India climbs 12 spots to rank 130 in World Bank's ease of doing business report

Kshatriya87

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http://www.dnaindia.com/money/repor...-doing-business-report-jumps-12-spots-2139349

India now ranks 130 out of 189 countries in the ease of doing business, moving up 12 places from last year, according to a World Bank report.

"A forward movement of 12 spots in the ease of doing business by an economy of the size of India is a 'remarkable achievement," World Bank's Chief Economist and Senior Vice President Kaushik Basu said.

"For any big economy, a rank improvement of 12 is a remarkable achievement. Going from 142 in the world to 130, as India has done, is very good sign. It gives a good signal about the way things are moving in India," Basu told PTI in an interview as World Bank released its annual report 'Doing Business 2016' which is topped by Singapore, followed by New Zealand, Denmark, South Korea, Hong Kong, Britain and the US.
China is ranked 84 and Pakistan is at 138th place.

Pakistan in fact has slipped 10 spots from 128 last year while China has moved six spots in a year from 90 since the last report.

The World Bank said India, which has a global ranking of 130, implemented two reforms during the past year.

For example, in starting a business, India eliminated the requirements for a paid-in minimum capital and a certificate to commence business operations, significantly streamlining the process for starting a business.

"What is significant about India is that they are in the middle of what appears to be a very, very ambitious process of reforms affecting a broad range of areas captured by the Doing Business indicators," Lopez Claros, Director of the Global Indicators Group World Bank, said during a conference call.

"My expectation, therefore, is that if this process continues, if it is sustained, and the authorities show the degree of determination which has been in evidence in the last year, then we could see substantial improvements in coming year," he said.

Observing that the potential to see kind of a rapid economic growth in India is very high, Claros said it has very favourable demographics, and to the extent that some of the bottlenecks that the Doing Business data identified in India are removed, the potential benefits could be quite large.

"And India being India, that is a large economy. This could have also international repercussions in terms of the impact on the global economy," he said.

Claros said there is a great deal of work underway in India to design a policy that will be modest and friendly.

"And the improvement that you have seen in India's Doing Business ranking this year is kind of an early recognition of these efforts, but more is coming," he added.

India stands for having made big strides toward better and more efficient business regulation. In 2004 it took 127 days to start a business in India. In 2005 this has been reduced to 29 days, the report said.

In India the establishment of debt recovery tribunals reduced nonperforming loans by 28 per cent and lowered interest rates on larger loans, suggesting that faster processing of debt recovery cases cut the cost of credit.

Research also shows that a badly designed tax system can be a big deterrent for businesses, it said.

In 2010, India established an online system for value added tax registration and replaced the physical stamp previously required with an online version.

"In the past year India eliminated the paid-in minimum capital requirement and streamlined the process for starting a business. More reforms are ongoing in starting a business and other areas measured by Doing Business though the full effects have yet to be felt," it said.

India made starting a business easier by eliminating the minimum capital requirement and the need to obtain a certificate to commence business operations. This reform applies to both Delhi and Mumbai, it said.

The utility in Delhi made the process for getting an electricity connection simpler and faster by eliminating the internal wiring inspection by the Electrical Inspectorate.

The utility in Mumbai reduced the procedures and time required to connect to electricity by improving internal work processes and coordination, it said.

The report said in dealing with construction permits, India ranks 183 and in registering property it ranks 138. But in getting electricity India is now ranked at the 70th spot.

In protecting minority investors, India now ranks eight and in getting credit it is now placed at the 42nd spot. In paying taxes and enforcing contracts India is now ranked at 157th and 178th spots respectively.

In trading across borders, India ranks 133rd and in resolving insolvency, it ranks 136th, the report said.
 

Kshatriya87

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http://www.firstpost.com/business/t...anel-to-simplify-income-tax-laws-2485712.html

New Delhi - The government on Tuesday set up a high-level committee under a former Delhi High Court judge to suggest simplification of Income Tax laws, a report that could form basis for tinkering with the controversial retrospective applicability of tax.

