Downloading songs, movies, books? You may have to pay tax on it.
The banking sector emerged as an outlier when the rest of India Inc witnessed a slowdown in earnings in FY23. The combined net profit of listed public and private sector banks was up 39.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) last financial year and their share in India's gross value added (GVA) or gross domestic product (GDP) at factor cost rose to a record high of nearly 1 per cent up, from 0.8 per cent a year ago. Listed banks' combined net profit grew to Rs 2.36 trillion in FY23, from Rs 1.69 trillion a year ago. In comparison, India GVA at current prices was up 15.2 per cent YoY at Rs 247 trillion in FY23; it was around Rs 214 trillion a year ago.
"India is the best market right now in the world with the digital initiatives the government has implemented
'The corporate tax cuts will obviously result in lower tax payments by companies,' says Central Board of Direct Taxes member Akhilesh Ranjan who retires after 37 years in government service.
The government has imposed anti-money laundering provisions on cryptocurrencies or virtual assets as it looks to tighten oversight of digital assets. In a gazette notification, the Finance Ministry said the anti-money laundering legislation has been applied to crypto trading, safekeeping and related financial services. After this, Indian crypto exchanges will have to report suspicious activity to the Financial Intelligence Unit India (FIU-IND).
The rates of price rise in many services used by the common man, including hospital and nursing, cook, domestic help and bus (fare), among others, have also touched double digits during the last four years, putting a burden on disposable income.
Print media will not benefit from the Budget.
Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) K V Subramanian on Tuesday exuded confidence that India would achieve double-digit growth in the current financial year on the back of policy initiatives and continuing reforms. He also said the country is well poised to meet the fiscal deficit target of 6.8 per cent of GDP. "At this stage, I can say confidently that we should be able to achieve that fiscal deficit number. "Any shortfalls that might happen on the disinvestment side will also be accompanied by positive surprises that have happened on tax revenue," he told reporters.
Info Edge (India), the country's leading consumer internet company known for its platforms in recruitment (naukri.com), real estate (99acres.com), matrimony (jeevansathi.com) and education (shiksha.com) space, delivered revenue growth in line with expectations in the April-June quarter (Q1) of FY25.
If the concerns over risking political capital are overcome, the long-term gains for the Indian economy will be immense, asserts A K Bhattacharya.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has seen pre-tax profit recover to pre-pandemic levels on the back of continued growth in consumer businesses, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday. The oil-to-retail-to-telecom behemoth on Friday reported a 0.7 per cent Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax and depreciation and amortisation) growth for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, compared with the corresponding quarter in the previous year. "A strong performance in digital services and retail segments underpinned the improvement in consolidated earnings, a credit positive," Moody's said commenting on the earnings. Continued growth in earnings combined with the company's strong balance sheet with zero net debt on a reported basis will keep Reliance's credit metrics strong for its Baa2 rating over the next 12-18 months, it said.
Why are financial-technology (fintech) players moving back to India, or doing the reverse-flipping?
'Defence and aerospace show huge potential thanks to the government's Make in India push.'
Passengers in 200 railway stations across India will soon be able to recharge their mobiles, pay electricity bills, fill up Aadhaar and Pan card forms and even file taxes with help from Common Service Centre (CSC) kiosks to be set up by RailTel. The scheme has been operationalised in partnership with CSC e-Governance Services India Limited' (CSC-SPV) and the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, RailTel said in a statement. The kiosks will be run by village level entrepreneurs (VLEs).
A committee on digitalisation headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had in an interim report recommended taxing cash transactions of at least Rs 50,000 to promote digital payments.
The government has created a comprehensive budget with sharp focus on sustaining economic activity and investment but more clarity is needed on areas like taxation framework for adopting remote working on a long-term basis, IT body Nasscom said on Monday. The industry association noted that the IT/ITeS (Information Technology-enabled Services) industry has been a key driver of growth and jobs in 2020 and there is an opportunity to significantly accelerate it further. "For the IT sector, one of the biggest needs ahead of us is the development of future business models, with hybrid working becoming a reality. "We look forward for the government to provide clarity on providing a framework in direct taxes and indirect taxes for the industry to adopt WFH/remote working on a long-term basis," Nasscom said in a statement.
The brokerage earnings estimate for the January-March 2024 quarter (Q4FY24) for Nifty 50 companies hints at a slowdown in corporate profit growth while revenue increase is likely to be in low single digits as in the previous two quarters. According to various brokerage estimates, the companies' combined net profits are expected to grow 3.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in Q4FY24, the slowest in the last five quarters. For comparison, the index companies' combined net profits were up 8.2 per cent Y-o-Y in Q3FY24 and 3.4 per cent Y-o-Y in Q4FY23.
GST collection grew by 12 per cent in April to Rs 1.87 lakh crore, the highest monthly mop-up since the rollout of the indirect tax regime. The gross GST revenue collected in the month of April 2023 is Rs 1,87,035 crore of which CGST is Rs 38,440 crore, SGST is Rs 47,412 crore, IGST is Rs 89,158 crore (including Rs 34,972 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 12,025 crore, the finance ministry said in a statement. The previous high collection of Rs 1.68 lakh crore was in April last year.
