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Tweak in tax residence certificate, GAAR can narrow inflows

March 16, 2012:

Provisions in the Budget can have serious implications for flow of foreign institutional investor funds in to India.

The change in stance with relation to Tax Residency Certificate (TRC) and providing for General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR) in the Income Tax Act may both impede the flow of money camouflaged as FII funds into the Indian market through tax havens.

It is no secret that a large portion of FIIs investing in to India are domiciled in Mauritius. The double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) that India has signed with Mauritius enables tax on securities transaction to be taxed in the country where the company is resident. Since capital gains tax rate in Mauritius is zero, foreign investors buying or selling Indian stocks through the Mauritius route get away by paying no capital gains tax.

The TRC issued by Mauritian government forms the basis for judging if a company could avail itself of the benefits of DTAA with Mauritius. The criteria that Mauritian government applies for issuing these certificates are fairly lax, resulting many shell companies availing themselves benefits under this treaty.

The Budget lays down that submission of Tax Residency Certificate is necessary but not sufficient for availing benefits under these treaties. This could spell trouble for FII money coming in from tax havens as it gives the tax authorities the power to overlook the tax residency certificate and demand further proof of commercial substance.

Implementing General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) in this Budget can also impact some FIIs investing in India through tax havens. Tax authorities will now impose GAAR on arrangements that lack commercial substance or are carried out in a manner which is normally not employed for bonafide purpose. The budget document goes on to say that an arrangement will be deemed to lack commercial substance if it includes round trip financing.

While genuine foreign investors will not be impacted by the change in TRC or GAAR, the flow of illegitimate or black money in to stocks through such conduits will be seriously deterred if not stopped, with the threat of tax-men going after these entities.

lokeshwarri_sk@thehindu.co.in

Excerpt from:
FII flows from tax havens may be impacted

By Sally Bakewell - Fri Mar 16 15:54:57 GMT 2012

Bard Holding GmbH, a German company that helped pioneer deep water wind-farms, expects talks on its takeover by several companies to close within about 12 weeks.

Bard is discussing the sale with a couple of companies, Axel Bahr, a spokesman, said by phone, declining to name them because talks are continuing. Bard anticipates indicative offers at end-March and completion in 6 to 12 weeks, he said.

The company is developing the 400-megawatt Bard Offshore 1 wind farm in the German North Sea about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Borkum island, scheduled to be completed by next year or 2014. Bard has permission to build another 80 turbines in nearby waters about 40 meters (130 feet) deep.

Cost and technical challenges from developing wind turbines far at sea, among the most expensive of renewable technologies, led to financial pressure for Emden-based Bard, Bahr said.

The company suffered delays installing the machines and ran short of money, pushing the project with an expected capacity to power 400,000 homes about two years behind schedule, Bahr said.

Bard in September said it had begun seeking a strategic investor and appointed JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)s investment banking arm to sell a 87.5 percent stake. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (042660) said in November it was interested.

While the shipbuilder is still studying it, there is no specific matter in progress at the moment, it said in an e- mailed reply to questions. JPMorgan Chase & Co wouldnt comment.

UniCredit Bank AG (HVM), which provided about 1.74 billion euros ($2.3 billion) for the wind park from 2007 to 2010, agreed to give a further 1.17 billion euros in August 2011, on the basis of various technical and legal reports by external consultants stating that the project was feasible, the bank said.

The 2.9 billion euros of UniCredit funds would allow the park to be finished, the bank said in a statement on its website this year. UniCredit declined to comment when Bloomberg called.

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German Offshore Wind Pioneer Bard Sees Takeover Within 12 Weeks

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Washington, March 16 (IANS) You might feel like giving a beggar a coin when you are passing by him but then quickly suppress the feeling. This could put you at the risk of acting immorally.

For instance, as an experiment shows, such lose a bit of their commitment to morality.

"Compassion is such a powerful emotion. It's been called a moral barometer," said Daryl Cameron, the journal Psychological Science reports.

"In past work, we've shown that people suppress their compassion when faced with mass suffering in natural disasters and genocide.

To the degree that suppressing compassion changes how people care about or think about morality, it may put them more at risk for acting immorally," said Cameron.

He co-authored the study with Keith Payne, both psychology researchers from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, according to a North Carolina statement.

They showed each study participant in their experiment a slideshow of 15 images of subjects including homeless people, crying babies, and victims of war and famine.

Each participant was given one of three tasks. Some were told to try not to feel sympathy, some were told to try not to feel distress and the rest were told to experience whatever emotions come to them.

People who had suppressed compassion did, apparently, have a change in their sense of morality: they were much more likely to either care less about being moral or to say that it's all right to be flexible about following moral rules.

Go here to read the rest:
Suppressing compassion might make you act immorally