NATION, P3 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P7 BAIL ALLOWED TO APPEAL FUNDING OVER TWO YEARS IN TALKS WITH MOVIE STUDIOS Surat court convicts Rahul Gandhi in 2019 ‘Modi surname’ case Tata mulls $2-billion investment in Neu to boost digital business Apple to spend $ 1 bn a year on films to break into cinemas MUMBAI, FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2023 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXIII NO. 69, 14 PAGES, `10.00 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 57,925.28 ▼ 289.31 NIFTY: 17,076.90 ▼ 75 NIKKEI 225: 27,419.61 ▼ 47 HANG SENG: 20,049.64 ▲ 458.64 `/$: 82.26 ▲ 0.40 `/€: 89.55 ▼ 0.70 BRENT: $76.95 ▼ $0.26 GOLD: `59,056 ▲ `548 KEY CHANGES TO TAX PROPOSALS IN FINANCE BILL Long-term capital gains in debt mutual funds set to go New tax on InvITs to be on a lower base WIN SOME, LOSE SOME MFs with 35% or less ofAUM in domestic equities to be at the I-T slab level ACCENTURE SAID ON Thursdayitwould cut 19,000 jobs over the next 18 months andlowereditsannualrevenueandprofit projections,joininga growing list of companies laying off workers amid a challenging economic environment. Accenture said more than half of the layoffs will affect staff at its non-billable corporate functions. ■ Currently, investors in debt IN A MOVE that could take away the longterm capital gains benefits for a majority of debt mutual fund schemes, one of the key amendments that the government is set to propose in the Finance Bill 2023, is that the taxation of capital gains of investors in debt fundswhich have 35% or less of their assets under management in domestic equities will be at the slab level, said sourcesclose tothe development.Currently, investors in debt funds pay income tax on capital gains according to their income tax slab for a holding period of threeyears and afterthat,theyare taxed at the rate of 20% with indexation benefits or 10% without indexation. According to mutual fund heads, this proposal is likely to give a boost to bank fixed deposits and also pure equity funds and do away with the arbitrage between different debt instruments.Amit Maheshwari, tax partner, AKM Global said,“The proposal would take away the tax advantage for such funds and the investors may resort to alternate options such as fixed deposits.”Theobjectiveistoplugataxloophole used by high net worth individuals and family offices for investments. In other key changes in the tax proposals in the Finance Bill 2023,before it is put to vote in Lok Sabha, sources said that the proposed income tax at slab rate on amortisation of debt in the hands of InvITs/REITs unitholderswill be restricted funds pay tax on capital gains for holding period up to 3 years; 20% tax with indexation or 10% without indexation on gains from longer holdings ■ Proposed tax on amortisation of debt in the hands of InvITs/REITS unitholders to be restricted to the excess sum received by them over the issue price; redemption not a necessary condition ■ Base reduction from the proposed change would provide a significant relief to the investors in InvITs/REITS totheexcesssumreceivedbythemoverthe issue price, that is, the initial investment. Redemptionoftheunitswon'tbearequirement for computing the gains, post the cost of acquisition. This will lighten the burden of the new taxoninfrastructureandrealestateinvestment trusts and help address the concerns that new impost would dampen fresh investments in these instruments. Stakeholders have suggested that a capital gains tax would serve the purpose, given that it could reduce the rate (long-term rate is 10%, and short term gains are taxed at 15%) but the government is learnt to have not accepted this. However, tax experts said, the base reduction to come from the proposed change, would provide a significant relief to the investors, though not as much as a ■ ADIA-led investment vehicles relocating to the GIFT IFSC to get waiver from capital gains tax shift to capital gains tax would have. Further,investmentvehicles helmed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) relocating