The protest is being called ‘Speechless Animals and Helpless Farmers’ by the farmers association. The PKI has vowed to take the protest to other districts of the province and later move towards the federal capital….reports Asian Lite News
Farmers in Pakistan have announced to take to streets next week as the Imran Khan government imposed taxes on the agriculture sector, rising prices of fertilisers and other farm inputs, reported local media.
Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) activists, along with their children, livestock and poultry will protest on February 14 in Multan against the imposition of taxes on the agriculture sector, costlier fertiliser and other farm inputs, reported Dawn.
The protest is being called ‘Speechless Animals and Helpless Farmers’ by the farmers association. The PKI has vowed to take the protest to other districts of the province and later move towards the federal capital.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan (India Narrative_IANS)
PKI chief Khalid Mahmood Khokhar said that the farmer next week on Monday will be mourning to save the future of their children, coming generations and the economy of their beloved motherland.
Khokhar also said that the representatives of the farmers held a series of meetings with the government authorities to protest a 17 per cent general sales tax on farm produce.
They also opposed 3 per cent GST on seeds, high rates of electricity billing for tubewells, manifold increase in diesel and fertiliser prices in the wake of Supplementary Finance Bill 2021 but to no avail as they were told the steps were being taken on IMF directions.
Farmers argue that as they have never benefited from the loans and borrowings by the government from the IMF, why they are forced to pay high taxes on seeds, electricity and diesel as per demands of international money lenders, according to Dawn. (ANI)
R.C. Joshi, a senior member of the family, says that he is a retired army officer and was expecting some exemption in the tax slab for senior citizens but this year’s Budget did not provide any tax exemption…reports Asian Lite News
A middle-class family living in east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar says that there was nothing special in this year’s Union Budget failing to provide any tax relief for household kitchens, presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday.
The middle class says that there was fear among the majority of the people that the Union government may increase direct taxes which ultimately did not happen.
The family says that Tuesday’s Budget was a “normal one” but said that a lot more could have been done by the Union government.
Saroj, a housewife, says that there is no reduction in cooking gas, oil and vegetables prices. The prices of pulses and foodgrains have not been reduced so being a housewife, she is not satisfied with this year’s budget.
R.C. Joshi, a senior member of the family, says that he is a retired army officer and was expecting some exemption in the tax slab for senior citizens but this year’s Budget did not provide any tax exemption.
He said, “The economy will be boosted from this year’s Budget, but how many more years will it take to create new jobs is difficult to comment at present. Nothing has been done for the limit on any one income tax slab. If the common man does not have enough savings, then how will he/she buy anything. The purchasing power of people will get automatically reduced. Emphasis has been laid on boosting infrastructure such as construction of 25,000-km road. I can’t comment how long will the common man avail its benefit. No concrete measures have been taken by the Union government for those people who have lost their jobs or whose salaries have been slashed during the Covid-19 infection.”
Radhika, another member of the same family, said that giving tax concession to an Anganwadi woman from a middle-class family will not yield any benefits. “There should be a reduction in the prices of ration and cooking gas in households, then only some respite will be available. Housewives had high expectations from the Modi government which seem to be unfulfilled by this budget.”
Another family member, Pooja, says that there is some tax relief announced in the budget such as clothes becoming cheaper, prices of items like shoes coming down but the prices of vegetables, grocery etc used in daily life need to becomes cheaper, only then we would have appreciated the Budget.
Achin, a youth from the same family, says, “There is nothing much for the youth in the Budget by lowering mobile phone prices. I run a stationery shop where all items have become expensive. The tax levied on stationery items has increased a lot, they should have been reduced. The Union government should have announced some tax relief. The ability to avail loans will only increase for the lower-income families without much relief for the middle class.”
Diksha, a chartered accountant student, says that the budget is only aimed at economic and industrial growth. “Nothing happens for the middle class anyways. Nothing has become cheaper nor expensive either, this is the special takeaway of this budget. According to me, the taxes have not been hiked, though prices of items like clothes, slippers, shoes etc have become cheaper which bodes well for the country’s economy moving ahead. All these daily use commodities are extremely important for a family. This is an average budget and if implemented properly, this could lead to economic growth. This budget is good for the next 25 years.”
