AIF: Murthy Committee submits report to SEBI
Published: Jan 19, 2018
By TIOLCORPLAWS News Service
MUMBAI, JAN 19, 2018: ALTERNATIVE Investment Policy Advisory Committee (AIPAC), which was constituted by the SEBI under chairmanship of Mr N. R. Narayana Murthy, in March 2015 has submitted its third report to SEBI with various recommendations.
The taxation of SEBI-registered Category III Alternative Investment Funds had been analysed. As per the Committee, in recent years, the Government had done much to reform and institute pass-through taxation of Categories I and II AIFs. The Committee recommended that the taxation of AIFs in Category III can now be addressed given that the present trust-based taxation approach is complex and ambiguous.
On the front of GST, the Committee mentioned that the Government took positive steps to introduce a new GST regime this year. In addition, the Government had shown prudence and flexibility by introducing changes in the GST regime commensurate with the needs of businesses. The GST regime also impacts the establishment of domestic AIFs in India, particularly those with overseas investors. Accordingly, the Committee had analysed the impact of GST on AIFs and had made a number of helpful reform suggestions aimed at attracting overseas investors.
Some of the previous recommendations had been the subject of discussion among Committee members and market participants at large. Taking that feedback into account, the report includes recommendations relating to the allocation of CSR funds, created pursuant to the obligations under the Companies Act, 2013, to SEBI-regulated AIF Category I Social Venture Funds.
There had been a constant call to attract offshore fund managers (who invest in India, but operate from an offshore location), by encouraging them to shift their fund management and administration to India. In that context the Committee had made suggestions for a suitable tax and regulatory framework for the domiciliation of AIFs in International Financial Services Centers in India.