New Delhi:  As the new financial year is ushering in, a slew of measures and ideas are to be welcomed to boost the country’s business and economic infrastructure. Let us take a look at them below:

TDS on Online Gaming

The tax deducted at source (TDS) on online gaming applications will now be effective from April 1, 2023, as opposed to an earlier proposed date of July 1, 2023, according to amendments made to the Finance Bill, 2023 which was passed in Parliament Friday.

The gaming industry had earlier called for making the change. Shashi Mathews, Partner, IndusLaw said, “The TDS on the online gaming was also proposed to be deducted at the double rate, in case of non-compliance in return filing by the concerned deductee, where the TDS amount in the past year was more than Rs 50,000. It appears that these amendments have now been accepted. This may require gaming operators to seek an undertaking and proof from the users, to ensure proper compliance with this provision”.

Change in EPFO interest rate

With regard to the rate of interest that EPFO sets up, The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), has put forward an interest rate of 8.15 per cent for its over 6 crore subscribers for the current financial year 2022-23, marginally up from 8.1 per cent last year.

Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav said investments are done conservatively and EPFO complies with the guidelines laid out by the Finance Ministry.

The CBT, headed by the Union Labour Minister and having representatives from employers and employees, recommends the interest rate which is then ratified by the Finance Ministry. Subsequently, it gets notified by the Labour Ministry and credited into the accounts of the subscribers by the EPFO.

Infusion Of Cash 

Now, as liquidity tightens, RBI infuses Rs 7.89 lakh cr between March 15 and 23. The tightness in liquidity condition was mainly due to the outflows related to the payment of advance tax, the last date for which was March 15. The payment of goods and services tax (GST) before March 20 also weighed on the liquidity situation of banks.

PAN-Aadhar Linking Deadline Likely To Extend

The government is also likely to extend the deadline for linking PAN-Aadhaar by a few months and the tax department is expected to issue a notification for it soon, officials said. The decision to provide more time to taxpayers to link PAN with Aadhaar comes just before the current deadline was to come to an end on March 31, 2023.

As per the Income-tax Department, all PAN holders, who do not come under the exempt category as per a May 2017 notification, must link their PAN with their Aadhaar, failing which the unlinked PAN will become inoperative. “PAN can be linked with a valid Aadhaar on http://www.incometax.gov.in after paying a fee of Rs. 1,000,” the income tax department had said last month in a tweet.

Demat Accounts & Mutual Funds Investors

March 31, 2023, is the last date for Demat account holders and mutual funds investors to specify nominee details, as per the latest rules by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

It is mandatory for all investors to opt in or opt out of the nomination in their Demat accounts before March 31. Failing to do the same, their Demat accounts and investments will become inactive.

Monitoring Of Top Loans & Corporates

The finance ministry has asked public sector banks (PSBs) to do proper monitoring of top loans and make adequate provisions for pledged shares of big corporates in view of the current global financial scenario emanating from the failure of some international banks in the US and Europe.

According to sources, there is a need for integrating market data of pledged securities to trigger timely actions.

Besides, in the recent meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, PSB chiefs were asked to manage overall exposure to corporate, including pledged shares.

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Start-Ups & Angel Tax

The Finance Ministry has said that it will address concerns raised by start-ups over its provision on ‘angel tax’ and issue draft rules next month on valuation and exemptions for taxation on investments from foreign investors.

“…all concerns raised by stakeholders in the implementation of this proposal would be addressed. The draft rules related to valuation shall be shared with the stakeholders for their inputs in April itself, and exclusions, currently provided to domestic Venture Capital Funds etc, shall also be considered for similar overseas entities,” the ministry said in a background note.

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Opportunity To Borrowers

The Supreme Court on Monday held that borrowers must be given an opportunity to be heard before their accounts are classified as fraud.

In a significant judgment, a Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said the civil consequences of an account being declared as fraud under the Reserve Bank of India (Frauds Classification and Reporting by Commercial Banks and Select FIs) Directions, 2016 or the central bank’s ‘Master Directions on Fraud’ amount to “civil death” to borrowers.

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