Taxes on cement in country highest in Asia
Triple digit growth of the cement industry for first quarter is at stake owing to higher power cost, railway tariff and greater incidents of lower quality coal supply, says a study by the Assocham.
Electricity accounts for 40 per cent and coal about 25 per cent of cement manufacturing cost. Assochams study says that the shortage of coal is a major bottleneck despite the country has 80 billion tonnes coal reserves.
The Ministry of Coal projects demand for coal by the cement industry to be 23.3 million tonnes this year and 25.4 million tonnes in 2007.
Import of coal is not feasible as the domestic prices are lower. Coal is mainly imported from China, South Africa and Indonesia. In the case of importing coal from China it would be Rs 3,168 per tonne against Rs 2,024 per tonne domestic price that is 36.11 per cent lesser.
More : mumbaimirror.com
Related Travel Information
AUSTRALIAN businesses face the developed world's third-highest company tax, threatening international competitiveness and prospects for economic growth, the Business Council claims.
Urging a major rethink of corporate taxation, a council report says the company tax burden has now swelled to 5.3 per cent of gross domestic product, well above the developed world's 3.4 per cent average.
It says only Luxembourg and Norway impose a bigger tax burden on their corporations.
The report does not consider the relatively large burden of other taxes imposed on companies in other countries, for example to meet social security taxes. Such taxes are not imposed in Australia.
Last week,
NEW taxes on road and air travel are needed if the UK is to meet green-house gas targets, a watchdog has warned. An immediate emissions charge on domestic flights should be followed by a levy on international travel, says the Sustainable Development Commission.
It also suggests increased road taxes to cut pollution from vehicles and measures to cut building emissions.
The SDC said such action would help the UK meet an annual shortfall of at least 10 million tonnes in carbon reductions.
"The UK has a massive gap to fill if we are to get back on track in meeting
Visitors are coming to Seminole County in ever-increasing numbers as the county experiences its highest hotel-occupancy rates since 2000, according to the Seminole County Tourist Development Council.
Council executive director Suzan Bunn said most of the visitors are business travelers who are attending meetings along the Interstate 4 corporate corridor in the Lake Mary and Heathrow areas.
By the numbers:
80 percent are business travelers.
15 percent are people attending or participating in sports-related amateur and collegiate weekend events.
The rest are here for the county's leisure offerings.
What Seminole County doesn't get, Bunn said, are many tourists sidetracking from Orlando's theme parks and
The City of Philadelphia sued 19 online travel booking agencies, seeking payment of hotel taxes they collect.
Defendants include the biggest names in online booking -- Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, Priceline and Cheap Tickets, among others.
In a lawsuit filed July 10 in Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, the city claimed the travel companies collected taxes on hotel rooms sold, but failed to pay the city its share, which is 7 percent of the room cost.
The city seeks repayment and a full accounting.
More: travelindustrywire.com
Gerdau 4th-Quarter Net Rises 1% on a Drop in Taxes
Gerdau SA, Latin America's largest steelmaker, said fourth-quarter profit rose 1 percent from a year earlier as a drop in taxes offset a plunge in operating income.
Net income was 642.4 million reais, ($292 million), or 1.45 reais per share, compared with 635.8 million reais, or 1.44 reais a share, a year earlier, the company said today in a statement on its Web site. Revenue was little changed from a year earlier.
Operating profit, or income before taxes and profit credited to minority investors in units controlled by Gerdau, plunged