There have been no changes announced in the income tax slabs for the Budget 2022-23.
In contrast, the government accepted five recommendations made by the OTS in its second report on CGT — which covered much more narrow, technical issues…reports Asian Lite News.
The government has shelved proposals to raise capital gains tax rates to align them with income tax and slash the levy’s annual allowance, moves that would have hit the wealthy.
In the past year, the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), a statutory body, has published two reports into CGT at the behest of chancellor Rishi Sunak and concluded that the government should consider reforming it.
But on Tuesday, in a letter to the OTS, the Treasury passed over the suggestions made by the group in its first report on CGT, which included the proposal to consider raising the rates and lowering the allowance — signalling that the recommendations are unlikely to be implemented any time soon.
“These reforms would involve a number of wider policy trade-offs and so careful thought must be given to the impact that they would have on taxpayers, as well as any additional administrative burden on HMRC,” wrote Lucy Frazer, financial secretary to the Treasury, referring to the tax authority. “The government will continue to keep the tax system under constant review to ensure it is simple and efficient.”
The UC Taper withdraws support as people work more hours.
The first £12,300 of capital gains each year is exempt from tax. CGT is charged at 10 per cent for basic rate taxpayers and 20 per cent for higher and additional rate taxpayers, or 18 per cent and 28 per cent respectively on residential property. In contrast, income tax is charged at a basic rate of 20 per cent, rising to 40 per cent and 45 per cent for higher and additional taxpayers, Financial Times reported.
In contrast, the government accepted five recommendations made by the OTS in its second report on CGT — which covered much more narrow, technical issues. These included an agreement to extend the time divorcing and separating couples have to transfer assets between them without paying the levy. Married couples and civil partners can transfer assets without any CGT being liable, but people getting divorced can only do so up until the end of the tax year in which they separated.
The vote win provides some respite for Johnson after his government came in for heavy criticism over its handling of Afghanistan, reports Asian Lite News
Lawmakers backed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to raise taxes in a parliamentary vote on Wednesday, clearing the way to direct more funds into the country’s creaking health and social care system.
Johnson had angered some members of his governing party by breaking election promises not to increase taxes, and only set out the full plan on Tuesday. Despite the backlash his party, with a working majority of 83, won the vote 319 to 248.
Under the proposal, the rate of National Insurance payroll taxes paid by both workers and employers will rise by 1.25 percentage points, with the same increase also applied to the tax on shareholder dividends.
It is expected to raise 12 billion pounds ($17 billion) a year.
The extra funds will go into Britain’s social care system, where costs are projected to double as the population ages over the next two decades.
They will also be used to tackle waiting lists within the state-run National Health Service after it directed its resources onto COVID-19 during the pandemic, leaving millions of people waiting months for treatment.
Politicians have tried for years to find a way to pay for social care, though successive Conservative and Labour prime ministers have ducked the issue because they feared it would anger voters and their parties.
For Johnson, tackling the problem offers a possible way to broaden his domestic legacy, although critics have said his plan does not go far enough. They say it will also unfairly increase the tax burden on working-age British people.
The vote win does, however, provide some respite for Johnson after his government came in for heavy criticism over its handling of Afghanistan. Five Conservative lawmakers voted against the plan while others abstained.
Earlier, Johnson had said that his plan – which includes capping care costs in England at £86,000 – was broad-based and progressive according to the economic think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
“The plan deals – after decades – with catastrophic costs faced by millions of people, the risks that they face, the threat they could face the loss of their homes, their possessions, their ability to pass on anything to their children,” he said.
He added it was the first time the state had stepped in to deal with the threat of such costs and meant insurance companies would now be able to help protect people against the costs of care.
The key proposals of the new plan are:
People will no longer pay more than £86,000 in care costs – not including food and accommodation – over their lifetime, from October 2023
Once people have reached this cap, ongoing costs for personal care will be paid for by local authorities
Those with between £20,000 and £100,000 in assets will get means-tested help towards costs from their local council
Those with less than £20,000 will not have to pay towards care costs from their assets at all, but might have to contribute from their income
The tax will be raised through a 1.25 percentage point rise in National Insurance – which working people and their employers pay to ensure benefits like the state pension – from next April
This will cost £255 a year for someone earning £30,000, and £505 a year for someone on £50,000, the government says.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it will raise £12bn a year which will be used to tackle the health backlog caused by the Covid pandemic and boost social care, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
The House of Commons will vote later on whether to raise National Insurance to fund health and social care, a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled the manifesto-breaking historic reform plans.
