Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday hiked tax on petrol and diesel, raised import duty on gold, levied additional surcharge on super rich and brought a tax on high value cash withdrawals as she sought to spur growth with reduction in corporate tax and sops to housing sector, startups and electric vehicles.
Four per cent countervailing customs duty on components for mobile phone manufacturing exempted.
With the passage of Finance Bill on Friday, the government on Friday ruled out rollback of service tax imposed on goods booking agents, but expressed its willingness to sort out any procedural difficulty faced by either truck owners or operators.
Cable tariffs across the country are set to go up with the TRAI clarifying that operators can hike charges in view of the increase in service tax and the imposition of education cess in Budget.
The magic figure for simple majority was 105, equivalent to the strength of the BJP, which also commanded the support of an Independent.
The markets are yet to recover from yesterday's Budget. At 1001 hrs the BSE Sensex down 55 points at 4789. NSE Nifty is down 16 points at 1502.
The second leg of the budget session is of 23 days and all 14 days so far have been wasted.
Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman said the drive against tax evasion is an ongoing process and the government has taken various steps under a multi-pronged strategy to deal with the issue of black money.
The Vajpayee government has recommended to President A P J Abdul Kalam to dissolve the Lok Sabha on February 6, a day after the session ends.
The indirect tax department on Thursday hinted that Vijay Mallya, owner of the grounded Kingfisher Airlines, may face prosecution in a service tax evasion case.
In the wake of market crash on Thursday following the finance minister's proposal to levy a 0.15% turnover tax on securities transactions, Sebi said there was no need to panic as the proposal will be applicable only after the Finance Bill is passed.
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has called off the meeting with empowered committee on value-added tax, scheduled for Tuesday.
Ruling out the implementation of value-added tax from June 1, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh on Wednesday announced several excise duty concessions on edible oil and textiles.
The finance ministry is seeking to speed up deals with outside investors.
The surge in export, domestic demand and public spending in infrastructure projects might revive private investment during 2017-18.
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh on Friday hinted that value added tax might not take off as scheduled in June as not all states have agreed to its implementation.
He said his government in the state will create a 'new model' of development under the guidance of Modi.
The government will notify categories of employees who will be excluded from the controversial tax proposal on provident fund withdrawals.
The provision provided for tax at a concessional rate.
The regulator said that it is vested within its purview to regulate the bank account for payment systems and the settlement systems are finally posted in the books of account of banks with the RBI to attain settlement finality.
India, the world's largest edible oil importer, on Wednesday slashed customs duty on RBD Palm oil to 70 per cent from 85 per cent but traders here said it is unlikely to have any significant impact on imports.
The Congress has convened a CLP meeting on Friday ahead of budget presentation and warned its MLAs that absence would invite action under the Anti-Defection Law.
The current 3-page form is simplified version of an income tax return form after removing mandated disclosure of foreign trips and dormant bank accounts introduced two years back.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances