Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

India has already marked its presence as one of the fastest growing economies of the world. It has been ranked among the top 10 attractive destinations for inbound investments. Since 1991, the regulatory environment in terms of foreign investment has been consistently eased to make it investor-friendly.

The measures taken by the Government are directed to open new sectors for foreign direct investment, increase the sectoral limit of existing sectors and simplifying other conditions of the FDI policy. FDI policy reforms are meant to provide ease of doing business and accelerate the pace of foreign investment in the country.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
FDI because the name suggests, it’s associate degree investment directly created by a remote company into business in another country. Such investment may well be either within the kind of business enlargement in another country or may well be a results of acquisition of the corporate.
Company formation in India
Direct Foreign investments in India approval were introduced by the then Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in 1991 under Foreign Exchange Management Act to promote such investments thereby increasing supply of domestic capital & increase the economic growth.

As per Foreign Exchange Management Act, ‘FDI’ means investment by non-resident entity/person resident outside India in the capital of an Indian company under Schedule 1 of Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident Outside India) Regulations 2000.

Advantages of FDI in India
There are several benefits of increasing foreign direct investment in India. First of all, with more FDI, consumers will be able to save 5 to 10 percent on their expenses because products will be available at much less rates and to top it all, the quality will be better as well. In short, it will be a win-win situation for the buyers. It is also expected that the farmers who face a lot of economic problems will also get better payment for their produce. This is a major benefit considering how many farmers have been giving up their lives lately. It is expected that their earnings will increase by 10 to 30 percent.

FDI is also supposed to have a positive effect on the employment scenario by generating approximately 4 million job opportunities. Areas like logistics will be benefited as well because of FDI and it is assumed that 6 million jobs will be created. The governments – both central and state – will be benefited because of FDI. An addition of 25-30 billion dollars to the national treasury is also expected. This is a substantial amount and can really play a major role in the development of Indian economy in the long term.
Steps Taken by Government to Promote FDI

The Indian Government has taken a number of steps to show its willingness to allow more foreign direct investment in the country. In the infrastructure development sector, it has relaxed the norms pertaining to area restriction, the laws regarding gaining a comfortable exit from a particular project and the requirements relating to minimum capitalization. If companies are ready to commit 30 percent of their investments for affordable housing, then the rules for minimum capitalization and area restriction will be waived off. It is expected that this will benefit the construction sector a lot, especially in the form of greater investment inflow.

The Indian Ministry of Finance has also proposed that 100 percent FDI will be allowed in railways-related infrastructure. However, this does not include the operational aspects. While it is true that the foreign investors will not be allowed to intervene in railway operations, they will be able to provide for high-speed trains, such as bullet train, and enhance the overall network in the process.


Who can invest in India?

•  A Non-resident entity means a person resident outside India.
• Non Resident Indian or Person of Indian Origin (PIO holder) or Overseas Citizen of India (OCI holder).
• A body corporate means a company incorporated outside India.
• Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) means an entity established or incorporated outside India which proposes to make investment in India and which is registered as a FII in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) (Foreign Institutional Investor) Regulations 1995..
• Foreign Venture Capital Investor (FVCI) means an investor incorporated and established outside India, which is registered under the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Original Source : http://ajsh.in/blog/foreign-direct-investment-fdi/

Direct Indirect Tax Difference

A tax is a financial charge or other levy imposed upon a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a state or administrative division. Failure to pay tax is punishable by law.Tax is not a voluntary payment or http://donation.It is a contribution imposed by government, state or administrative division to enable them to meet the expenses.

So if anybody earns an income, he should share a portion of the same with the government. In India, taxes are divided in Direct Indirect Tax.

The way in which taxes are imposed, decides whether the tax is direct or indirect.

If a tax is levied directly on a person income then they are called direct taxes
Whereas the indirect taxes are levied on a product or a service the incidence of which is borne by the consumers who ultimately consume the product or the service.


