NEW YORK: The US government quietly agreed to forgo about $38 billions in potential tax payment from troubled financial giant Citigroup as part of a deal that help the company repay bailout funds, a media report has said.
"The federal government quietly agreed to forgo billions of dollars in potential tax payments from Citigroup as part of the deal announced this week to wean the company from the massive taxpayer bailout that helped it survive the financial crisis," the 'Washington Post' reported.
The government had injected $45 billion in the entity, hit by global financial crisis in 2008. Citi has to pay back $20 billion bailout money to the US government, since the government got a 34% stake in Citi for $25 billion.
According to the publication, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Friday issued an exception to long-standing tax rules for the benefit of Citigroup and a few other companies partially owned by the government.
The move would allow Citigroup to retain $38 billion tax breaks that otherwise would decline in value when the government sells its stake to private investors.
The decision essentially gave up a longstanding rule that disqualified certain tax breaks if a significant ownership stake changed hands in an effort to discourage outside investors from buying tax benefits.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Delhi HC gets India’s first e-court
NEW DELHI: With gavel-hammering judges moving over to touchscreen handbooks, Delhi high court created history on Tuesday by showcasing the first e-courtroom in the country.
The court of Justice S Ravindra Bhat looked unlike any other courtroom, with a sleek, wide LCD screen on the wall and a touchscreen handbook replacing the bulky files as the HC launched its first eco-friendly initiative to go paperless and also bring about speedy justice.
Cumbersome paperwork has been replaced by digitalized files and judges can directly access them on a display monitor. With a target of digitalizing all documents within two years, the court has launched a pilot project which went on smoothly on the first day.
Though 33 matters were listed for the day, around 18 cases were disposed of within the first two hours, which on a routine basis take the entire day. The judge used his special LCD touchscreen to make corrections and his digital signature to certify the copy.
The lawyers gave the concept a thumbs-up, saying there were no glitches during the proceedings. ‘‘We will be able to get rid of our bulky files. Now we have to carry only a USB device or CD of our case, which is much easier,’’ said Swagat Sharma, a lawyer who appeared in the e-court. Some counsel, however, still preferred to use their paper files, an option given to them for the time being to enable them to adjust to accessing case files from their laptops.
The court has already digitalized around 5.5 crore papers pertaining to various cases upto 2007. It is also considering recording the statement of witnesses through video-conferencing to avoid procedural delays.
The court of Justice S Ravindra Bhat looked unlike any other courtroom, with a sleek, wide LCD screen on the wall and a touchscreen handbook replacing the bulky files as the HC launched its first eco-friendly initiative to go paperless and also bring about speedy justice.
Cumbersome paperwork has been replaced by digitalized files and judges can directly access them on a display monitor. With a target of digitalizing all documents within two years, the court has launched a pilot project which went on smoothly on the first day.
Though 33 matters were listed for the day, around 18 cases were disposed of within the first two hours, which on a routine basis take the entire day. The judge used his special LCD touchscreen to make corrections and his digital signature to certify the copy.
The lawyers gave the concept a thumbs-up, saying there were no glitches during the proceedings. ‘‘We will be able to get rid of our bulky files. Now we have to carry only a USB device or CD of our case, which is much easier,’’ said Swagat Sharma, a lawyer who appeared in the e-court. Some counsel, however, still preferred to use their paper files, an option given to them for the time being to enable them to adjust to accessing case files from their laptops.
The court has already digitalized around 5.5 crore papers pertaining to various cases upto 2007. It is also considering recording the statement of witnesses through video-conferencing to avoid procedural delays.
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