The life insurance industry reported a 25.28 per cent decline in new business premium income in November 2023 to Rs 26,494.83 crore from Rs 34,588.8 crore recorded a year ago. The fall in group premium and change in taxation norms for policies with a higher ticket size dragged the premiums of the state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and private insurers, respectively. According to the data released by the Life Insurance Council, the premium of private insurers slipped 9.33 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 10,360.29 crore from Rs 11,426.73 crore as a result of a change in product mix due to the measures taken to counter the impact of tax imposed on the premiums of Rs 5 lakh.
Ramalingam Kalirajan explains the pros and cons of both investment types.
If the gift is received from a relative, there is no tax implication. But if the gift is received from a non-relative and exceeds Rs 50,000 in value during a financial year, the entire value of the gift is taxable.
Everyone (with some exceptions) whose estimated tax liability is Rs 10,000 or more in a financial year must pay advance tax.
RediffGURU Mihir Tanna broadly lists the ITRs to be filled by individuals having income from salary, house property, capital gain, business and other sources.
An individual can avail tax deduction on the amount spent during the year on a deferred annuity for self, spouse, or child.
Several mutual funds (MFs) have recently approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as they renew efforts to increase their overseas investment limit. In June 2022, the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) permitted MFs to invest in foreign stocks within the aggregate mandated limit of $7 billion after a correction in stocks. One of the proposals shared with the RBI is to link MFs' foreign investment limit to the country's foreign exchange reserves.
As many as 44 shareholders of Flipkart sold their holdings to Walmart. The income tax law requires the buyer to withhold tax while making payment to the sellers, in case they are not exempted from levy of capital gains tax.
'If the NDA comes to power with 320-330 plus seats, then we could see some correction. We could possibly see a level of 19,500 to 20,000.' 'If the NDA comes to power with a majority of 400-plus, we could see the markets going to about 23,500-24,000 levels.' 'And from there we could see some correction because markets are expensive at this point of time and a correction is overdue.'
'Sheikh Abdullah ruled the state with secular values. Post 1953, when he was sacked, corruption took over governance.'
Taxpayers with old, outstanding taxes will benefit from the CBDT's new scheme.
rediffGURU Samkit Maniar answers readers' personal income tax queries
It's tax returns season. Ask our tax experts Mihir Tanna, Hardik Parikh, Tejas Chokshi and Sanjeev Govila.
India is all set to make its presence felt in the $47 billion global outsourced semiconductor testing and packaging market, an arena where Malaysia and Vietnam have been way ahead so far. The Cabinet last Thursday cleared two projects, the Tata's assembly testing and packaging plant (ATMP) and the Murugappa-owned CG Power with Renesas from Japan as its tech partner. These, together with Micron's assembly and testing plant which is already being constructed in Sanad in Gujarat, will collectively invest Rs 47,300 crore to set up the factories.
Riding the wave of the equity market, the mutual fund (MF) industry experienced double-digit growth in Samvat 2079, concluding the Hindu calendar year close to the Rs 50 trillion assets under management milestone. After a subdued 6 per cent growth in Samvat 2078, the industry's assets surged over 18 per cent last year to Rs 46.7 trillion. Industry players anticipate that Samvat 2080 will also be a fruitful year for the asset management industry, given the strong inflows from retail investors, particularly through the systematic investment plan route.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today promised to review and reform of the taxation system in the country, saying the existing structure is a burden on common man.
Govt may not announce any new concessions in excise duty
The Bombay high court has passed an ex-parte interim order restraining several entities from operating websites etc claiming to provide PAN card services on behalf of the government-owned UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Limited (UTIITSL) and noted such an act poses a "national level threat". A single bench of Justice Bharati Dangre, in its order of January 12, said the Union government has made it mandatory for PAN card holders to link the same to their Aadhar Card, which is an acceptable proof of identification. Therefore, any potential misuse of the licence/ authorization to issue PAN cards would be highly detrimental not only to the interest of the company but also to national interest, the HC said.
Capitalism, grounded in the twin pillars of a free market and entrepreneurship, is the singular solution to addressing the issue of poverty in India and any country, N R Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, said during a fireside chat moderated by Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of the brokerage platform Zerodha. "The government should function as a fair and transparent regulator. "On the entrepreneurs' side, they must recognise themselves as evangelists for capitalism.
