1, 2018. This will bring uniformity across states for seamless inter-state movement of goods,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

Ferrying goods across states may get quicker as the GST Council today decided to make rollout of all India electronic-way bill compulsory from February 1, two months ahead of the earlier plan.

 

“The rules for implementation of nationwide e-way bill system for inter-state movement of goods on a compulsory basis will be notified with effect from February 1, 2018. This will bring uniformity across states for seamless inter-state movement of goods,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

 

The decision comes after the Council, headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley, met earlier during the day via video conference, to decide upon the advancement of the implementation of e-way bill under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

 

Under GST rules, ferrying goods worth more than Rs 50,000 within or outside a state will require securing an electronic-way or e-way bill by prior online registration of the consignment.

To generate an e-way bill, the supplier and transporter will have to upload details on the GST Network portal, after which a unique e-way bill number (EBN) will be made available to the supplier, the recipient and the transporter on the common portal.

 

The Council had decided that till such time as the national e-way Bill is ready, the states were authorised to continue their own separate e-way bill systems. The finance minister had said that system will be introduced in a staggered manner, with effect from January 1, 2018, adding that the document will be made applicable on an all-India basis from April 1.

 

“It was represented by the trade and transporters that this (lack of national e-way bill) is causing undue hardship in the inter-state movement of goods and therefore, bringing in an early all India system of e-way Bill has become a necessity,” the ministry said.

 

As a nationwide e-way bill system will be ready for implementation on a trial basis by January 16, transporters can start using this system on a voluntary basis from the same date, it said.

 

While the system for both inter and intra-State e-way bill generation will be ready next month, the Council decided that states may choose their own timings for implementation of the document for intra-state movement of goods on any date before 1st June, 2018.

 

“There are certain States which are already having system of e-way bill for intra-state as well as inter-state movement and some of those states can be early adopters of national e-way Bill system for intra-state movement also. But in any case, the uniform system of e-way bill for inter-state as well as intra-State movement will be implemented across the country by 1st June, 2018,” the statement said.

 

According to Abhishek A Rastogi, Partner, Khaitan & Co, the government should check the system thoroughly so that there is no disruption in movement of goods.

 

“The fair balance for mandatory inter-state e-way bill compliance from February 1 will have to be maintained. This compliance will reduce tax evasions but may pose some problems for businesses in movement of goods…while compulsory intra-state e-way bill compliance will happen from June 1, the government should be clear whether these provisions will be applicable for supplies which are out of the GST net,” Rastogi said.

 

Another expert said that the immediate call to advance the implementation of e-way bill reflects that some serious gaps in the system have been noticed by the government.

“The downfall in the revenue on account of GST, goods crossing the state borders unaccountable by few taxpayers, etc. could be the reasons for the early implementation of e-waybill as this form will forcefully make the taxpayer accountable in the absence of matching of invoices which is currently postponed,” Ansh Bhargava, Head Growth & Strategy, Taxmann said.

 

Source: MoneyControl.com

10 Dec 2017

GST data: CBEC orders taxmen to intensify efforts against uncooperative taxpayers

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After receiving ground reports of difficulty faced by tax officials in collecting comparative data from unwilling assessees, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has written to all commissioners urging them to intensify their efforts and challenge the objections raised by taxpayers in sharing information.

After receiving ground reports of difficulty faced by tax officials in collecting comparative data from unwilling assessees, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has written to all commissioners urging them to intensify their efforts and challenge the objections raised by taxpayers in sharing information. As FE reported earlier, CBEC had asked tax commissioners to collect granular data of taxes paid and credit availed by assessees under the goods and services tax (GST) for the July-October period and compare the same with data from the corresponding period of last fiscal. This, the board hopes, will bring out any anomalies in tax payment and utilisation of input tax credits (ITC), including transitional credit, by taxpayers. “When ‘resourceful officers’ are instructed by the special secretary to get the requisite data using their unjustified pressure, he seems to have bureaucratic overreach. Tone and tenor of the letter is such, as if, CBEC has issued an indictment order against chartered accountants on a holiday. Under digital India programme, the government is spending billions to control tax terrorism by eliminating interface of tax officers with taxpayers, here we witness complete negation of such policies,” Rajat Mohan, partner at AMRG & Associates, said.

CBEC has mentioned certain objections raised by the taxpayers in sharing the required information and also suggested ways to counter such resistance. For instance, some assessees have claimed that their chartered accountant (CA) was out of station and hence data couldn’t be shared. In his letter, CBEC member John Joseph said that it was improbable for CAs to go on long leave in the month of December as they would be busy filing I-T returns, hence they should be contacted and data should be collected from them.

“The name of the CAs who are not cooperating with the department along with the name of the name of the companies being handled by them may be intimated to his office,” the board said in the latest missive to field staff.Further, some assessees have said that they come under the jurisdiction of the states’ administration and would not share data with central officials. Responding to this, the letter said: “The list of such assessees who refuse to part with the data, may be indicated and reported to this office. However, it is felt that if the officer is resourceful then he/she should be able to collect the data.”

While CBEC had earlier provided tax filing data collected through the summarised return GSTR-3b with all the commissionerates, it has now also provided them with information on transitional credit claimed by assessees through the TRAN-I forms. “Comparison of data should be possible now as you are being supplied with the GSTN data on trans credit. Please analyse the data, report discrepancies/disputed credit if any along with reasons for the same,” the letter said. Officials tasked with collecting data have said that since assessees are being asked for data informally without being under investigation, the taxpayers are within their right to refuse to share such information. This has presented a twin problem for officials tasked with the exercise, as assessees can’t be forced to share the information while the task itself requires substantial time.

On the basis of data shared with field formations, CBEC wants the top 100 assessees to be selected by each of the commissionerates based on central excise and service tax revenue of FY 17 for revenue analysis. Each official would be given a maximum of two taxpayers for detailed analysis. The analysis would be based on central GST, state GST, integrated GST and compensation cess paid by assessees against pre-GST revenue of the corresponding period. In cases where it is possible, the officials would also take VAT and CST revenue into account. Further, these will include the pattern and quantum of ITC availed and CGST utilised along with transitional credit availed in form TRAN I and its comparison with the pre-GST period. In their analysis, the officials must also note any unusual ITC claimed, which can be detected by comparing the TRAN 1 ITC availed with the average ITC balance during pre-GST. “This analysis should clearly bring out any reason for variation in total duty/tax payable during respective periods,” the official quoted above said.

Additionally, the board has directed the commissioners to collect data only in the excel format, without any change in the format provided by the department. The analysis of the data is to be submitted to the board, which will be taken up for discussion this Saturday when the revenue secretary meets state and central tax officials for a reviewing GST collections. A tax official said that the department wasn’t convinced about the validity of the ITC claims, which was one of the main reasons for lower GST mop-up in October. The department has earlier undertaken verification of large quantum of transitional credit — amounting to Rs.65,000 crore, claimed by assessees.

 

Source: Financial Express