Page 819 - Business Finance

GST council cuts tax on under-construction houses to 5%, industry responds with caution

In a big relief to the realty sector and homebuyers, the GST council on Sunday lowered tax on under-construction properties to 5 per cent from 12 per cent, and affordable housing projects to 1 per cent from 8 per cent. The council also made changes in the definition of the affordable housing.

Oil PSUs taken up edu projects in 17 Odisha districts: Pradhan

Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Sunday said Public Sector Undertakings under his ministry have taken up various projects to upgrade educational facilities in 17 districts of Odisha. "The dream of New Odisha shall be incomplete without quality education and educational infrastructure," Pradhan said while inaugurating the main campus of the Skill Development Institute (SDI), Bhubaneswar at Taraboi, Jatni near here. Pradhan said PSUs under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas have taken up various corporate social responsibility projects to upgrade educational facilities in 17 of the 30 districts of the state. These districts are Angul, Balasore, Baragarh, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Deogarh, Dhenknal, Jagatsinghpur, Jharsuguda, Kandhamal, Kendrapada, Khorda, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Puri and Sambalpur. As part of the Skill India programme, all PSUs in the oil & gas sector like IOCL, ONGC, GAIL, BPCL, HPCL, OIL, EIL and Balmer Lawrie, have joined hands for

Rs 1.40 lakh crore of oil & gas investments likely in Odisha: Pradhan

Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday said Odisha is going to be the epicentre of petroleum and gas sector, with around Rs 1.40 lakh crore investments proposed under various oil and gas projects in the state.

Jio tops revenue market share in Q3: JM Financials

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd grabbed the leadership position in terms of revenue market share in the third quarter of the current fiscal, racing past Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel.

SBI mulling insolvency route via NCLT to recover Jet Airways loan

State-run State Bank of India (SBI) is looking at approaching the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to recover its loans from private carrier Jet Airways, according to SBI officials.

Huawei shrugs off threat of US ban

Huawei's chairman on Sunday shrugged of the risk that President Donald Trump could issue an executive order banning the Chinese telecom giant, saying the company could succeed without the US market. Guo Ping said such an order "is not necessary and should not be released" but if issued would have little impact on Huawei, which has become the leading supplier of the backbone equipment for wireless mobile networks worldwide. "In 2018 Huawei had revenues of over 100 billion dollars. The share of US in this is really small. That means the US market can be ignored by us," he told a press conference in Barcelona on the eve of the Mobile World Congress trade fair. Guo added that such a move would hurt some small telecoms operators in the United States that do use its equipment. US officials suspect Shenzhen-based Huawei's products could be used by Beijing to spy on Western governments and have already severely restricted the company's presence in the United States. Washington considers the ..

Trump says trade talks with China were 'very productive'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that trade talks a day earlier with China had been "very productive," as negotiators worked ahead of a March 1 deadline for the imposition of further U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports.

Indo-Russian lunar mission to boost AI industry: AI solutions firm

An Indo-Russian joint lunar mission is expected to give a major boost to the artificial intelligence (AI) industries in both countries, said Finnish-Russian digital solutions provider Zyfra on Sunday.

GST rate cut on housing to address needs of home buyers: CII

The GST Council's decision to cut the rate on houses under construction from 12 per cent to 5 per cent as well from 8 per cent to 1 per cent on affordable housing will address the needs of home buyers and boost offtake of housing, CII said Sunday. "The real estate and housing sector drives construction and is a key employment generator and we believe today's decisions for a better and simpler tax regime will boost offtake of housing, thereby also contributing to job creation," CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said. He said the GST Council has provided a great relief to the sector and is a step towards hastening growth for this very important sector. In a big relief to home buyers, the GST Council Sunday slashed tax rates on under-construction housing properties to 5 per cent without input tax credit, from the existing 12 per cent, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. The Council also cut GST rates on affordable housing to 1 per cent from the current 8 per cent and expanded the .

GST cut on housing sales 'revolutionary step', to boost sentiments: Experts

Property developers and consultants Sunday hailed the GST reduction on housing sales and termed the move as a "revolutionary step", saying it will boost sentiments and help the cash-starved sector in clearing around 6 lakh unsold homes The GST Council Sunday decided to cut GST rate on affordable homes to 1 per cent without input tax credit (ITC) from earlier 8 per cent with ITC. The GST on under-construction flats, which are not under the affordable housing segment, has been reduced to 5 per cent without ITC from 12 per cent earlier with ITC. Sales of under-construction houses were severely affected as there was no GST on completed homes. Developers had been demanding cut in GST rates as people were not buying under-construction units. While most players welcomed the decision, some real estate developers, however, said that housing prices may increase as there will be no input tax credit available to realty firms. "The reduction of GST on affordable housing to 1 per cent is a ...