Johnson said it will raise £12bn a year which will be used to tackle the health backlog caused by the Covid pandemic and boost social care, the BBC reported.
He described the plan, which includes capping care costs in England at £86,000, as “reasonable and fair”.
From April 2022, the government will introduce a new, nation-wide 1.25 per cent Health and Social Care Levy, ringfenced for health and social care. This will be based on National Insurance contributions (NICs) and from 2023 will be legislatively separate, the government has announced.
To ensure everyone contributes fairly, all working adults, including those over the state pension age, will pay the levy and the rates of dividend tax will also increase by 1.25% to help fund this package.
Sir Keir Starmer
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer described the plan is a “sticking plaster”, while leaders in social care have warned the plan will not address current problems, BBC reported.
The government is investing £36 billion will be invested in the health and care system over the next three years, to ensure the long term resource.
Speaking in the House, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said: “You can’t fix the Covid backlogs without giving the NHS the money it needs. You can’t fix the NHS without fixing social care, you can’t fix social care without removing the fear of losing everything to pay for it, and you can’t fix health and social care without long-term reform. The plan I am setting out today will fix all of these problems together.”
The pandemic put unprecedented pressure on the NHS. The number of patients waiting for elective surgery and routine treatment in England is now at a record high of 5.5 million. According to the government, this could reach 13 million by the end of the year if left unchecked.
Before the pandemic, nine out of ten were waiting fewer than 25 weeks in England. This has now risen to 44 weeks, it said.
To fix this, the NHS needs to be able to offer more appointments, operations, and treatments. Rather than simply plugging the gaps, new, innovative practices must be pushed forward so patients continue to receive the best possible care, it added.
The new funding is expected to fund an extra 9 million checks, scans, and operations. The NHS long term plan committed to increasing activity year on year. In recognition of pressures from Covid, this will now increase to 110% of the planned activity levels by 2023/24.
“We’re tackling the NHS backlog and taking decisive action to fix our broken social care system,” Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said. “This significant £12bn-a-year long-term increase in public spending will improve people’s lives across the UK – but our health and social care systems cannot be rebuilt without difficult decisions.”
“The new Health and Social Care Levy is the necessary and responsible thing to do to protect the NHS, sharing the cost between businesses and individuals and ensuring those earning more pay more,” he added.
Meanwhile, Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid said: “Our nurses, doctors and care workers have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic in our hour of need. But the pandemic has taken its toll – waiting times are longer than ever before and social care is under even greater pressure.”
He added: “This additional funding is a critical investment in our country’s future – it will give the NHS the extra capacity it needs to get back on its feet and is a vital first step in the reform of our broken care system.”
If implemented, this would put an end to multinational corporations shifting profits to low-tax heavens around the world…reports Asian Lite News.
The European Commission (EC) said that it will delay a corporate tax plan for the European Union (EU) in a bid to facilitate the broader global tax deal.
“We have decided to put on hold our work on our new digital levy,” the commission’s spokesman for taxation and customs, Daniel Ferrie told a daily briefing on Monday, adding that the bloc will re-assess the situation in autumn.
The G20 Finance Ministers on July 10 agreed to go ahead with the plan to design a global tax system that would impose a minimum levy on multinational companies, reports Xinhua news agency.
If implemented, this would put an end to multinational corporations shifting profits to low-tax heavens around the world.
“This was an extraordinary result after years and years of negotiations for which the EU Commission has worked tirelessly,” said Ferrie when asked to comment on the development.
“Successfully concluding this process will require a final effort by all parties and the Commission will focusing on this effort,” he added.
The idea to levy a digital tax by the EU had been floated in September 2020, when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the initiative in her State of the Union speech.
A month later, the European Commission published its work program for 2021 where it announced a legislative proposal on the digital levy.
UK Chancellor in-laws hit with 5.5m pound bill in Amazon India tax dispute: Report.
