The concept of transfer pricing was introduced in the IT Act through Finance Act 2001 in order to make sure that appropriate amount of income is subject to tax in India and to curb the practice of tax avoidance. The Honourable Finance Minister in his budget speech for the year 2001 has stated as under:

176. The presence of multinational enterprises in India and their ability to allocate profits in different jurisdictions by controlling prices in intra-group transactions has made the issue of transfer pricing a matter of serious concern. I had set up an Expert Group in November 1999 to examine the issues relating to transfer pricing. Their report has been received, proposing a detailed structure for transfer pricing legislation. Necessary legislative changes are being made in the Finance Bill based on these recommendation[1]

     Read more: Domestic Transfer Pricing - A Bird’s Eye View

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In this edition, we bring you an article on indirect tax implications on mining rights. Majority of the readers would know that there was a reverse charge obligation on businesses for support services received from government. The tax authorities using this particular obligation has tried to fasten liabilities on mining rights taken by the businesses from the government. Whether a mining right can be called as a ‘tax’ or ‘consideration for service’ is currently pending before 9 member bench at Honourable Supreme Court. We have comprehensively discussed about the said issue pending the outcome of judgment.

The next article is on domestic transfer pricing regulations. With the introduction of Section 115BAB, the said domestic transfer pricing regulations have come again to the surface. In this part, we have dealt with the basic overview of the domestic transfer pricing regulations and in the upcoming parts, we are going to take certain case studies for deliberation.

Read more: SBS Wiki E Journal Jan 2021

Background:

The concept of ‘thin capitalization’ draws utmost attention in the modern group structuring of MNE[1]. Many multinational groups resort to thin capitalization model in order to minimize group’s net tax liability. A company is said to be thinly capitalized when such company is having more debt-equity ratio. Having more debt-equity ratio may cause shifting of profits from one country to other in order to reduce tax liability of the entire group.

The Indian avatar of elimination of abusive strategy of ‘thin-capitalization’ can be seen in the form of Section 94B of ITA[2], which we will be detailing at length at appropriate place. In these series of articles, we intend to cover the background of introduction of thin-capitalization, reasons for introduction of Section 94B and the various issues springing out of inadequate language of Section 94B. In this part, we cover the background and overview of Section 94B and the subsequent parts, the issues will be covered in much detail.

Read more: Thin Capitalization - Restriction of Interest under Section 94B - Next Litigation Saga

Introduction:

As a trade facilitation measure and in order to further ease the process of doing business, the GST Council in its 42^nd meeting held on 05.10.2020 has recommended for quarterly return filing facility for small taxpayers. Based on these recommendations, Government has introduced the scheme of Quarterly Return filing with Monthly Payment of taxes (for brevity ‘QRMP scheme’). This scheme has been introduced to minimize the burden of compliances on small taxpayers having aggregate turnover of up to INR 5 crores. This new Scheme will be effective from 01.01.2021.

Applicability:

A registered person who is required to furnish a return in Form GSTR-3B, and who has an aggregate turnover of up to INR 5 crore rupees in the preceding financial year, is eligible to opt for the QRMP Scheme in the current financial year. However, in case the aggregate turnover exceeds INR 5 crores during any quarter in the current financial year, the registered person shall not be eligible for the scheme from the next quarter.

Read more: All About QRMP Scheme