Inviting Authors to new Blog on GST

Hi Friends,
I welcome you all to my new blog on Goods and Service Tax (GST). Where all the News, Articles, Explanation, Discussion about new Tax "GST" shall be posted.

This shall be my 3rd blog after 

1. xbrl for Indian CA - 18,000 Visitors (As on 29th July 2014)
2. LBT Thane - 1,35,000 Visitors (As on 29th July 2014)

My others small blogs include - LBT Books (For LBT books), Nihit sir direct Tax (Under construction), Set balance in Life (Motivation Articles and Poems by Dad)  Which have combined visitors for around 10,000 as on 1st July 2014.

This blog shall be a little different than my earlier blogs, instead of me only posting all articles, I invite all experts in Indirect Taxation to be Authors of this blog and post their articles here and earn recognition of themselves.

The authors shall be posting their articles from their own accounts, Their names shall be automatically appear near their articles by Blogger. Their names shall also appear when any post appears in Google Search Results or any Search engine for that matter.

The following are the requirements for becoming a author for this blog

1. A Google account is a must. If you have a Gmail then you have a Google account already. Just visit plus.google.com to add your photo and details about yourself as this profile shall be linked when you become author.
2. Knowledge about Indirect tax (CA, Advocate, CS, Tax Practitioner, CA Final Student)
3. Some knowledge about blogger is recommended. But if you have a decent android phone then No knowledge about blogger would do. As there is an app for posting to blogger directly though the phone and let me inform you that learning blogger is not at all difficult. It is just like using MS word online.
4. That's all

Interested persons can send me a message on Google Plus or Facebook or Fill in the Contact Me form on the blog.

I have just created this blog, so not have applied any customizations to this blog. In future this blog shall definitely look awesome then what is present today. To just have a glimpse of this visit my recently customized Blog - Set Balance In Life     

Read more ...

Confusion Clearing : Do we still have to pay LBT?

Yesterday I attended a seminar on Changes in Taxation by Budget 2014, I was really surprised to hear a conversation between two Chartered Accountants. The surprise was more as those who were talking were CA practicing for more than a decade. [Pls don't take this as Offense to any Profession]

1st:  Have a little respite, now that we don't have to make LBT payments every month.
2nd: The payment schedule has changed?
1st : No, Didn't you heard that LBT was getting demolished?
2nd: Ya, Ya, have read in the newspaper.
1st : LBT is getting replaced by VAT from August 2014
2nd: Wow, that's great. I shall also tell my clients about this. Thanks.

My observations, Newspapers say something. We understand something. We say to others something. Then people form a completely different outlook and notion. After this, taxation department forms a even more different picture of all the tax payers.

So, this post I am writing to clear the confusion regarding LBT applicability.
Q : Is LBT gone?
A : No. LBT is still applicable and shall remain applicable unless there is notification regarding cancellation of LBT.

Q : I have heard too that from July/ August onwards we don't have to pay LBT
A : This is just rumors. LBT has to be paid even after July/ August

Q : If LBT goes, do we still have to file LBT returns?
A : Yes, even if LBT is scraped, Returns for the period will have to be filled.

Read more ...

LBT on Electricity?

The standing committee members on Saturday (20th July 2014)  took a tough stand by asking the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to bring supply of electricity under the ambit of Local Body Tax (LBT). Terming supply of electricity as a commercial activity, the members said the power franchisee for the city "GTL Urja" should pay the tax.

Read more ...

Kolhapur (KMC) started the procedure of sealing the bank accounts

A harsh spet by KMC. The Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) started the procedure of sealing the bank accounts of 581 traders from Saturday, with a significant number of traders who still remain out of the local body tax (LBT) ambit taking a toll on the civic body's coffers.

Only 16,500 traders out of the 21,000 that were handed out trading licences by the KMC have been brought under the net of Local Body Tax (LBT). The KMC had recently issued notices to 906 traders for their failure to submit trading details and evading tax. Of these, only 325 traders later paid the tax that helped KMC rake in Rs 2.39 crore in four days since July 16. As on July 18, for the current financial year, the KMC has raked in Rs 22 crore from the tax, against a target of Rs 83 crore.

Read more ...

No entry to goods without LBT registration in Nagpur

For the first time in the last 15 months, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has come up with a bold decision to crack whip on the traders neglecting registration under local body tax (LBT) and also evading tax amount. From Monday, traders not having LBT registration will not be permitted to bring goods in the city.

Read more ...

New tax proposed in place of LBT

The Maharashtra government is actively considering abolishing local body tax (LBT) and octroi in the state and putting in their place a 2.5-3% surcharge on value added tax (VAT). 

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said at an event on Tuesday that there is a strong demand for LBT's elimination. "We have no option but to go ahead with an increased VAT. We will have to make requisite changes in the law, following which the official announcement will be made," he said.
The CM noted that traders had sought a surcharge of 1% on VAT, but this could not be acceded to since it would not "cover the amount the local bodies were getting through octroi and local body tax".  LBT is the tax imposed by local municipal bodies on the entry of goods into a "local area for consumption, use or sale therein".

Barring in Mumbai, LBT has replaced octroi across Maharashtra. The state is projected to earn about Rs 14,000 crore through LBT in the current financial year. Its revenue from VAT, meanwhile, is reported to be close to Rs 60,000 crore.  Mohan Gurnani, president of the Federation of Associations of Maharashtra, said traders are ready "to pay tax, but we want the system to be free of corruption and red tape". He added that a flat 2.5-3% surcharge on different VAT slabs would raise prices of goods considerably, so "we are proposing a 20% hike on each VAT slab".  Traders want the government to calculate 20% of each slab percentage separately and increase the slab individually by that result. But government officials maintained that the formula suggested by traders would put a greater burden on common consumers than the way out being actively considered by the state. 

Source

Read more ...