Summary of Important Amendments by FA 2015 in Chapter IV-E(Capital Gains)

MAT on FII – The Commotion and conciliation

In the budget for the FY 2015-16, finance minister Arun jaitely came up with an amendment in section 115JB of the Income tax act, 1961. The proposed amendment to section 115JB, provided that capital gains arising to the foreign companies from the sale of securities shall not be considered for the purpose of calculation of book profit for MAT calculation with effect from 01.04.2016.  Following this, the Income tax authorities in April 2015, started issuing show cause notices to many Foreign Institutional Investors asking them to give reason as to why MAT should not be levied on the capital gains made by the FII-s in the period prior to 01.04.2016. This move of the Indian income tax authorities came as crippling blow for the FII-s, as this would result in the heavy outflow of funds to the FII-s. The total amount of tax demanded amounted to the tune of Rs. 602.83 Crores. After the sub-prime crisis of 2008 in the US, India was a net receiver of foreign funds. Particularly, every year after 2008 witnessed larger capital inflows into India by the FII-s and FPI-s than the years preceding 2008. This behavior of the foreign funds demonstrates the growing confidence of global investors on India post the sub-prime crisis the followed up recession across the world (FPI/FII Investment Details: Financial Year). But the flurry of tax notices came as a dent on the investor’s confidence.

In the late April of 2015, CBDT issued a circular that the FII-s and FPI-s from countries with whom, India has entered into Double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) can claim the benefit of the treaty to exempt capital gains from taxation. This provided a respite to a section of investors, who belonged to those nations with whom India has entered into DTAA to exempt capital gains. To this category belong nations such as Mauritius, Singapore. But the DTAA with countries like US and UK were devoid of a clause, which would exempt the citizens of those countries from taxing capital gains that arise in India. Interestingly, many major players belong to this group of nations. This meant a potential threat of FII-s and FPI-s pulling out of the country. If they pull out, the loss to India in terms of foreign exchange outflows and the resulting depreciation of INR would be heavy.

In the wake of growing criticisms against the sudden slapping of notices on FII-s, the government constituted a committee headed by Justice A.P. Shah with CA.Girish Ahuja and Ashok lahiri, former finance secretary as the members. The committee made a detailed analysis of this legislative provision and the path it has travelled since its incorporation in the Income tax act in the year 1996. The committee highlighted the perpetuating confusion in the matter of applicability of MAT. It cited the shifting stances taken by various authorities on this issue.

“While the Delhi Bench of the ITAT in Bank of Toyko-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd47 was clear that MAT provisions do not apply to foreign companies per se, the AAR in Timken48 and Praxair Pacific Ltd.49 held that MAT provisions only apply to foreign companies with a place of business or PE in India. Conversely, two years later, the AAR in Castleton50and ZD51took the opposite view to rule that MAT provisions applied to all companies, including foreign companies, regardless of whether they had established a place of business/PE in India, or the applicability of provisions of the Companies Act, 1956.”

The committee recommended that MAT shall not be made applicable to FII-s and FPI-s citing several grounds such as:

• In the absence of any computational mechanism for the computation of book profits of FII-s or FPI-s, the charging provision of Section 115(1) fails.

•  Any sudden change in interpretation of tax laws resulting in tax liability would trigger off the investors to exit the fund causing damage to the fund. Thus tax certainty is essential premise that must be offered in the investing destination.

• In all the born years of MAT, it has never been levied on FII-s or FPI-s

• Internationally, none of the other BRIC countries levy MAT

•  Some of the OECD countries levy MAT. But MAT is levied on foreign countries, only when it has a physical presence in that country.

Taking cognizance of the recommendations of the A.P.Shah committee report, the government instructed the income tax authorities to close the pending the cases against the FII-s and FPI-s. On December 23, 2015, CBDT vide its letter announced that the Finance bill, 2016, will incorporate the provisions of non-applicability of MAT to FII-s, FPI-s and also the Foreign companies.

Works Cited

FPI/FII Investment Details: Financial Year. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.fpi.nsdl.co.in: https://www.fpi.nsdl.co.in/web/Reports/Yearwise.aspx?RptType=5.

                                                                                                                                                                                                

Macro to copy the sum of selected cells on selection

Object of the Macro : To get copied to the clipboard, the sum of the cells selected in a worksheet so that it can pasted directly without having to sum the numbers in the cell, copy the sum and then paste.

Macro:  

Sub CopySum()

Dim xOb As New DataObject

xOb.Clear

xOb.SetText Application.WorksheetFunction.Sum(Application.ActiveWindow.RangeSelection)

xOb.PutInClipboard

End Sub

If the macro throws a compile error that the "User-defined type not defined", here's the way-out

Open References in Word VBA

Click on Browse

Pick up this file and click Open

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\FM20.DLL 

Courtesy: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/mystery-compile-error-user-defined-type-not/b0c07a65-9f0c-43f1-a181-12c95db0ac8d

Summary of Important Amendments by FA 2015 in Chapter IV-D (PGBP)

PS: I understand the image is not clear to read, when downloaded. Unfortunately, the blogger doesn't support more clarity. Kindly mail at maildgowtham@gmail.com, in case you need a readable version of the document in pdf format.

Watering down to a Worldly life?

Carnatic Music is a form of art that is majorly representative of Bhakthi yoga, more specifically, Charanagatham or Path of complete surrender to the Paramatma.