The 10-member panel, headed by former Delhi High Court Justice R V Easwar, has been asked to submit a preliminary report by January 31, just in time for incorporating suggestions that need legislative approval in the Budget for 2016-17.

The committee has been asked "to study and identify the provisions/phrases in the (Income Tax) Act which are leading to litigation due to different interpretations."

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the main idea behind setting up the panel is to make the I-T Act more simple. "We have over the last few months been resolving a lot of past issues and now time has come to look at some provisions of the I-T Act to look at how their drafting quality can be improved in order to avoid ambiguity so that everybody is certain as to what the Act itself says," he told reporters.

Also, the panel will study and identify the provisions which are impacting the ease of doing business as well as identify the areas and provisions of the Act for simplification in the light of existing jurisprudence.

The BJP government had previously used a similar panel headed by former Delhi High Court judge AP Shah to do away with retrospective applicability of minimum alternate tax (MAT) on profits made by FIIs and foreign portfolio investors.

Like MAT on FIIs, the other legacy issue facing the government is the Finance Bill 2012 that allowed government to impose tax on corporates on alleged gains made as early as 1962.

While it had criticised retrospective taxation of the previous UPA regime, the BJP government has so far not scrapped it even though it had decided not to use it. The continuing of such tax has been a major source of concern for
foreign investors.

Foreign investors like Vodafone has dragged government to arbitration over a Rs 20,000 crore tax dispute arising out of retrospective applicability of the tax law. British oil explorer Cairn Energy plc has also initiated a similar move over Rs 10,247 crore tax liability due to same reason.

The terms of reference of the committee also include to give suggestions on "alternatives and modifications to the existing provisions and areas so identified to bring about predictability and certainty in tax laws without substantial impact on the tax base and revenue collection."

"We have constituted a committee to simplify the provisions of the I-T Act. The committee would be headed by Justice Eshwar who was the chairman of ITAT and judge of the High Court in Delhi," Jaitley said.

"It has several experts both from government and private sector in it and this committee will be doing an ongoing study from time to time.

"So, as and when it keeps giving one bundle of suggestion with regard to simplification we will examine them and whichever are found acceptable we will try and simplify those provisions of the I-T Act," he said.

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said that the Eshwara committee can form three sub-groups. "The sections of I-T Act which are posing maximum litigations due to wrong drafting would be worked upon by the committee."

He said public comments will be invited on recommendations of the committee. "As and when the committee submits report the I-T Act would be amended."

The panel, which will have a term of one year, will set its own procedures for regulating its work.

"The Committee can also work in Sub-Groups and the draft prepared by the Sub-Groups can then be approved by the whole Committee. The Committee will put its draft recommendations in the public domain.

"After stakeholder consultations, the Committee will formalise its recommendations. The Committee can give its recommendations in batches. The first batch containing as many recommendations as possible shall be submitted by January 31," an official statement said.

The committee comprises of V K Bhasin, former Law Secretary; Vinod Jain, Chartered Accountant; Rajiv Memani, Consultant; Ravi Gupta, Senior Advocate; Mukesh Patel, Tax Advocate; Ajay Bahl, Consultant; Pradip P Shah, Investment Adviser; Arvind Modi, IRS; Vinay Kumar Singh, IRS.
 

Vishwarupa

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Though a positive movement but still a very very long way to go.

Speedy reforms & implementations are needed in GST, Labour laws, Education(i see very low performance here) & Infrastructure.
 

Kshatriya87

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Though a positive movement but still a very very long way to go.

Speedy reforms & implementations are needed in GST, Labour laws, Education(i see very low performance here) & Infrastructure.
Yes, definitely a long way to go. That's where the second article comes in picture. In order to ease the business start ups more, some tax reforms are being planned.

Sent from my HTC One_E8 dual sim using Tapatalk
 

avknight1408

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news of this kind Wont get much attention in media. They are focused on beef ........
 

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