GST on under-construction flats slashed to 5%, affordable housing to 1%

To boost demand in the real estate sector, the GST Council on Sunday slashed tax rates for under-construction flats to 5 per cent and affordable homes to 1 per cent, effective April 1. Currently, the goods and services tax (GST) is levied at 12 per cent with input tax credit (ITC) on payments made for under-construction property or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate is not issued at the time of sale. For affordable housing units, the existing tax rate is 8 per cent. With regard to lotteries, the GST Council, however, deferred a decision with Jaitley saying that the Group of Ministers (GoM) will meet again to discuss the proposal. Currently, state-run lotteries attract 12 per cent GST, while state-authorised ones carry 28 per cent tax. Briefing reporters after the 33rd meeting of the GST Council, Jaitley said the consumers felt that the benefits of ITC were not being passed on to them by the builders, and hence a GoM was set up to suggest changes in taxation on real ..

1 pc GST on affordable housing will give a boost to real estate sector, says Arun Jaitley

In an attempt to give a boost to the real estate sector, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Sunday decided to reduce the GST on affordable housing properties without input tax credit (ITC) to one per cent.The effective GST of 5 per cent shall be applicable without ITC on residential properties outside the affordable segment, which was also decided by the GST Council at its 33rd meeting here on Sunday."Through this rate cut, we want to give real estate sector a boost. The new rates will be effective from April 1, 2019," said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while briefing media persons after the GST Council meeting."We have adopted twin definitions of affordable housing-one on basis of the carpet area and second on the basis of cost. In metros, a flat of 60 square meter carpet area and costing Rs 45 lakh in the apartment will fall in the affordable housing category. In non-metros, the size will be 90 square meter carpet area and costing Rs 45 lakh," he said.According to a press ..

Tech release: Huawei unveils Mate X 5G foldable phone at euro 2,299

Joining the 5G-enabled smartphone bandwagon, Chinese technology giant Huawei on Sunday unveiled its first 5G foldable phone at euro 2,299.

India lowers tax on new home sales ahead of general election

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India on Sunday announced a cut in the goods and services tax charged on sales of residential properties under construction as the government looks to stimulate the economy by driving up consumption.

GST on under-construction houses cut to 5%

The GST Council on Sunday lowered the tax on under-construction residential properties to 5 per cent from 12 per cent to boost the realty sector. The new rates will be implemented from April 1.

The inter-connected world of Indian defence business (IANS Investigation)

Sudhir Choudhrie, Indias biggest arms agent and lobbyist, who is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), has made enough through his deals to have reportedly entered the real estate business.

GST on affordable housing properties reduced to 1 pc

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) on affordable housing properties without input tax credit (ITC) has been reduced to one per cent, while effective GST of 5 per cent shall be applicable without ITC on residential properties outside affordable segment, as was decided by the GST Council at its 33rd meeting here on Sunday."The new rate will be effective from April 1, 2019," said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while briefing media persons after the GST Council meeting here."We have adopted twin definitions of affordable housing-one on basis of the carpet area and second on the basis of cost," he said."In metros, a flat of 60 square meter carpet area and costing Rs 45 lakh in the apartment will fall in the affordable housing category. In non-metros, the size will be 90 square meter carpet area and costing Rs 45 lakh," said Jaitley.

MCX CEO Paranjape decides not to pursue second term

Multi Commodity Exchange of India MD and CEO Mrugank Paranjape, whose term expires on May 8, has decided not to seek a second term. It has informed the same to the board of directors of the company, MCX Ltd said in a regulatory filing. "Mrugank Paranjape, MD and CEO and a key managerial personnel of the company, whose term expires with effect from close of business hours on May 8, 2019, has decided not to pursue the opportunity of a second term as the MD and CEO of MCX," it said in a filing on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

GST on under-construction flats slashed to 5%; affordable housing to attract 1%

In a big relief to home buyers, the GST Council Sunday slashed tax rates on under-construction housing properties to 5 per cent without input tax credit, from the existing 12 per cent, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. The Council also cut GST rates on affordable housing to 1 per cent from the current 8 per cent and expanded the scope of affordable housing to those costing up to Rs 45 lakh and measuring 60 sq metre in metros and 90 sq metre in non-metro cities. The new tax rates will come into effect from April 1, 2019. Currently, the GST is levied at 12 per cent on payments made for under-construction properties or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate has not been issued at the time of sale. However, builders will not be able to claim input tax credit (ITC) under the new GST rates. "This (GST reduction) decision will certainly give boost to construction sector," Jaitley told reporters. However, Goods and Services Tax (GST) is not levied on real estate properties for .

Gujarati Ajrakh craftsman showcases fine-printed textiles in Delhi

Delhi's textile lovers can now head to an exhibition-sale of the unique textile craft of Ajrakh, showcased as saris and stoles by UNESCO-recognised master craftsperson Abdul Jabbar Khatri.