On January 11, 2020, Dutch Minister of Finance Wopke Hoekstra informed the House of Representatives about the Government's plans to restructure the tax authorities.

Indonesia is to hike its air departure tax for Soekarno-Hatta Airport, by far the country's busiest, from March 1.

Barbados's new government has issued a new Budget that would raise corporate and income tax rates, repeal the National Social Responsibility Levy and road tax and make other value-added tax and levy changes.

On May 28, 2019, Dutch State Secretary for Finance Menno Snel issued an update on the Government's 2019 fiscal agenda, which includes an outline of tax legislative proposals that the Government intends to submit to parliament in the remainder of the year.

The newly elected President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who was formerly Germany's defense minister, has proposed the introduction of a new Carbon Border Tax, which would be included in a new "Green Deal for Europe" she has promised to deliver within her first 100 days in office.

The Austrian Ministry of Finance has announced its decision to proceed with personal income tax cuts.

NCC share price has zoomed 5% and is presently trading at Rs 25.

Meanwhile, the BSE REALTY Index is at 1,345 (up 1.3%).

Among the top Gainers in the BSE REALTY Index today is NCC (up 5.4%).

Over the last one year, NCC has moved down from Rs 92 to Rs 25, registering a loss of Rs 68 (down 73.5%).

On the other hand, the BSE REALTY has moved down from 1,983 to 1,345, loss of 638 points (down 32.4%) during the last 12 months.

The top gainers among the BSE REALTY Index stocks during this same period were [param_historic_top3].

What About the Benchmark Indices?

The BSE Sensex is at 32,089 (up 1.6%).

The top gainers among the BSE Sensex stocks today are INDUSIND BANK (up 3.5%), HUL (up 3.0%) and BAJAJ FINANCE (up 2.6%). Other gainers include RELIANCE IND. (up 2.3%) and AXIS BANK (up 2.3%). The most traded stocks in the BSE Sensex are RELIANCE IND. and INDUSIND BANK.

In the meantime, NSE Nifty is at 9,383 (up 1.6%). The top gainers in the NSE Nifty include DR. REDDYS LAB (up 4.3%), INDUSIND BANK (up 3.8%) and HUL (up 3.2%). Other gainers include INDIABULLS HOU. FIN. (up 3.0%) and HINDALCO (up 2.9%) are among the top gainers in NSE Nifty.

Over the last 12 months, the BSE Sensex has moved down from 38,277 to 32,089, registering a loss of 6,188 points (down 16.52%).

NCC Financial Update...

NCC net profit down at Rs 1 billion for the quarter ended December 2019, compared to a loss of Rs 2 billion a year ago. Net Sales declined 32.5% to Rs 22.8 billion during the period as against Rs 33.8 billion in October-December 2018.

For the year ended March 2019, NCC reported 153.1% increase in net profit to Rs 6.8 billion compared to net profit of Rs 2.7 billion during FY18.

Revenue of the company grew 53.7% to Rs 129 billion during FY19.

The current Price to earnings ratio of NCC, based on rolling 12 month earnings, stands at 3.4x.

This article (NCC Surges by 5%; BSE REALTY Index Up 1.3%) is authored by Equitymaster.

Equitymaster is a leading 'independent' equity research initiative focused on providing well-researched and unbiased opinions on stocks listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Share markets in India are presently trading on a positive note. Benchmark indices advanced today tracking firm global cues.

Further, talks of an economic stimulus for small businesses battered by the coronavirus outbreak improved sentiment.

Reportedly, the government may unveil fiscal stimulus amounting to 0.3% of the country's gross domestic product, focusing on small and medium sized businesses, real estate firms and banks.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 524 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 146 points.

The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index are trading up by 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the energy sector and telecom sector witnessing buying interest, while power stocks are witnessing selling pressure.

The rupee is currently trading at 75.44 against the US$.

Gold prices are currently trading down by 0.1% at Rs 46,134.

Speaking of the current stock market scenario, after a sharp rally in the past few weeks, the markets have turned volatile again.

You would be interested in knowing when the market will likely bottom out.

Vijay Bhambwani, editor of Weekly Cash Alerts, has the answer and he has recorded a video about it.

You can check the same here - This is When the Stock Market Will Bottom Out

Moving on, market participants are tracking Shree Cement share price, TCI Express share price, and SBI Cards and Payment Services share price as these companies are scheduled to announce their March quarter results (Q4FY20) later today.

You can read our recently released Q4FY20 results of other companies here: Ambuja Cement, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Marico, Kansai Nerolac, NIIT Technologies, Persistent Systems, SKF India.

In news from the banking sector, public sector banks (PSBs) sanctioned loans worth Rs 5.66 lakh crore for the March-April period to 41.81 lakh accounts, according to the finance ministry.

The borrowers represented the micro small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs), retail, agriculture and corporate sectors.

Reportedly, PSB loans amounting to Rs 265 billion have been sanctioned in 2.37 lakh cases for MSMEs.

This is part of the PSB initiative to prioritise pre-approved emergency credit lines and enhanced working capital requirements to the sector.

