DRAFT SENIORITY LIST OF INSPECTORS OF HYDERABAD ZONE..

HAPPY GANESH CHATURTHI..

DoPT issues fresh instructions reminding all CG employees to submit Lokpal declarations on or before 15th September,2014

 

F.No.11013/3/2014-Estt.(A)
Ministry of Personnel Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Personnel and Training
Establishment Division

North Block, New Delhi
Dated August 25 , 2014

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act. 2013 – Submission of declaration of assets and liabilities by the public servants for each year – regarding

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Department’s Circular of even no. dated 23.07.2014 the subject mentioned above requesting all Ministries! Departments to bring the provisions of the Public Servants (Furnishing of Information and Annual Return of Assets and Liabilities and the limits for Exemption of Assets in Filing Returns) Rules, 2014, to the notice of all concerned for compliance. it is again requested that necessary directions may be issued in this regard urgently so that the declarations/information/returns from every public servant are received on or before the 15th day of September 2014 as stipulated in the said Rules. It is reiterated that the definition of public servant covers all Group A, B and C employees,

2. In this regard it is also clarified that the public servants who either failed or were not required to file the annual declarations as per the applicable rules [eg. Group C’ Government servants covered under CCS(Conduct) rules, 1964] are also required to file the stipulated declaration/ information/return within time,

3. Hindi version will follow. ,

Sd/-
(J. A. Vaidyanathan)
Director (E)

source : DOPT

Economical Use of Paper in Central Government Offices – Instructions issued by Finance Ministry with the concerns of reducing expenditure and to save environment

No.25(6)/E.Coord-2014

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Expenditure

North Block, New Delhi,

22nd August. 2014

Office Memorandum

Subject :- Economy in use of paper.

Ministry of Finance has been issuing instructions from time to time on expendituremanagement, fiscal discipline and on the need for economy and rationalization of Government expenditure. Government is one of the major consumers of paper. Injudicious use of paper not only leads to infructuous expenditure but also impacts the environment as trees are the major source of paper pulp production. Instructions on judicious use of paper have been issued by this Department in the past and similar instructions are also contained in the Manual of Office Procedure (MOP) published by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances. With a view to further stress the importance of economy In use of paper in Government offices, following instructions are issued for strict compliance by all concerned : -

(i) Notes should be typed/written on both sides of the paper/note sheet

(ii) Typing should be done in single space;

(iii) Policy instructions/guidelines issued through Orders, OMs, etc. may be uploaded on theofficial website of the Ministry/Department/Organization. Number of hard copies of such communications may be limited to the required minimum:

(iv) Office copies should not be typed again where the draft itself is legible and does not contain many corrections.

(v) Forms, proformas, returns etc., if any, stipulated by Ministries/ Departments/Organizations in connection the organizational mandate may be reviewed in relation to their size and format and should be recast and simplified/shortened in keeping with the recent directives from Cabinet Secretariat. Manual submission of forms, returns, etc,, wherever stipulated, either under statutory obligations or otherwise, should be discouraged, Switching over (oc-forms, online submission of forms/returns, etc., may be encouraged.

2. All the Ministries/Departments, attached, subordinate offices and autonomous or statutory bodies funded by GOI may comply with the above directives. Suitable instructions on above lines may be issued by line Ministries/Departments of GOl in r/o organizations/entities or field establishments under their administrative control,

3. This has the approval of Secretary(Expenditure).

sd/-

(Sudha Krishnan)

Joint Secretary to the Government of India

GST Bill all in the winter session of Parliament?

The Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST wants the annual business turnover floor reduced from Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 10 lkh. This would make tax  compliance easier as the threshold in most States for the VAT is also Rs. 10 lakh turnover. 

At a meeting here on Wednesday, the Committee demanded that the Centre include the provision for GST compensation to States in the Constitutional Amendment Bill itself for the introduction of the new tax.  "We are hopeful as the Union Finance Minister said it will come in winter session," Committee Chairman Abdul Rahim Rather told reporters after the meeting. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the government will try to bring in the GST Bill in the winter session of Parliament. The GST rollout is delayed as States have some issues with the Centre proposed draft for this Bill. 

     The Empowered Committee demanded legal powers to States to collect the Central GST from those businesses that have annual turnover of up to Rs. 1.5 crore. With consensus remaining elusive on a number of issues, the Centre has indicated it could take the lead and  introduce a Central GST and States could later follow with a State GST. Originally, the plan was to have a single common GST across the country to spare traders rom the hassles of complying with two separate tax administrations. 

 Posted in Info

Merger of CBEC and CBDT – (Central Board of Excise and Customs and Central Board of Direct Tax) – Report of Tax Administration Reforms Commission

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 3410

ANSWERED ON 01.08.2014

MERGER OF CBDT AND CBEC

3410 . Shri P.P. CHAUDHARYWill the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:-

(a) whether the Tax Administration Reforms Commission has recommended abolition of the post of Revenue Secretary and merger of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the Commission has made any other recommendation;

(c) if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the details of recommendations accepted by the Government along with reasons for rejection of the other recommendations?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

(a) to (d) : The Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) was constituted on 21.08.2013 for a fixed tenure of 18 months. The TARC has submitted its first report on 30.05.2014 containing recommendations on 4 Terms of References (TOR) out of total 13 and same are under consideration of the government. TARC is yet to give report on the remaining TOR.

