Facebook IPO seen moving ahead in First Quarter

Facebook Inc. is expected to move forward with its initial public offering of shares early next year, as anticipated, and could be valued at more than $100 billion, according to a report published Monday. CNBC, citing unnamed sources, reported that the social-networking service will likely stage its highly anticipated IPO in the first quarter, "with a valuation that could top $100 billion." One factor in the timing of the IPO is a Securities and Exchange Commission regulation for companies to start publicly disclosing financial data once they have more than 500 investors, according to the report. A Facebook spokesman declined to comment. Facebook has long anticipated reaching the 500-investor mark, and at that point, potentially moving ahead with an IPO that would bring in additional capital as the company starts making its financial disclosures.

source:www.tulsaworld.com/

Difference between IFRS Conversion and IFRS Adoption

The use of IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) is becoming so widespread that it has already been applied in over a 100 Countries which includes the likes of European Union, Hong Kong, Australia, South Africa, Russia and Singapore amongst others. As Companies have now aggressively started globalizing their operations, IFRS is increasingly becoming the need of the hour.

But Confusion still prevails over the difference between Adoption of IFRS and Convergence with IFRS. Although in common parlance, many users are using them interchangeably, but there exists a significant difference between the two which all users of IFRS must understand and implement.

Adoption of IFRS, in simple terms, means that the Country applying IFRS would be Implementing IFRS in the same manner as issued by the IASB and would be 100% compliant with the guidelines issued by IASB.

However, Convergence with IFRS means that the Accounting Standard Board of the Country applying IFRS would work together with IASB to develop high quality compatible Accounting Standards over time. Thus, Countries converging with IFRS may deviate to a certain extent from the IFRS’s as issued by the IASB.

More Conversion will make Adoption easier and less costly and may even make adoption of IFRS unnecessary. However, the supporters of Adoption believe that Convergence alone cannot eliminate all the differences between the 2 sets of Standards.

April - May Direct Tax Collections up 37 pc

Gross direct tax collections rose over 37% in April-May 2011 from a year-ago period, indicating at least for now that slowdown has not taken a toll on tax revenues . However, tax experts say any firm conclusion about the impact of the slowdown on revenues can be drawn only when corporates pay first installment of advance tax later this month. All the data releases last week pointed towards a moderation in growth. Net direct tax collections dropped 48% in the first two months to Rs 12,954 crore fromRs 24,878 crore because of large refunds, data released by the government on Monday showed. Gross tax collections were up at Rs 50,405 crore in April-May against Rs 36,702 crore. The direct tax collections in the first couple of months mostly include personal income tax and those by professional firm. Corporates pay the first installment of direct tax only in the middle of June. India's companies pay advance tax four times in a year. A finance ministry official said government would meet the annual target of Rs 5.32 lakh crore for 2011-12 and allayed any apprehensions of a possible slowdown impacting direct tax revenues.

source:ET

Signing an agreement with a builder? Read this !!!

On handing over the house to you, the builder needs to also give a `Completion Certificate’. This is issued by municipal authorities which establishes that the building complies with the approved plan. You would need this certificate for registration of your house and other government formalities.

So you have identified the house that you want to buy, got the home loan approved and now are ready to own your house. Think its smooth sailing from here onwards? Think again. Once you have completed these formalities, the next part is ensuring that the builder does not entangle you in any legal traps. There are some very important points to consider when you are about to enter into an agreement with the developer. Let’s take a look at 5 such points you need to remember and the measures you can take against them.

Point 1 - Actual price of the house

The agreement you enter in with the builder details the various costs that you will need to bear for buying the house. This would include the cost for utilities like electricity and water, parking space, various taxes and in some cases even the registration charges. However, the builder may then levy some extra charges for any of these.

Measures to take

• Check the agreement very carefully for all the charges applicable.
• If possible, get the agreement checked by a lawyer for any missing or hidden charges and get the anomalies (if any) rectified by the builder.
• If the extra charges are for alterations made to the original plan, ask the builder for the sanction letter provided by government authorities for such alterations.

Point 2 - Actual size of the house

The agreement would clearly mention the size of the house you are purchasing. However, there is a clause which states ‘…the plans, designs, and specifications are tentative and the developer reserves the right to make variations and modifications….’. Therefore, you may agree for a certain size, but the builder can give a different size.

Measures to take

• Before freezing on your choice of a builder, do some research about the builder’s past projects.
• If possible, talk with other buyers who already have got possession about problems faced by them
• Try and include a clause in the agreement stating the minimum and maximum size beyond which the builder cannot increase or decrease.

Point 3 - Carpet Area

The area of an apartment or building, not inclusive of the area of the walls is known as carpet area. This is the area in which literally a ‘carpet’ can be laid. When the area of the walls including the balcony is calculated along with the carpet area, it is known as built-up area. The built-up area along with the area under common spaces like lobby, lifts, stairs, garden and swimming pool is called super built-up area. The carpet area can be 15-30 percent less than the super built-up area. However, you will not come to know the exact size until the flat constructions is completed.

Measures to take

• Purchase the property based on the carpet area of the flat.
• Ensure that this area is mentioned in the agreement.
• Try to get a clause included which will ensure that the contract can be terminated if the builder provides a house with the carpet area less than what is mentioned in the contract.

Point 4 - Date of Possession

The agreement normally mentions a tentative date of possession. However, there have been instances where builders have delayed possession by more than a year.

Measure to take

• Check the progress of the construction personally.
• If the progress is slow and would not meet the date of possession in a timely manner, build pressure on the builder.
• Forming a society with other buyers sometimes helps a lot in getting things to speed up at the builders end.

Point 5 - Completion certificate

On handing over the house to you, the builder needs to also give a completion certificate. This is issued by municipal authorities which establishes that the building complies with the approved plan. You would need this certificate for registration of your house and other government formalities.