Meanwhile, PSBs sanctioned loans worth Rs 773.8 billion to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs) between March 1 and May 4.

Including the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) targeted long term repo operations (TLTRO) window, PSBs extended Rs 1.08 lakh crore of financing to ensure business stability and continuity.

The finance ministry said that the three-month loan moratorium facility announced by the RBI has been availed by 3.2 crore PSB accounts.

On Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Indian economy is poised to recover from the recent crisis brought upon by the coronavirus pandemic with PSB sanctioning loans worth Rs 5.66 lakh crore in just two months.

Speaking of the banking sector, the low access to credit for micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) tells us there is a huge opportunity for lenders.

This is evident from the chart below:

India's Huge Lending Opportunity

Of the 60 million MSMEs in India, only 11% had access to credit from organised lenders. Most of them are self-financed or get credit from unorganised sources.

Here's what Tanushree Banerjee wrote about this in one of the editions of The 5 Minute WrapUp...

• Self-financing limits the growth of these MSMEs. On the other hand, high interest rates from unorganised sources makes it difficult for them to earn profits.
  
  The Modi government is looking at various ways to correct this problem. Mudra loans, online loans facilities are being made available to MSMEs.
  
  Slowly but surely, lenders are sensing the huge opportunity that lies ahead for this sector.
  
  Banks and other financial firms with prudent lending practices and strong distribution networks will benefit from this megatrend.

Tanushree is counting on 7 top stocks from the Indian stock market that will benefit from this megatrend.

As per her, now is the right time to buy these stocks to profit from the Rebirth of India. You can read about them here.

Moving on to news from the FMCG sector, shares of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) rose 4% today after institutional investors bought stake in the company via open market on Thursday.

The NSE bulk deal data showed that foreign portfolio investor Societe Generale, a French multinational investment bank and financial services company, bought 129 million shares of HUL at an average price of Rs 1,902.

UK-based Glaxo-SmithKline (GSK) offloaded its stake in HUL via block deals, yesterday.

According to the term sheet, over 133 million shares were offered in the range of Rs 1,850-1,950 to investors through a special block window.

The deal is valued roughly between Rs 246 billion to Rs 259 billion.

Note that last week, HUL reported a 7% decline in volumes in Q4FY20. The company's profit before tax fell 10.6% to Rs 19.9 billion, while net profit declined 1.2% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 15.2 billion.

HUL share price is presently trading up by 3%.

To know more about the company, you can HUL's latest result analysis on our website.

And to know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

JM FINANCIAL share price has plunged 5% and is presently trading at Rs 66.

Meanwhile, the BSE 500 Index is at 12,146 (up 1.2%).

Among the top losers in the BSE 500 Index today are JM FINANCIAL (down 5.1%) and LAURUS LABS LTD (down 8.3%).

TV18 BROADCAST (up 9.0%) and E.I.D. PARRY (up 7.3%) are among the top gainers today.

Over the last one year, JM FINANCIAL has moved down from Rs 85 to Rs 66, registering a loss of Rs 19 (down 22.1%)..

The BSE 500 has moved down from 14,958 to 12,146, loss of 2,812 points (down 18.8%) during the last 12 months.

The top gainers among the BSE 500 Index stocks during this same period were ADANI GREEN ENERGY (up 433.0%), ABBOTT INDIA (up 143.2%) and NAVIN FLUORINE (up 117.1%).

What About the Benchmark Indices?

The BSE Sensex is at 32,089 (up 1.5%). The top gainers among the BSE Sensex stocks today are RELIANCE IND. (up 4.6%). The most traded stocks in the BSE Sensex are INDUSIND BANK and RELIANCE IND..

In the meantime, NSE Nifty is at 9,383 (up 1.4%). ZEE ENTERTAINMENT (up 5.0%) and RELIANCE IND. (up 4.6%) are among the top gainers in NSE Nifty.

Over the last 12 months, the BSE Sensex has moved down from 38,277 to 32,089, registering a loss of 6,188 points (down 16.61%).

JM FINANCIAL Financial Update...

JM FINANCIAL net profit stood at Rs 2 billion for the quarter ended December 2019, compared to a profit of Rs 2 billion a year ago. Net Sales declined 8.0% to Rs 8.3 billion during the period as against Rs 9.0 billion in October-December 2018.

For the year ended March 2019, JM FINANCIAL reported 14.5% increase in net profit to Rs 11.1 billion compared to net profit of Rs 9.7 billion during FY18.

Revenue of the company grew 16.1% to Rs 35 billion during FY19.

The current Price to earnings ratio of JM FINANCIAL, based on rolling 12 month earnings, stands at 6.6x.

This article (JM FINANCIAL Plunges by 5%; BSE 500 Index Up 1.2%) is authored by Equitymaster.

Equitymaster is a leading 'independent' equity research initiative focused on providing well-researched and unbiased opinions on stocks listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

A new tax treaty incorporating the latest international tax standards was signed by France and Luxembourg on March 20.

On December 18, 2018, Luxembourg's parliament approved legislation that will implement the European Union Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive.