All India Conference of CCs and DGs of CBEC in New Delhi from 11-8-2014 to 12-8-2014 – FM asks CBEC officers to work as facilitator for taxpayers and also take stern action against tax evaders

 THE Union Finance Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley, today said that the revenue targets in the case of indirect taxes for the current financial year 2014-15 are challenging one but are very much achievable. The revenue targets for indirect taxes for the current financial year is fixed at Rs. 6,23,244 crores, with an overall growth rate of more than 25%. The Finance Minister said that last few years have been somewhat difficult as far as the Indian economy is concerned. He said, "In the last few years when you had modest growth rate, they were coupled with either a static or negative growth rate especially in manufacturing, as a result some of the indirect taxes took the hit."

Mr Jaitley said that the Government has taken a series of measures in the last two months both inside and outside the budget process to boost the performance of the critical sectors. The Finance Minister said that figures relating to manufacturing sector in the months of June and July this year are quite encouraging. He said that if this trend continues for few more months only then it will constitute a pattern. He was delivering the Key Note Address after inaugurating the two day Annual Conference of Chief Commissioners and Directors General of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax here today.

The Finance Minister further said that the Government is in favour of trade facilitation and efficient trade facilitation leads to substantial reduction in transactional cost for the businesses. With respect to trade facilitation in taxation, the Finance Minister said that a large number of irritants which had been created particularly in the tax administration, have been consciously addressed. Mr Jaitley said that trade facilitation will not only bring ease in doing business in the country but will also reduce the cost of doing business. He asked the senior officers of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) to work as a facilitator for tax payers and at the same time take action wherever they find cases of revenue leakages or tax evasion. The Finance Minister said that the cost of tax collection, both in case of direct and indirect taxes in India, is not very high and further investment in strengthening the tax infrastructure in the country will bring better returns to the exchequer of the Government. Besides this, the Finance Minister also stressed upon reducing tax litigation and tax settlement mechanism to unlock the money held-up due to litigation.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Shaktikanta Das, Revenue Secretary said that the growth in the first quarter in indirect tax collections has been about 4.5% only, but in June 2014, the growth has been 13.5% overall, and in that Service Tax accounted for nearly 28% growth. He said that in July 2014 also, the growth pattern is very good.

Mr Das said, "It is also in our interest to improve our trade facilitation measures because they are ultimately going to be beneficial for ourselves." In the Budget, Mr Das said that the Finance Minister has announced 24X7 Customs clearance facility to be extended to many more ports, airports, sea ports and the officials posted at these ports have to really ensure that. He further added that in the Budget, lot of focus has been given towards simplification of procedures, rationalization measures and ensuring that the Department plays a non-adversarial role. He said that on the Central Excise and Customs side, the Govt has attempted to address the problem of inverted duty structure in a very big way. He asked the Chief Commissioners and DGs that as leaders of their team and the leaders of their Zone, they should play a facilitating and non-adversarial role.

Reduction in transaction costs

Earlier, Ms. J.M. Shanti Sundharam, Chairperson of CBEC, said with regard to the efforts being made by the Department to reduce the cost of transaction to the taxpayers, the department has already initiated steps like expanding the facility for 24X7 clearances at more ports, implementation of Risk Management System for Exports covering 89 locations and rollout of the Precious Cargo Customs Clearance Module at Bandra Kurla complex at Mumbai. She further informed that the Department had taken several IT initiatives to facilitate the taxpayers. On CBEC's latest initiative of Single Window, she added that the ‘Indian Customs Single Window Project' is a large and complex IT initiative to enable a single point interface for the trade to lodge, complete and obtain clearances for all import, export and border control related regulatory requirements. It will involve coordination between more than 14 other agencies under different Ministries, she added.

The Chairperson underlined the urgent need to benchmark with the most modern Customs administrations of the world and that the Department was watchful of the responsibilities entrusted to it, as a border Control agency, for preventing activities inimical to our national interest, like trafficking in drugs, flora, fauna, fake currency, weapons of mass destruction, dual use chemicals, arms, etc. Therefore, she said that the aim is to modernize the ports, airports and land Customs operations with installation of more scanners, baggage X ray equipment, deployment of sniffer dogs, upgrading physical infrastructure etc. She said that this shall address the heightened security concerns of the nation, expedite cargo clearances, and thereby enable our manufacturing to remain competitive in international trade. She said that CBEC recognizes the importance of providing a non adversarial regime and a tax design for taxpayers, which complements the country's economic realities and business practices. She said, "We have initiated steps to reduce litigation in line with the National Litigation policy, and institutionalize consultative mechanisms. The newly introduced provisions for pre-deposit, as also the amendments in the provisions for Settlement commission and Advance Rulings would expedite the dispute resolution process, she added.

Ms. Sundharam informed that the CBEC had approved a major project for CENVAT Credit verification at invoice level, which will help in plugging revenue leakage through misuse of credit facility. She said that the Department with its wealth of experience in taxing both goods and services and comprehensive understanding of the nuances of service tax policy and implementation is confident of its capacity to administer GST which is on the top agenda of the Government, and is committed towards contributing even more towards policy formulation and implementation of GST, a game changing reform. 

Mr V. S. Krishnan, Chief Commissioner, Central Excise Zone-I, Mumbai made a comprehensive presentation on various challenges facing the CBEC and the strategies to meet those challenges during the year.

The meeting was attended by Mr R. P. Watal, Expenditure Secretary, Mr Ravi Mathur, Disinvestment Secretary, Dr. G. S. Sandhu, Secretary, Financial Services, Chairman CBDT, Members of CBEC and CBDT and senior officers of Department of Revenue and Central Board of Excise and Customs among others.

 TIOL

CP presenting a Bouquet to FM on the eve of annual CCs and DGs conference in New Delhi on 11-8-2014.

CBEC Chairperson J M Shanti Sundharam presenting bouquet to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at the Annual Conference of Chief Commissioners and Director Generals of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax, in New Delhi on August 11, 2014.