The emergence of case follows small traders claim they are being squeezed out of business by the multinational’s selling practices and that the US retailer’s 1 billion-pound-a-year venture with the chancellor’s father-in-law…reports Asian Lite News
A joint venture between UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s billionaire in-laws and the internet retailing giant Amazon is in a multimillion-pound dispute with the Indian tax authorities, a Guardian investigation has found.
The disclosure adds to the list of legal battles currently involving the joint venture, following news on Friday that India’s competition commission has been given permission to relaunch an investigation into Amazon.
The Guardian reported that small traders claim they are being squeezed out of business by the multinational’s selling practices and that the US retailer’s 1 billion-pound-a-year venture with the chancellor’s father-in-law, the technology entrepreneur NR Narayana Murthy, could be bypassing Indian foreign ownership rules.
N R Narayana Murthy(Wikipedia)
Amazon says it is operating in full compliance with local laws.
The emergence of the tax case follows last week’s G7 discussions, when the finance ministers of the world’s largest economies agreed a global deal designed to make tech companies pay more tax.
In India, foreign companies are banned from running an online retailer that holds inventory and then sells the goods directly to Indian consumers online. So, instead, the Amazon.in website is run as a “marketplace”, with Indian retailers selling their products via the site in return for a fee to the US giant, the report said.
One of the largest sellers on Amazon.in is a company called Cloudtail, a business indirectly 76 per cent — owned by an investment firm controlled by the Murthy family. The remaining quarter of Cloudtail is owned by Amazon.
An analysis of the company’s accounts and activities by the Guardian shows that Cloudtail: faces a 5.5 million pound demand — including “interest and penalties” — from India’s tax authorities has paid “meagre” taxes over the past four years, while using a business model described as Amazon “on steroids” has filled its top two posts — chief executive and finance director — with Amazon executives, while Cloudtail’s holding company, Prione, has also been run by former Amazon managers.
Cloudtail’s most recent accounts state: “The company has received a show cause notice in the current year from Directorate General of Goods and Service Tax Intelligence amounting to Rs 5,455 lakh (5.5 million pound) along with interest and penalties for service tax-related matters.”
It is not known precisely what the tax dispute is about. The company said it was contesting the bill, and added: “Since this matter is sub judice, we are unable to comment any further.”
Finance ministers meeting in London also endorsed proposals to make the world’s biggest companies — including US-based tech giants — pay taxes in countries where they have lots of sales but no physical headquarters, reports Asian Lite News
The Group of Seven wealthy democracies agreed Saturday to support a global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15% in order to deter multinational companies from avoiding taxes by stashing profits in low-rate countries.
G-7 finance ministers meeting in London also endorsed proposals to make the world’s biggest companies — including US-based tech giants — pay taxes in countries where they have lots of sales but no physical headquarters.
Britain’s Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, the meeting’s host, said the deal would “reform the global tax system to make it fit for the global digital age and crucially to make sure that it’s fair, so that the right companies pay the right tax in the right places.”
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who attended the London meetings, said the agreement “provides tremendous momentum” towards reaching a global deal that “would end the race-to-the-bottom in corporate taxation, and ensure fairness for the middle class and working people in the U.S. and around the world.”
G7Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors chaired by Chancellor @RishiSunak
agreed a landmark deal on global tax, and ways to build a strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive global economic recovery.(TWTTER)
France cheered Saturday’s agreement and claimed credit for acting as its catalyst.
“We made it! After 4 years of battle, a historic accord was reached with G7 member states,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire tweeted. “France can be proud!”
The meeting of finance ministers came ahead of an annual summit of G-7 leaders scheduled for June 11-13 in Cornwall, England. The Britain is hosting both sets of meetings because it holds the group’s rotating presidency.
The endorsement from the G-7 could help build momentum for a deal in wider talks among more than 140 countries being held in Paris as well as a Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in Venice in July.
The G-7 has also been facing pressure to provide vaccines for low-income countries facing new surges of Covid-19 infections and to finance projects to combat climate change. A statement Saturday from the two-day finance ministers’ meeting said only that they welcomed increased funding commitments by member countries and looked forward to more.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson chairs the Cabinet Meeting and uses a G7 mug. (Pic – Pippa Fowles No 10)
International discussions on the tax issue gained momentum after US President Joe Biden backed the idea of a global minimum of at least 15% on corporate profits.