As much as Rs 47,810 crore was spent on share buybacks by 48 companies in 2023 -- the highest amount since 2017. This surge in value was largely driven by a few large-sized issues, including those by Tata Consultancy Services (Rs 17,000 crore), Larsen & Toubro (Rs 10,000 crore), and Wipro (Rs 12,000 crore). In 2022, 58 companies had repurchased shares worth Rs 38,305 crore, according to data from Prime Database.
India's third largest IT company HCL Technologies on Friday reported a flat year-on-year growth in net profit in the March quarter at Rs 3,986 crore. However, the company posted an 8.4 per cent decline in net profit on a sequential basis, amid rising employee cost and tightening IT spends around the world. The company described the performance as "decent" in view of the global macroeconomic conditions.
IndiGo share price today: IndiGo share price fell as much as 4.8 per cent to a low of Rs 4,275 per share on the BSE in Monday's intraday trade as investors booked profit in the stock post a its April-June quarter (Q1) results for financial year 2024-25 (FY25). The stock ended 1.36 per cent lower at Rs 4,430 as against a 23-points gain in the benchmark BSE Sensex. The selling also got exacerbated as the management commentary, post Q1FY25 results, highlighted that inflationary pressure could likely dent July-September (Q2FY25) performance.
Both sports and digital will drag down the healthy operating margins that entertainment television continues to make.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Thursday unveiled the next phase of growth at Reliance Industries Ltd, with retail and telecom worth over $100 billion each, doubling revenues and pre-tax profit in 3-4 years, new energy business becoming profitable by 2031, and core oil and chemical business continuing to be the robust growth engine. The sprawling conglomerate with interests in refining, oil and gas, petrochemicals, telecom, retail, and media is on track to more than double in size before the end of the decade, Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance, told company shareholders.
Tharoor argued that the proposed bill represents a "grave chapter in the history of the Indian republic, seeking to ratify an ordinance that in many ways is an assault on our democratic heritage and the spirit of federalism."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India will become the growth engine for the world in the coming years, and the ease of doing business has improved with "mission-mode" reforms being undertaken by his government. Speaking at the BRICS Business Forum Leaders' Dialogue in Johannesburg, Modi also said India soon will become a $5 trillion economy.
The revenue growth of early birds or companies that have declared their Q4FY24 (March quarter) numbers is the highest in the last four quarters. The 178 companies (excluding their listed subsidiaries) that declared their results have reported a sales growth rate of 13.2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), taking aggregate revenue to Rs 9.1 trillion. Including other income, growth is at 16 per cent, the highest in the last four quarters.
Agriculture, social services, education, defence and so on will be brought into the digital fold and every gram panchayat will be connected to the internet.
India is on the brink of overhauling its tax system, implementing the BEPS project and seeing a further evolution of the GST at the same time as a general election. This makes 2019 an exciting and challenging year, note Maulik Doshi and Jigar Doshi.
Apollo HealthCo Ltd (AHL), a subsidiary of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (AHEL), on Friday entered into a binding agreement to raise equity capital of Rs 2,475 crore from Advent International (Advent), one of the world's largest private equity (PE) players. The transaction will also see the merger of two units under Apollo Healthco - its wholesale pharma distribution unit Keimed Pvt Ltd and online healthcare business Apollo 24'7. The merger will take place in a phased manner over the next 24-30 months.
It's time the government accepts that Digital India is too distant.
rediffGURU Ulhas Joshi recommends five factors you need to look at to evaluate the performance of two schemes.
False and acrimonious debates such as Modi versus Manmohan might allow for victories that are political and partisan. But the real loser is the nation, India and Bharat, notes Arvind Subramanian, former chief economic advisor to the Modi government in its first term.
'What's sad today is that there are so many people who cannot find work, not because the country is devoid of that opportunity, but because we are not doing enough in the country.'
Telecom and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said one of the primary focus areas of Digital India is Pillar 5: eKranti - electronic delivery of services.
GST authorities have expanded the probe into alleged tax evasion by fintech firm BharatPe to include reported issuance of fake invoices by those close to the firm's ousted co-founder Ashneer Grover, an official said. GST authorities are now scrutinising BharatPe books of the last four years to see if bogus invoices were issued for services as well. BharatPe had stripped Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain of all positions after a preliminary report of an external audit commissioned by the fintech firm's board showed that the duo indulged in alleged misdeeds and financial irregularities.
There was no smooth surge in middle class prosperity for foreign businesses to tap into because of the Indian economy was mismanaged, argues Debashis Basu.
This period of strong growth not only offers opportunities but also calls for strategic considerations to ensure sustainable development and equitable prosperity in the years to come, suggests Sujan Hajra.
Ahead of the first meeting of the top decision-making body in nearly eight months, finance ministers of eight states ruled by non-Bharatiya Janata Party and like-minded parties -- Rajasthan, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Kerala and West Bengal -- have devised a joint strategy to press for a zero tax rate on Covid essentials, sources said.
Sanjay Jalona, CEO & MD of LTI says the push would be to increase digital business and look at outcomes in projects for customers.
IT major Infosys on Thursday acknowledged that some users continue to experience difficulties in accessing the income tax portal and assured that it is working expeditiously, in collaboration with the income tax department to further streamline end-user experience.