The finance ministry is looking at rationalising long-term capital gains tax structure by bringing parity between similar asset classes and revising the base year for computing indexation benefit to make it more relevant, an official said on Friday. Currently, shares held for more than one year attract a 10 per cent tax on long-term capital gains. Gains arising from sale of immovable property and unlisted shares held for more than 2 years and debt instruments and jewellery held for over 3 years attract 20 per cent long term capital gains tax.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) added another 102 metric tonnes to the domestically held gold in the April-September period, as per a disclosure made on Tuesday. The overall quantity of the precious metal stored in local safes stood at 510.46 metric tonnes as of September 30, which was up from over 408 metric tonnes as on March 31, 2024. The central bank said it added another 32 metric tonnes of gold reserves in the six-month period to take the overall tonnage to 854.73 metric tonnes, as per the half yearly report on management of foreign exchange reserves.
With the fiscal deficit target staring at the government, the FY25 Budget has limited expenditure options, points out A K Bhattacharya.
Senior bankers anticipate discussions on issues related to technology, cyber security, and customer protection.
The government is likely to introduce a bill seeking amendments to the Insurance Act, 1938, during the upcoming Budget session to achieve 'Insurance for All by 2047'. Some of the provisions, which could be part of the amendment bill, include composite license, differential capital, reduction in solvency norms, issuing captive license, change in investment regulations, one-time registration for intermediaries and allowing insurers to distribute other financial products, sources said.
'With new projects and recently awarded projects kicking in, capital expenditure should only increase going forward.'
'Consider your household's financial health and all your other goals.' 'Buying a house might seem like an urgent goal, but it is rarely the only one.'
From the 30 Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Nestle, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, and HDFC Bank were the major laggards. In contrast, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Tata Consultancy Services and State Bank of India were among the gainers.
rediffGURU T S Khurana answers readers' personal income tax queries
'Maharashtra is virtually in a debt trap.'
From highways connecting once-remote regions to aviation networks carrying millions, India's infrastructure story is one of transformation.
The primary market will remain abuzz with more than half a dozen companies, including Hyundai Motor India, Swiggy, and NTPC Green Energy, lined up initial public offerings over the next two months to raise around Rs 60,000 crore, merchant bankers said. Apart from these three firms, Afcons Infrastructure, Waaree Energies, Niva Bupa Health Insurance, One Mobikwik Systems, and Garuda Construction are among the companies planning to launch initial public offerings (IPOs) during October-November, they added. Together, these firms are looking to raise Rs 60,000 crore through their IPOs.
Budget has already bombed at the box office and passing it without a revisit will be a mockery of the exercise though any modification may be short lived and perfunctory, observes V Ranganathan.
Indications are that the Tata Sons stand on listing of the company may come up for a discussion even if it's not part of the agenda
Mortgage firm HDFC Ltd on Wednesday announced sale of a 10 per cent stake in its private equity arm HDFC Capital Advisors to a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) for about Rs 184 crore. ADIA is also the primary investor in the alternative investment funds managed by $3 billion-HDFC Capital. Set up in 2016, HDFC Capital is the investment manager to HDFC Capital Affordable Real Estate Funds 1, 2 and 3; and is aligned with the government's goal to increase housing supply and support the Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana - 'Housing for All' initiative, HDFC Ltd said in a statement.
Had you invested Rs 10,000 each in JSW Steel, Titan Company and Bajaj Finance 20 years ago, when they were just penny stocks (trading below Rs 10), you would have become a millionaire by now.
The IPO market will be bustling next week, with four companies, including Bajaj Housing Finance, set to launch their initial share-sale to raise a total of Rs 8,390 crore. Besides these four main-board IPOs, nine SMEs are preparing to debut with their maiden public issues next week, targeting to collect Rs 254 crore. Together, these 13 firms are looking to raise Rs 8,644 crore through IPO.
Nestle, Titan, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, ITC, JSW Steel and State Bank of India were the other laggards. Among the gainers, Tata Motors jumped nearly 6 per cent. Larsen & Toubro, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance and Power Grid also ended in the positive territory.
Whether nominal or real, India's investment rate needs to increase by 3 to 4 percentage points of GDP to support 8 per cent real growth, recommends Nikhil Gupta.
Presenting the Budget in Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said the outlay for the Railways is nine times the amount provided in 2013-2014. She said 100 critical transport infrastructure projects for last- and first-mile connectivity for coal, fertiliser and food grain sectors have been identified and will be taken up on a priority basis with investment of Rs 75,000 crore, including Rs 15,000 crore from private sources, she said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said buyback of shares will be taxed in the hands of shareholders similar to dividend from October 1, a move that will increase the tax burden on investors. Further, the cost paid by the shareholder to acquire these shares will be considered for computation of capital gains or loss to them.