The Luxembourg direct tax administration has published a circular including comprehensive guidance for the recently introduced changes to the special tax regime for intellectual property income.

South Africa is to launch an inquiry into the reasons behind a shortfall in tax revenue collections.

The South African Revenue Service has released the 2017 edition of its Tax Statistics report, looking at the agency's performance over the 2013 to 2016 tax years.

The South African Revenue Service has announced that it will temporarily permit taxpayers to report information on controlled foreign corporations under the old filing rules, which were replaced in February.

On April 1, 2018, South Africa will raise its value-added tax rate to 15 percent from 14 percent.

44 African countries have signed a landmark free trade pact to simplify tax and non-tax rules for trading between their borders.

On April 1, 2018, South Africa increased its value-added tax rate to 15 percent from 14 percent.

The South African Revenue Service on April 6, 2018, warned taxpayers that they are expected to declare cryptocurrency gains or losses in calculating their taxable income.

Having increased the headline value-added tax rate to 15 percent from 14 percent on April 1, South Africa has appointed a panel to consider a review of the list of food items subject to the zero rate.

The South African Revenue Service has removed certain paper forms from its branches in an attempt to encourage more taxpayers to file tax returns electronically.

On October 23, 2019, the Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service launched the re-established Large Business Centre, which aims to bring about higher levels of voluntary tax compliance among large taxpayers.

Engineers have done preliminary work and talked to smartphone operating system makers Apple Inc and Google about possibly adopting technology the companies plan to release jointly this month to make tracing easier

Jio has introduced an annual work-from-home annual plan for Rs 2399 that gives its users 2GB daily data. It has also brought in three work-from-home add-on plans.

The fund house said the remarks made by Jenny Johnson, president and CEO, Franklin Templeton during their quarterly earnings call were quoted "out of context" by media outlets

Stock specific action was seen in index heavyweight Reliance Industries gained 3.43% to Rs 1,558 on BSE after PE firm Vista Equity Partners said it would invest Rs 11,367 crore into Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore.

Shares of Asian Paints closed 1.01 per cent lower at 1,577against previous close of Rs 1593 on BSE

Share price of Tata Motors slipped 2.36% intra day to Rs 84.85 compared to the previous close of Rs 82.50 on BSE

On November 18, 2019, the German Ministry of Finance published a question and answer section on its website to clarify the role of a new special unit within the tax authority designed to detect cases of tax fraud more quickly.

TRA2020 conference in April 2020 has been cancelled

More information

The member states of the European Free Trade Association signed a free trade agreement with Georgia during a meeting on June 27, 2016.

The European Free Trade Association Surveillance Authority has approved a tax-based state aid scheme aimed at reducing maritime transport pollution in Norway.

The Financial Services Development Council released a report on March 3 on the policies, including tax measures, Hong Kong could adopt to improve its position as an insurance hub, especially in reinsurance, marine insurance, and captives.

Both cars come with eight-speed steptronic sport automatic transmission and a host of safety features like six airbags, attentiveness assistance, dynamic stability control, including dynamic traction control, anti-lock braking system and electric parking brake

Jio has also announced new add-on data packs under work from home theme

Ernst and Young Solutions LLP, Singapore, has released its wish list for the Singapore Budget 2018, calling for reforms to sharpen the territory's competitiveness.

Singapore's tax agency has made two announcements recently concerning the automatic exchange of information on foreign taxpayers' affairs, on the Common Reporting Standard and the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore on February 23, 2018, released the fifth edition of its Transfer Pricing Guidelines for income tax.

Singapore has gazetted a law to repeal the income tax concession for intellectual property income derived by companies benefiting from the Pioneer Service Companies Incentive or the Development and Expansion Incentive schemes.

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore has released new transfer pricing guidance on determining the economic value of taxpayers' commodity marketing and trading activities in Singapore.

On July 5, 2019, Singapore's tax agency released a draft guide that includes proposals for more favorable GST rules for virtual currencies.

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore has updated its guidance on the introduction from January 1, 2020, of an obligation on Singaporean taxpayers to collect GST on imported services under a reverse charge.

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) has reported that revenues increased by 4.4 percent in the 2018-2019 fiscal year, in its annual report for the year.

Singapore is to add provisions to draft legislation to enhance the new GST regime for imported services and clarify new rules for virtual currencies.

Malaysia has decided to keep the crude palm oil export duty at 5.5 percent next month, despite higher Indian taxes on imports, which are expected to dent demand.

Canada's Revenue Minister has provided an update on the progress made by the Government in addressing tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance.

Hong Kong has announced the conclusion of free trade agreement negotiations with the Association of South East Asian Nations.

Malaysia's Inland Revenue Board has denied allegations that it is more aggressively pursuing taxpayers affiliated with opposition political parties or their supporters.

The Malaysian Government in its Budget 2018 announced numerous tax changes, including an income tax cut, incentives for women to return to work, and tax relief for property investors and venture capital firms.

The Malaysian tax agency on December 1 released guidance on whether gifts provided for no consideration can be excluded from the goods and services tax net.