India pushes for electric vehicles to curb pollution

Question: My son is a software engineer who has been deputed by his Indian company to work in the United States. He will get a split salary, part of it in the United States and part in India. I want to know whether he will have to pay tax in India on any part of the salary which he earns during his assignment to the United States.
Answer: If from the financial year 2018-19 your son becomes non-resident in India by spending more than 182 days during this year in the United States, his entire salary paid in the United States and India would be taxable only in the United States. No part of it would be taxable in India because the entire salary will accrue outside India. Hence, under both the Indo-US double tax avoidance agreement and the Income-tax Act, 1961, tax will not be chargeable in India.
Therefore, the Indian company which sends him on deputation to America will not be required to deduct tax at source. If in a subsequent year your son returns to India after completing his assignment and becomes resident in India during that year, he will be liable to pay tax in India on the entire salary, which he has earned during that financial year, including that part which is earned in the United States of America. However, he will get credit for the tax paid in the United States against the tax payable in India.
Q: I was in Delhi recently and I found that there was high pollution due to heavy traffic during peak hours. Is any attempt being made to solve this problem as the number of cars on roads is increasing every day?
A: To deal with this problem of pollution as a result of the ever increasing number of automobiles and other vehicles on Indian roads, the Indian government is going all out to have pollution free vehicles by encouraging the production and sale of electric vehicles. According to the Minister for Road Transport and Highways, electric vehicles or ethanol run vehicles are economically viable. States like Maharashtra have already passed a law for setting up charging stations to support the electric vehicle ecosystem.
Passenger buses are urgently being converted from diesel buses to electric buses. The price of Li-ion batteries meant for electric vehicles has dropped by about 50 per cent and will continue to decline. The Indian government is also working on policies to push ethanol as an alternate fuel. This can be produced from wheat straw, rice straw, bagasse and municipal waste. In fact, if ethanol is widely used for the transportation sector, the import bill for crude oil can be cut by atleast 2 lakh crore rupees per annum. Therefore, ethanol will not only make the Indian roads pollution free but will also help in creating an industry which will help farmers.
Q: I have heard that 13-digit numbers are being allotted for mobile phones in India. I have a local mobile phone connection in India. Would my number be changed as a result of this development?
A: None of the mobile numbers issued to individuals are going to be affected by the 13-digit mobile numbers which are to be issued. These 13-digit numbers will be exclusively for SIM-based machine-to-machine (M2M) communication devices. The 13-digit M2M numbering plan is to be implemented from July 1, 2018.
Once it is implemented, the 13-digit numbering scheme will be used to connect millions of machines. The M2M communication will be used for controlling over the internet driverless cars, smart electricity meters, surveillance cameras, etc. Therefore, you have nothing to worry as your 10-digit mobile number will remain the same.
The writer is a practicing lawyer, specializing in tax and exchange management laws of India.