For example I earn Rs. 12 Lac as salary. Suppose I need to pay Rs. 8000 as income tax on this salary income. Since the income tax of Rs. 8000 is directly levied on my salary income hence income tax is direct taxes.
Suppose in second case, I paid Rs. 950 (Rs. 900 basic amount + Rs. 50 as service tax) as my mobile bill to Airtel. Airtel will retain Rs. 900 and pay the Service tax Rs. 50 to the government.

Difference between Direct Tax and Indirect Tax:

There are different implications of direct and indirect taxes on the country. However, both types of taxes are important for the government as taxes include the major part of revenue for the government.

Key differences between Direct and Indirect Tax are:

• Direct tax is levied and paid for by individuals, Hindu undivided Families (HUF), firms, companies etc. whereas indirect tax is ultimately paid for by the end-consumer of goods and services.
• The burden of tax cannot be shifted in case of direct taxes while burden can be shifted for indirect taxes.
• Lack of administration in collection of direct taxes can make tax evasion possible, while indirect taxes cannot be evaded as the taxes are charged on goods and services.
• Direct tax can help in reducing inflation, whereas indirect tax may enhance inflation.
• Direct taxes have better allocative effects than indirect taxes as direct taxes put lesser burden over the collection of amount than indirect taxes, where collection is scattered across parties and consumers’ preferences of goods is distorted from the price variations due to indirect taxes.
• Direct taxes help in reducing inequalities and are considered to be progressive while indirect taxes enhance inequalities and are considered to be regressive.
• Indirect taxes involve lesser administrative costs due to convenient and stable collections, while direct taxes have many exemptions and involve higher administrative costs.
• Indirect taxes are oriented more towards growth as they discourage consumption and help enhance savings. Direct taxes, on the other hand, reduce savings and discourage investments.
• Indirect taxes have a wider coverage as all members of the society are taxed through the sale of goods and services, while direct taxes are collected only from people in respective tax brackets.
• Additional indirect taxes levied on harmful commodities such as cigarettes, alcohol etc. dissuades over-consumption, thereby helping the country in a social context.

Both direct and indirect taxes are important for the country as they are intricately linked with the overall economy. As such, collection of these taxes is important for the government as well as the well-being of the country. Both direct taxes and indirect taxes are collected by the central and respective state governments according to the type of tax levied.

Source:- http://www.ajsh.in/blog

What is Bookkepping

If you’re running a business, it doesn’t matter whether you’re an independent contractor or a growing company, managing accounts payable is a key part of your everyday business administration. Accounts payable is the process of tracking money owed by your business to suppliers. As your business grows, so does the complexity of your accounts payable process.

The term bookkeeping means different things to different people:
Some people think that bookkeeping is the same as accounting. They assume that keeping a company’s books and preparing its financial statements and tax reports are all part of bookkeeping.
Others see bookkeeping as limited to recording transactions in journals or daybooks and then posting the amounts into accounts in ledgers. After the amounts are posted, the bookkeeping has ended and an accountant with a college degree takes over. The accountant will make adjusting entries and then prepare the financial statements and other reports.

At mid-size and larger corporations the term bookkeeping might be absent. Often corporations have accounting departments staffed with accounting clerks who process accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, etc. The accounting clerks will be supervised by one or more accountants.

Bookkeeping (and accounting) involves the recording of a company’s financial transactions. The transactions will have to be identified, approved, sorted and stored in a manner so they can be retrieved and presented in the company’s financial statements and other reports.

Some of a company’s financial transactions:
The purchase of supplies with cash.
The purchase of merchandise on credit.
The sale of merchandise on credit.
Rent for the business office.
Salaries and wages earned by employees.
Buying equipment for the office.
Borrowing money from a bank.