to the GIFT IFSC may be made eligible for exemption from capital gains tax. The proposal is aimed to spur investments into India's International Financial Services Centres. According to sources, the government is looking at a proposal under which an investment vehicle, in which ADIA is the direct or indirect sole shareholder or unitholder or beneficiary and the investment is wholly owned and controlled by the ADIA or the government of Abu Dhabi, will be able to get capital gains tax exemption on relocation to the IFSC. Continued on Page 2 Bonds flat,T-Bills end lower BOND YIELDS ENDED virtually flat Thursday at 7.34% after falling in early trade mirroring yields on US bonds as the US Fed raised interest rates by 25 bps on Wednesday. With the dollar index retreating to 102.50, the rupee gained 40 paise to close at 82.26. The cut-off yields on treasury bills, meanwhile, ended lower. The 364-day T-Bill was at 7.23%, from 7.31% on March 15 & 7.48% on March 8 auction. IN THE NEWS Vedanta to consider 5th interim dividend VEDANTA board will meet on March 28 to consider and approve the fifth interim dividend for FY 2022-23, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 6 Rupee vs dollar 82.0 82.2 82.3 82.5 82.6 82.7 82.41 Previous close: 82.67 Open Intra-day, March 23 7.34 7.39 7.32 7.48 15th March 23rd March 7.31 7.31 7.30 7.29 7.28 7.23 7.29 Open Shortly after Adani, Hindenburg shorts Jack Dorsey’s firm Block HINDENBURGRESEARCHONThursday disclosed short positions in Block and alleged that the Jack Dorsey-led payments firm overstated its user numbersandunderstateditscustomer acquisitioncosts. SharesofBlockslid20%to$57.85 in premarket trading following the report.If losses hold through the session,sharescouldrecordtheirsteepest percentagefallsinceMarch2020. "Our 2-year investigation has concluded that Block has systematically taken advantage of the demographics itclaimstobehelping,"theshortseller saidinanotepublishedonitswebsite. Blockdidnotimmediatelyrespond toaReutersrequestforcomment. The US short-seller,behind a market rout of over $100 billion in the AdaniGroup,saidinitsreportthatformer Block employees estimated that ANOTHER ROUT LOOMS 75 Block 72.65 70 (share price in $) Previous close 65 60 59.19 58.45 55 50 7.33 Previous close: 7.33 REPORT REVEALS 40-75% FAKE ACCOUNTS REUTERS March 23 Close 10-year govt bond yield (%) 7.33 8th March The cost of gas pricing ■ PAGE 18 reform 82.26 82.1 T-bill yield (364 days) (%) 1st March EXPLAINER Intra-day, March 23 Inverted scale 82.4 7:00 pm @IST 7.40 pm INSIDE Adani Power under short term ASM again PAGE 10 40%-75% of accounts they reviewed were fake, involved in fraud, or were additional accounts tied to a single individual.Reuterscouldnotverifythe claimsraisedinthereport. Hindenburg added that Block "obfuscates"howmanyindividualsare ontheCashAppplatformbyreporting misleading"transactingactive"metrics filledwithfakeandduplicateaccounts. Hinderburg added that cofounders Jack Dorseyand James McKelveycollectivelysoldover$1billionof stockduringthepandemicasthecompany'ssharepricesoared. Otherexecutivesincludingfinance chief Amrita Ahuja and the lead manager for Cash App Brian Grassadonia also dumped millions of dollars in stock,thereportadded. About 5.2% of Block's free float shares were in short position as of March22,accordingtoOrtexdata. Continued on Page 2 Revenue growth pegged at 8-10% from 8-11% earlier AGENCIES New Delhi, March 23 ■ Taxation of capital gains of investors in debt PRASANTA SAHU & SURABHI New Delhi, March 23 Accenture to cut 19K jobs, cuts projections Close Thecompanynowexpectsannualrevenue growth to be in the range of 8-10% in local currency, compared to 8-11% expected previously. Continued on Page 2 Will private capex pick up, finally? Which are the EV models that India's rich and famous drive? How is India Inc faring on the ESG scorecard? Find the answers in the pages of FE 1000, a 186-page magazine being distributed free with today's edition. There's a lot more: A definitive listing of India's top 1,000 companies and their financials.