The tax proposals endorsed Saturday have two main parts. The first part lets countries tax a share of the profits earned by companies that have no physical presence but have substantial sales, for instance through selling digital advertising.
The G-7 statement echoes a US proposal to simply let countries tax part of the earnings of the largest and most profitable companies — digital or not — if they are doing business within their borders. It also supported awarding countries the right to tax 20% or more of profit exceeding a 10% profit margin.
Part of the agreement is that countries such as France that have imposed digital services taxes would remove them in favour of the global agreement. The US considers those unilateral digital taxes to be unfair trade measures that single out big US tech companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook.
The other main part of the proposal is for countries to tax their home companies’ overseas profits at a rate of at least 15%. That would deter the practice of using accounting schemes to shift profits to a few very low-tax countries.
Nations have been grappling with the question of how to deter companies from legally avoiding paying taxes by resorting to tax havens — typically small countries that entice companies with low or zero taxes, even though the firms do little actual business there.
The board has also extended the time limit for issuance of notice under section 148 of the Act for reopening the assessment where income has escaped assessment by three months…reports Asian Lite News
In view of the severe Covid-19 pandemic raging requests put forward by taxpayers, tax consultants and other stakeholders, the government has decided to provide further relief to taxpayers by extending various time limits of compliances.
Accordingly, the time limit for passing of any order for assessment or reassessment under the Income-tax Act, 1961 has been extended to June 30, 2021. This time limit was earlier extended to April 30, 2021 through various notifications issued under the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation) and Amendment of Certain Provisions Act, 2020.
Similarly, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has also extended the time limit for passing an order consequent to direction of DRP under sub-section (13) of section 144C of the Act for three months to June 30, 2021.
The board has also extended the time limit for issuance of notice under section 148 of the Act for reopening the assessment where income has escaped assessment by three months while the same extension has also been given for sending intimation of processing of Equalisation Levy under sub-section (1) of section 168 of the Finance Act 2016.
It has also been decided that time for payment of amount payable under the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020, without an additional amount, shall be further extended to June 30, 2021.
A finance ministry statement said that notifications to extend the above dates will be be issued in due course.
The hiking of the corporate tax rate to help pay for Biden’s plan was an idea that Republican leaders are panning as harmful to economic growth, it was reported…reports Asian Lite News.
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has announced support for President Joe Biden’s focus on building up the country’s infrastructure and said the company also supports a corporate tax rate hike from 21% to 28%, according to media report.
The statement by Bezos was posted on the company’s website.
This came after Biden singled out the company for criticism about how much it pays in federal taxes when he recently unveiled his $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal.
The hiking of the corporate tax rate to help pay for Biden’s plan was an idea that Republican leaders are panning as harmful to economic growth, it was reported.
The democrats will surely cite support from individual companies to undercut that argument.
“We recognize this investment will require concessions from all sides — both on the specifics of what’s included as well as how it gets paid for (we’re supportive of a rise in the corporate tax rate. We look forward to Congress and the Administration coming together to find the right, balanced solution that maintains or enhances U.S. competitiveness,” ),” Bezos was quoted in a news report.
US President Joe Biden
Meanwhile, Amazon has appointed Salesforce executive Adam Selipsky as new head of its Cloud computing arm Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Selipsky replaces long-time AWS executive Andy Jassy who will become Amazon CEO when founder Jeff Bezos steps down later this year.
“Selipsky brings strong judgment, customer obsession, team building, demand generation, and CEO experience to an already very strong AWS leadership team. And, having been in such a senior role at AWS for 11 years, he knows our culture and business well,” Jassy said in a statement late on Tuesday.
After spending 10 years at AWS, Selipsky ran the startup Tableau, which is now part of Salesforce which acquired it for $15.7 billion deal in 2019.
Jassy said that with a $51 billion revenue run rate that’s growing 28 per cent (on-year), it’s easy to forget that AWS is still in the very early stages of what’s possible.
“Less than 5 per cent of the global IT spend is in the cloud at this point. That’s going to substantially change in the coming years. We have a lot more to invent for customers, and we have a very strong leadership team and group of builders to go make it happen,” Jassy noted.