The transactions will be sorted into perhaps hundreds of accounts including Cash, Accounts Receivable, Loans Payable, Accounts Payable, Sales, Rent Expense, Salaries Expense, Wages Expense Dept 1, Wages Expense Dept 2, etc. The amounts in each of the accounts will be reported on the company’s financial statements in detail or in summary form.

Start a daily regimen of entering incoming bills. If you incur a business credit card expense, enter it on the same day. Employee expenses should also be entered. Don’t forget to keep and securely store paper copies of all your documents too.Make a habit of paying your bills on a weekly basis and establish a window of payment that aligns with your supplier’s terms. If their terms are 30 days, don’t wait the 30 days to pay them; mail out the check or make the direct deposit payment a few days in advance of the deadline. This way you’ll maintain good relations with your vendors.

It’s inevitable that there will be times when cash flow is tight and paying bills on time can be challenging, be proactive. Refer back to all your suppliers’ terms to see if their payment windows allow for any wiggle room. If you know you can’t cover a payment this month, call your supplier and be honest: tell them you’ll make a minimum payment this month, and X amount next month until it’s paid off. While it’s not an ideal situation, and you may have to pay interest, it demonstrates to the supplier that you are proactive and serious about making payments. If you have a strong record of past payments, remind them of that fact and do whatever you can to reassure them of your business viability.

If your accounting system is taking up too much of your time, then you may want to enlist an assistant to help with some basic bookkeeping, or hire or outsource to an accountant. As your business grows, you might even want to consider the services full time .

Can a Domain be Trademarked?

The Internet Domain Names have now become much more than mere representing the websites of different companies on the Internet. Today, in this age of well-developed information technology and worldwide businesses through Internet, these domain names have attained the status of being business identifiers and promoters. Since the commercial activities on the Internet are to go on increasing day by day, the importance and usefulness of domain names too, are to be enhanced for the purposes of greater publicity, popularity, and profitability of businesses in all economic sectors. According to Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, “Domains have and will continue to go up in value faster than any other commodity ever known to man”. Broadly, the functions of domain names are now quite similar to the functions of a trademark or service mark, for these purposes. Ours this very informative web-article offers rich and hugely beneficial and securing information regarding the registration and protection of the domain names as trademarks, with a view to help and serve people, companies, and professions pertaining to diverse occupational and economic fields.


General Rule
Domain names are written representation of an internet address. Hence, it is common for businesses involved in ecommerce to spend significant amount of money for the building of brand name around a domain name. Such businesses or those wishing to trademark a domain name can apply for the same by filling a trademark application as a wordmark. And, it is permisssible under the Trademark Act to allow for a domain name to be trademarked. However, just because a domain is registered does not make the mark eligible for trademark registration. The key test applied by the Trademark Examiner would be whether the wordmark proposed would be liable for registration, not simply, not simply as a domain name.

While processing of the application, the Trademark Registrar would still subject the application to usual criteria and test for registration of trademark. The elements of domain name included as part of the application would be not considered and only the reminder or the distinct part of the mark is considered.


What Names Can Be Registered?

Not all domain names can be registered as trademarks. The USPTO is particular about what can be registered as a domain name. For example, you will have a problem registering a generic name like drugs.com as a trademark. And you’d face an uphill struggle to register a domain name that you use solely as an address and not a signifier of services. For example, the law firm of Smith & Jones would have a hard time registering smith&jones.com as a trademark. It would have to prove that the domain is being used for some other purpose than for people to find and contact the law firm.


Example
If an application is made for the registration of snapdeal.com or snapdeal.in, the trademark examiner would not consider domain elements like .com or .in and would only consider the word “snapdeal”. If that word passes the normal test for objection like similar or identical trademark exists or other reasons, then the mark is cleared for publising in the Trademark Journal.

Further, in some cases, even words that are not eligible for registration as a word mark may be eligible for registratoin as a domain name, as there is no space in between the words and the addition of .com gives a character to the mark. For example, Fast Forward may not be eligible for trademark registration, but fastforward.com could be eligible for registration.
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