Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council's October 7 meeting will focus on 'GST 2.0' process reforms, including e-invoicing and input tax credit rules, while also addressing complex issues surrounding the taxation of the digital economy and cryptocurrency.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on August 31 a plea which has challenged the validity of a provision of the Income Tax Act that allows political parties to receive cash donations below Rs 2,000.
The Indian government has informed the Lok Sabha that the income-tax return (ITR) e-filing portal is functioning in a 'largely stable and efficient manner' despite a significant increase in traffic during the peak filing season. However, it acknowledged transient technical issues and disclosed that contractual penalties have been imposed on Infosys for project delays and service-level agreement failures.
Bharti Airtel is strategically shifting its focus towards data centres, cloud services, and financial services as key drivers for its next phase of growth, leveraging significant past investments in digital infrastructure, as outlined by Chairman Sunil Mittal in the company's Annual Report for 2025-26.
The US push for clearer crypto rules is putting pressure on India to fill its own regulatory gap for virtual digital assets.
This Budget positions India's taxation ideology as not merely a revenue source but as a strategic catalyst for growth, inclusion and long-term confidence.
Despite the Centre's GST 2.0 guidelines aiming to facilitate provisional refunds within seven days for low-risk cases, many large taxpayers are still encountering significant delays in obtaining Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds under the inverted duty structure (IDS), with experts citing inconsistent state-level scrutiny and subjective interpretations.
The Supreme Court has sought responses from the Centre and others on a plea challenging the validity of a provision of the Income Tax Act that allows political parties to receive "anonymous" cash donations below Rs 2,000.
'We kept this Budget on a larger plank, rather than on one incident, however serious.'
'Global uncertainty is something which definitely occupies the minds of officials when we are preparing for the Budget.'
Kerala's voters are sophisticated, educated, and unforgiving. They have once again made it clear that no government is entitled to remain in power. The Congress would do well to remember this, points out Ramesh Menon.
The Delhi High Court has asked the central government why it cannot reduce the GST on air purifiers, considering the poor air quality in Delhi. The court's concern is that the current 18% GST makes air purifiers unaffordable for the common man.
'Foreign capital will continue to come directly into India, but companies have realised that GIFT City is a more cost-efficient way of channelling funds.'
The 56-year-old judge, enrolled as an advocate in 1992, was appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad high court on October 13, 2014 and took oath as a permanent judge of that court on February 1, 2016.
Nearly 96 per cent of new applicants will benefit from this simplified approval route.
The Indian government has expressed its disagreement with the IMF staff's 'baseline' assumption that the 50 per cent US tariffs on its goods exports 'would remain in place indefinitely', based on which the staff pegged the country's GDP growth at 6.6 per cent this year, and pared its 2026-27 projection by 20 basis points to 6.2 per cent.
Currently, India has five publicly listed Reits: Brookfield India Real Estate Trust, Embassy Office Parks Reit, Mindspace Business Parks Reit Nexus Select Trust, and Knowledge Realty Trust.
Taxpayers with old, outstanding taxes will benefit from the CBDT's new scheme.
The government has exempted units of investment trusts and ETFs issued by entities based in GIFT City or traded in exchanges there from capital gains tax. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notified the exemption from capital gains tax any unit of investment trust; a unit of a scheme; and a unit of an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) launched under the International Financial Services Centres Authority (Fund Management) Regulations, 2022. Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT)-IFSC is being promoted as a tax-neutral enclave for the financial sector.
These are the highlights of the Union Budget 2025-26 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday.
The income tax department has garnered about Rs 4,600 crore in taxes from 56 lakh updated I-T returns filed by taxpayers in the past two years, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chief Nitin Gupta said. In a post budget interview to PTI TV, Gupta also said the I-T department has set up a demand management centre at Mysuru, Karnataka, which is focusing on disputed pending large tax demands of above Rs 1 crore. "We are continuously improving the services and creating litigation free environment. We have come out with a facility for updation of return.
'We have created massive infrastructure in the past six years.'
The government is exploring legal options, including bringing an Ordinance, to tackle the problem of income-tax litigation on reassessment notices under old, time-barred norms, according to official sources. This has come in the wake of writ petitions filed by companies and individuals in recent weeks to challenge the validity of the notices issued by the tax department between April 1 and June 30 and under the old norms.
Senior tax officials were told to focus on cash collection from the arrears so that the target for FY23 was achieved and the overall revenue position improved.
The highest collection target has been given to Mumbai at Rs 4.39 trillion, followed by Delhi and Bengaluru.
While the capital spending is being maintained at 3.1 per cent of the GDP, a little more would have boosted economic growth even further, suggests Rajiv Memani.
Many affluent young people are first-generation wealthy. They have limited financial literacy, lack quality financial guidance or role models, and often fall prey to mis-selling. This makes them hesitant to invest in high-return assets like equities.
The direct tax collections are likely to fall short of the revised Budget target by Rs 650 billion and, in fact, were Rs 150 billion lower than the original estimate for the fiscal
To those who ask, "Is all this really worth it? Why can't domestic demand fill the gap?", it is important to remind them that only 13 economies since the Second World War have grown at 7 per cent or more for 25 years -- like India needs to. They all had one thing in common: Strong export growth underpinned by strong global engagement, explains Sajjid Z Chinoy.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India on a petition seeking probe into the alleged money laundering by the trustees of Mumbai's Lilawati Hospital.
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has proposed key exemptions to the current listing framework and measures for setting up holding companies (holdcos) and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) to encourage domestic startups list at GIFT City, the country's only international financial services centre (IFSC). Under the current framework, to be eligible to list on IFSC exchanges, an issuing company should have operating revenue of at least $20 million in the preceding financial year and average pre-tax profits of at least $1 million during the preceding three financial years. An expert committee has noted these conditions have acted as hurdles to listing new-age companies, and they need a relook.
While the ratio determines the extent to which the government is able to finance its expenditure, it is also an indicator of tax compliance. Developed countries have a higher contribution of tax to their GDP.
Govt may tighten presumptive taxation norms and also do away with some deductions.
"Income tax revolution is going to take place. There is no limit to reforms in the income tax department and in the country as a whole," Central Board of Direct Taxes member B Swarup said in New Delhi.
Measures may include tax slab and rate revisions for individuals, companies.
The new office will have its base in the national capital.
