Apple has agreed to pay Italian authorities 318 million euros to settle a tax dispute after the US tech giant was accused of dodging payments. The company's Italian subsidiary has been under investigation for allegedly failing to declare more than one billion euros (USD 1.3 billion) to the tax authorities.
Apple Italia is part of the company's European operation which is headquartered in Ireland, a country with one of the lowest levels of corporation tax in the European Union.
Germany Took in 1.1 mn Asylum Seekers
As per reports, Germany took in almost 1.1 million asylum seekers this year, an all-time record and five times last year's total.
Monthly arrivals for the month of December reached an estimated 125,000 with 117,000 registered by December 29.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has won both praise and criticism for her decision in September to open Germany to a record wave of refugees, about half from war-torn Syria.
The government has made quoting PAN number mandatory from January 1 for cash payment made to settle hotels bills or for buying foreign travel tickets of Rs. 50,000 as it tightened disclosure norms to curb black money.
The PAN requirement for non-luxury cash transactions was set at Rs. 2 lakh, while the same was made mandatory on purchase of immovable property of Rs. 10 lakh.
Essar Oil Completes Delisting
Oil Bidco (Mauritius), promoter of Essar Oil (EOL), has announced the successful completion of EOL's delisting offer process, which is the largest in the history of corporate India. The delisting offer has valued EOL at Rs. 38,000 crore ($5.75 billion) in market capitalisation.
The payout of Rs. 3,745 crore made to shareholders for Essar Oil's delisting is also the largest in India's corporate history.
Investors benefited because Essar Oil grew from a market cap of just Rs. 2,000 crore in 1995 to more than Rs. 38,000 crore in 2015.
Companies Raised Rs. 68,608 crore in 2015
In 2015, Indian firms mopped up over Rs. 68,608 crore through the equity market route, with offer-for sale (OFS) emerging as the most preferred way to mobilise capital for their business needs.
This is 76 per cent higher than Rs. 39,067 crore raised through the equity market in 2014.
The year could have been even better but for the deferment of several PSU offerings.
From January 1, 2016, India will no longer receive financial aid from the UK, a decision which was taken by the British government in 2012 after a domestic outcry about India's growing economic status.
The transition has taken three years during which the existing financial grant projects were completed and the unutilized funds moved into what are called technical assistance projects.