'This government has always been fiscally conservative. It never resorted to fiscal profligacy.'
For every rupee in the government coffer, the biggest pie of 63 paise will come from direct and indirect taxes, according to the Union Budget 2024-25 documents.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the Union Budget strikes a fine balance between growth, employment, and fiscal consolidation, and promotes cooperative federalism. Replying to the discussion on the Union Budget 2024-25 and Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Budget in Rajya Sabha, the minister said the government is on track to achieve the pre-announced fiscal deficit target of 4.5 per cent by 2025-26. Sitharaman, also a former defence minister, said the Agniveer Scheme to recruit people in the age group of 17.5 to 21 years, is aimed at keeping the armed forces fit, young and battle-ready.
Going by this Budget's estimate of government spending of Rs 48.2 trillion, the government has allocated a significantly lower percentage to defence -- 12.9 per cent.
Maintain a proper record of documents that can act as proof of the cost of acquisition of the property, cost of improvements made to the property, expenses related to transfer of the property (like brokerage and registration charges). These will come in handy in case of a dispute with the taxman.
Equity benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled nearly 700 points to sink below the 79,000 level on Tuesday, extending its losses for the second straight day due to selling pressure in HDFC Bank, SBI and ITC amid fresh foreign capital outflows. The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 692.89 points or 0.87 per cent to settle at 78,956.03. During the day, it tanked 759.54 points or 0.95 per cent to 78,889.38.
So far this year, bankers have earned Rs 1,226 crore for handling 45 IPOs, which together mobilised Rs 48,363 crore.
The RBI on Thursday filed an application for initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against debt-ridden Reliance Capital at the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal. The Reserve Bank had on November 29 superseded the board of Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Capital Ltd (RCL) in view of payment defaults and serious governance issues. The central bank had also appointed Nageswar Rao Y (former executive director, Bank of Maharashtra) as the administrator of the company.
The government on Tuesday proposed reducing the long-term capital gains tax on immovable properties to 12.5 per cent from 20 per cent, but removed the indexation benefits to adjust for inflation, a move experts termed as "negative" for sellers.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, along with her team of bureaucrats, delved into the fine print of the 2024-25 Budget documents in a press conference, detailing the government's road map on bringing down the debt-to-GDP ratio and bold tax measures.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has identified "climate shocks" as a risk to food inflation rates and overall price rise while stating that the outlook for the country's economic growth remains bright. In its Annual Report for 2023-24, released on Thursday, the central bank said easing supply-chain pressures, broad-based softening in core inflation, and early indications of an above-normal southwest monsoon meant well for the inflation outlook in 2024-25. "The increasing incidence of climate shocks, however, imparts considerable uncertainty to the food inflation and overall inflation outlook," said the RBI while noting headline inflation moderated by 1.3 percentage points on an annual average basis to 5.4 per cent in 2023-24.
Households are likely to remain the primary net lenders to the economy in the coming decades.
Chief executive officers (CEOs) across sectors have expressed intentions to expand capacities, expecting the government's target to invest a record Rs 11.11 trillion on infrastructure development will act as a catalyst for a jump in consumer demand. "With the government planning a capex of Rs 11.11 trillion, private sector investment will come in a big way. Companies will be preparing for it right from today," H M Bangur, chairman of Shree Cement, told Business Standard. For the past few years, the investment scene in India has been dominated by government capital expenditures; private investments in the manufacturing sector have remained muted.
While Andhra Pradesh is expected to receive Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore, Bihar is likely to get Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore in FY25.
The December meeting of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will start on Wednesday even as there is no clarity on whether Governor Shaktikanta Das, the chair of the panel, will continue in office after his term ends next week. The outcome of the meeting will be announced on Friday by Das at 10 in the morning.
Quick commerce major Zepto has raised $340 million in a follow-on financing round at a valuation of $5 billion as it gears up for an initial public offering (IPO). This is Zepto's third big-ticket fundraise within a year. With this, the company has raised more than $1 billion in 12 months.
The Union Finance Ministry on Friday announced key amendments to foreign exchange (forex) regulations, including mandating government approvals for all investments originating from countries that share land borders with India. The latest amendments also seek to simplify cross-border share swaps and streamline key definitions, such as "control". The updated regulations have aligned the treatment of downstream investments made by overseas citizen of India (OCI)-owned entities with those owned by non-resident Indians (NRIs) on a non-repatriation basis.
Ask rediffGURU and tax expert Mihir Tanna your income tax-related questions.
Benchmark BSE Sensex declined for the fourth day in a row on Wednesday due to selling in financial and banking shares and the government's move to hike securities transaction tax and short term capital gains tax. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 280.16 points or 0.35 per cent to settle at 80,148.88 with 19 of its components closing lower and 11 with gains. During the day, it tumbled 678.53 points or 0.84 per cent to 79,750.51.
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