The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a Press Release dated 14 June 2021 (Press Release) to ease the compliance requirement of mandatory filings (Form 15CA / 15CB) to be made for foreign remittances.
On 27 May 2021, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) released the final ‘Guidelines For Influencer Advertising In Digital Media’ (Guidelines) which would have to be complied with for all posts published by influencers on or after 14 June 2021. The purpose is to enable consumers to identify and distinguish paid promotional content from other content posted by the influencers.
The final form of amendments to the Indian Insurance Companies (Foreign Investment) Rules, 2015 (Foreign Investment Rules) have now been notified, with effect from 19 May 2021 (Amendment). Our previous Ergo dated 21 April 2021 had analysed the draft amendments published on 15 April 2021 and also highlighted the key implications and next steps. The Amendment is a key part of the legislative and regulatory changes that are currently being implemented to increase the foreign investment cap in Indian insurance companies from 49% to 74% (also see our Ergo dated 4 February 2021).
The concept of ‘Significant Economic Presence’ (SEP) was introduced in India’s domestic tax law in 2018, with the intent of bringing income of non-residents operating in the online / digital space (such as e-commerce, online streaming, etc.) within the ambit of India-sourced income. However, the concept of SEP remained inapplicable as the thresholds for constituting SEP had not been prescribed.
The Delhi High Court in its recent judgment in the case of Concentrix Services Netherlands BV WP (C) 9051/2020 and Optum Global Solutions International BV WP (C) 882/2021 (Taxpayer), ruled that the 10% tax rate on dividends under the India-Netherlands tax treaty (Tax Treaty) would reduce to 5% as per the most favoured nation (MFN) clause in the Tax Treaty.
The Central Government has amended the rules relating to Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) vide Notification No. 48/2015-2020 dated 12 February 2021.
On 1 February 2021, the Indian Finance Minister announced a long awaited increase in the foreign direct investment (FDI) cap in Indian insurers from 49% to 74% as part of her budget (2021 Budget Speech). This development has been under consideration for some time. The Finance Minister had during her budget speech for the year 2019-20 also announced that suggestions for further opening up of FDI in insurance will be examined in consultation with all stakeholders.