Measures to take

• If the agreement does not mention the certificate, ensure that the agreement has a clause which states that the builder will provide the certificate while handling over the house to you.
• If the builder delays a lot, forming a society with other buyers sometimes helps a lot.

Other than these five points there more points such as the quality of the construction, management of the society etc. For this you can try to add clauses to the agreement or form a society to get the builder to meet your demands. Since there is no industry regulator you can turn to for the redressal of issues, it is important that you are aware of what you want and what you are getting.

source: bankbazaar.com

Are You Happy?

May this question halt you for a while. But then every child is growing up asking a lot of questions! Once they grow up to be adults, most of them are scared to ask questions. What happens when we stop asking questions? We receive no answers! Similarly when we don't monitor our attitude, we stop being flexible. For true success and happiness, ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?

Happiness is a simple possibility. Just do what is right, the right way, at the right time then happiness will settle down comfortably in your life.

Is it difficult to change an attitude? We don't pause to ask ourselves why we entertain negative attitude. Muster the courage to challenge the negative thoughts, just once or twice every day. Coax yourself to substitute the wrong/negative attitude with the right/positive attitude. After a few months you will pleasantly be surprised that it is indeed easy to stay positive for most of the time in life. The mind is like the modeling clay. It can be shaped into any way provided you meditate to shape it. Nothing is automatically going to happen in anybody's life. A well brought out mind can do wonders. It creates positive thoughts, is versatile and makes people happy. A badly disciplined mind is negative and causes havoc. It thinks too fast for comfort and makes people miserable because of criticism and hurt. Flexible attitude makes life easier and peaceful by and large. The flexible mind will let the wind of change to breeze through without any agitation. The rigid attitude will lock the door for happiness and the mind will dwell only in negative thoughts. Flexible attitude enables us to adapt to changes and the mind remains open widely.

Abraham Lincoln in one of his speeches said, “Important principles may and must be flexible”. How true?

The flexible attitude is the key to unlock lot of doors. This key can enable access to a good job, good friend, good association and everything else that sustains happiness in life. Therefore whatever is the state of mind of the other individual; let us make sure that our state of mind is flexible and filled with good wishes for others.

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things”.

LLP can now act as an External Auditor of a Company

A Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) can now be a statutory auditor of a company, thanks to the Corporate Affairs Ministry. The Ministry has now clarified that a LLP of chartered accountants will not be treated as ‘body corporate' for the limited purpose of Section 226(3) (a) of the Companies Act. An executive order to this effect has been issued. This provision of Companies Act specifies that a ‘body corporate' is disqualified from appointment as auditor by a company. The CA institute had represented to the Ministry that the Limited Liability Partnership law of 2008 specifies a LLP as a ‘body corporate'. Hence, LLP among chartered accountants will not be qualified for appointment as auditor by a company, the CA institute had submitted. By taking LLP out of the purview of ‘body corporate' for the limited purpose of appointment of auditor, the Government has enabled conversion of more CA firms into LLPs.

source:internet

PPF vs. EPF which is better?

Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Employee Provident Fund (EPF) are long term investment instruments for retirement. The beauty of these options lies in their slow, steady and secure nature. You keep investing a small amount and end up with a big corpus by the time you retire. It is very important for every working individual to take advantage of these instruments. However a lot of people are confused between these two. We clarify all your doubts.

Public Provident Fund (PPF)

PPF is a statutory scheme of the central government started with the objective of providing old age income security to the unorganized sector workers and self employed persons

Employee Provident Fund (EPF)

Employee Provident Fund (EPF) is a retirement benefit applicable only for salaried employees. It is a fund to which an employee and employer contributes 12% every month (Pre-set by the Government of India) of the employee’s basic salary. Every year, the employer deposits with the Employee Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), the contribution from the employer and the employee. Knowingly or unknowingly, 24% of your basic salary is saved every month. Amount accumulated in the EPF account can be withdrawn to the employee at the time of retirement or resignation. This can also be transferred from one company to the other if one switches jobs.

Return on Investment

PPF: 8 % Per annum

EPF: 8.5% per annum (For the year, 2010-2011, EPF is at 9.5%)

Investment Tenure

PPF: Amount can be withdrawn on maturity i.e. after 15 years. It can be extended for a period of 5 Years

EPF: Amount is paid at the time of retirement or resignation whichever is earlier. It can be transferred to one company to other in case of a job change

Loan Option

PPF: Can avail loans up to 50% of balance of the 4^th year from 6^th year onwards

EPF: Can make withdrawals for personal needs by disclosing suitable documents

Tax Implication

PPF: Investment qualifies U/s 80C. On maturity amount, there is no tax

EPF: Investment qualifies for deduction under Section 80C.Withdrawal of EPF amount is subject to tax if withdrawal within 5 years of employment with the same employer. If you have not worked for at least five years with the same employer but the EPF has been transferred to the new employer, it is not taxed.

Which is better?

EPF has an edge over PPF because of the following reasons

Employer contribution

Employer contributes to the Employee Provident whereas in case of public provident fund no such contribution happens

Return on Investment

Rate of interest on EPF is higher than interest on PPF

Liquidity

An individual having EPF can withdraw amount for personal needs anytime providing necessary documents while an individual holding PPF cannot withdraw money till the completion of tenure

Conclusion:

Though both the investment options has got their own pros and cons, from above we can observe that EPF has got edge over PPF in terms of Return on investment, Employer Contribution, Liquidity.  For salaried people who have the option of contributing in EPF schemes, make sure you make the contribution to the fullest extent.  Since EPF is not available to self-employed and employees in un-organized sector, for those PPF is a good alternative.

source:internet