BMW Group India recorded its highest annual sales on the back of strong demand for its top-end ICE (internal combustion engine) and electric vehicles (EVs). The German luxury automaker on Thursday announced that its domestic car sales jumped 18 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 14,172 units in calendar year 2023 (CY23). This mirrored a trend in the luxury space, with its peers also reporting record numbers.
Taxation and intellectual property rights issue are some basic starting point impediments for US businesses in India, a top Indian-American CEO said on Monday.
Reliance Industries' (RIL's) consumer business is expected to lead earnings growth in the Q3FY24 performance, according to analysts. While the energy business is expected to show sequential weakness, the consumer business, especially retail, is estimated to show strong growth. The oil-to-telecom conglomerate will announce its Q3FY24 financial results on Friday.
State-backed Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) recorded strong growth in the value of new business (VNB) margin in the third quarter of financial year 2023-24 (Q3FY24) while major listed private life insurers reported a weak performance. VNB refers to the profit that an insurer is likely to garner from new business, which comes from policies sold in a particular period. VNB margin is the profit margin of the insurer.
She has shown shrewdness, sensitivity, and courage. All of these will be needed in ample quantities for the real challenge that will emerge after the elections, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran considers absolute poverty a more direct and pressing concern for India. He argues that inequality is a relative concept. Simultaneously, with formerly economically deprived sections joining the ranks of the middle class, policy attention needs to extend beyond 'roti, kapda, makaan' to keep the growth engine up and running.
South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Company is considering tax implications of listing its Indian unit before taking a final call, according to sources privy to the development. Hyundai Motor is mulling an initial public offering (IPO) for its Indian arm to raise around $3 billion (at a valuation of up to $30 billion), and talks are in the early stages between the company and bankers, banking sources revealed. Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), however, declined to comment on the development.
Pre-Budget excercise next month should scrupulously avoid adventurism of all types and refrain from making excessively ambitious projections on revenue and expenditure numbers for 2023-24, suggests A K Bhattacharya.
Those who want to invest should consider their risk appetite. Youngsters may go for it as they have a longer horizon to recover from a setback.
'Most young taxpayers prefer income tax filing to be flexible yet straightforward.'
A new schedule has been added to report income from cryptocurrencies and other Virtual Digital Assets.
The mutual fund industry's assets under management (AUM) have likely breached the Rs 50 trillion mark following a rally in domestic equities this month. The industry's average AUM stood at almost Rs 48 trillion at the end of October. In November, the Nifty50 index has gained about 4 per cent so far, while smallcap and midcap indices have rallied close to 8 per cent.
The mutual fund (MF) industry added a record Rs 10 trillion to its total assets under management (AUM) in 2023, taking the cumulative tally past the Rs 50 trillion mark for the first time, in December. This 20 per cent growth in AUM last year was fuelled by a robust rally in the equity markets and a record Rs 1.62 trillion net inflows into active equity schemes. In another first, the AUM linked to systematic investment plans, too, hit Rs 10 trillion by the end of 2023.
Policymakers should aspire to restore the pre-Independence environment where the rupee was trusted and used all over South Asia, in Southeast Asia, in West Asia, and in East Africa, suggests Ajay Shah.
Following are comments from economists at leading financial institutions, banks and rating agencies on the interim Budget:
At a time when consumers increasingly embrace green mobility solutions, it is not electric cars but hybrids that are taking the lead, as automotive sales data indicate. Since January, 64,097 electric cars have been sold compared to 266,465 hybrids, according to data from the ministry of road transport and highways' Vahan dashboard. Hybrid car sales have surged from 4.42 per cent of the 4.1 million cars sold in calendar year 2022 to 7.2 per cent this year.
ITC highlighted that legal cigarettes account for 9 per cent of tobacco consumption in India, but 80 per cent of tax collection is from tobacco products. While illicit cigarettes account for roughly one-third of the market share, legal cigarette volumes have recovered to around 96 per cent of peak FY13 volumes, after dipping to 70 per cent in FY21.
The CJI administered the oath of office to the two new judges in a swearing-in ceremony held at the apex court's auditorium in New Delhi.
Acknowledging that effective taxation of mobile income is a key challenge, G20 leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday vowed to take steps to change rules to tackle tax avoidance, harmful practices and aggressive tax planning.
'The cost of financing the fiscal deficit will decrease, as new passive investors join in.'