What would be more appealing to a devotee among the following?

1. A Discourser preaching ' God is present everywhere. But we haven’t realised that'

or

2. Second Charanam of the Pancharatna krithi 'Dudukugala' that reads as:

                       "Sakala Bhuthamula Yandu Neevai Yunda ga Mathile ka poyina "                                

                         "Even though you exist everywhere, I didn’t realize your presence. "

Indubitably, it is the second.

That explains why ascetics like Sadhasiva bramendral, Surdas, Narayana Theerthar and other great Vaggeyakaras , who were said to be remained in the blissful state most of the times experiencing the  saanithyam of paramatma chose to document their philosophical thinkings as Carnatic compositions.

But today in the garb of several  panis or styles, if we are compromising on the impression that sahityams could make on us by accentuating on technical aspects, I think we are missing something.
And that something is what the ancient composers had regarded as larger than their life.

It is not my inclination towards music, which sowed the feel of  Charangatham in me. But it was the other way round. In fact, compositions like Pibare ramarasam, Nanadi bradhuku took me a step closer  to Charanagatham.

But with the onset of sophisticated taste, have we become more worldly and material that we inadvertently shift our attention on lighter things.? I think, this is a question that should be asked periodically to keep a check on unrestrained digression to the material world by feeding our ever-thriving taste . Nonetheless, Carnatic music is the best way to de-stress, given that it can never sow a single mean thought as is the case with other forms of entertainment today .

Realism in Religion

    ‘ Punarapi Jananam Punarapi Maranam

     Punarapi Jananii Jathare Shayanam

     Iha Samsaare Bahudustaare

    Kripayaa Apaare Paahi Muraare’

This is the 22^nd verse of Bhajagovindham. When strictly interpreted this sloka gives the meaning ‘ Oh Lord Murari ! Please relieve me from the burden of life in this material world, where birth, death, nap in the mother’s womb happens again and again’.

When we were at our kindergarden our teachers would have taught us the English Alphabets in the fashion “ ‘A‘ for ‘Apple’ “ , “ ‘B’ for ‘Boy’ “. The end was to make the students memorise ‘A’. ‘Apple’ was just a means to support their memorisation of the alphabet ‘A’.  At the end of the day, the teachers would have ensured that the alphabet ‘A’ has got established in our mind.

In the similar lines, is it sensible on our part to interpret the words of the Shri Adhishankara so emblematically that the metaphor stands in our mind more alive than the central point.

There arises the question what can it mean more? What else can be its central point?

Can’t we have this way?

Given that none has had the fortune of verifying the thesis of ‘Life after death’, why don’t we construe it perceptibly around human emotions, which very much analogically to the stated metaphor of birth and death undergoes crests and troughs. We feel on cloud nine one day and dismal the other day. This is a cycle, which everyone undergoes regularly.

Why not we interpret “Oh Murare! Rescue me from the upsurge and declension of my emotional cycle and help me stay equanimous in all circumstances”

In fact , Sloka 38, Chapter 2 of Bhagavath gita makes a similar proposition

                           " Sukha dhuke same krithva Labalabhau jayajayouv                            
Thato yudhayayujyasva Naivam paapamavapsyasi

          Treat pleasure and sorrow and gain and loss equally.
 Don't fight for the sake of winning the war.

        By following this path you will not end up with sins.      "

Religions are institutions developed by human beings to facilitate an comfortable life freeing ourselves from the shortcomings associated with the qualities we inherited from our origin, a nomadic savagery. The end goal of every religion is to help peaceful coexistence of beings and sustenance of life through establishing emotional stability. Put simply, to make Man’s living on this earth seamless. To that end, sacred scriptures should be interpreted. Not to complicate things by thinking things beyond comprehension and to miss the practicable lessons for life that could be easily banked on with the help of the great treasures like Vedas and Upanishads.

                                                                               

ஸ்தம்பித்த ப்ரவாஹம்

சில வரிகளின் தாக்கம் நம்மை ஆழ்கடலின் அடியில் அமையும் அமைதிக்கு நம்மை இட்டு செல்லும் வரம் பெற்றவை.

சென்ற வாரம் பாரதியின் கவிதைகளை புரட்டிபார்த்துகொண்டிரிந்தேன். அவரது ஸ்வயசரிதையின் தொடக்கத்தில் அவர் குறிபிட்டுள்ள இந்த பட்டினத்து பிள்ளையின் ஒரு வரியும் என்னை அந்நிலைபடுதியது.

" பொய்யாய் கனவாய் பழங்கதையாய் மெல்ல போனதுவே "

தியாகராஜரின் பஞ்சரத்ன கிருதிகளில் ஒன்றான " ஜகதானந்தகாரக" - வில், ஸ்ரீ தியாகராஜர் 4-வது சரணத்தில் ராமனை " பாதஜித மௌனி சாபா" என பாடி இருப்பார். அதற்கு பொருள் பாதத்தல் சாப விமோசனம் அளித்தவன் என்பது.

பாரதியின் வரிகளையும் அவரது எண்ணவுலகின் மகத்துவத்தை எண்ணி பார்கையில் எனக்கு பாரதியை "பதவிஜித மௌனி சாபா" (பதம் - சொற்கள்) என  அழைக்க தோன்றுகிறது.